Today, there is a very bizarre division among Jews in the United States. There is a serious lack of Jewish causes among leftist Zionists. Namely, activists are either pro-Israel and traditional liberals or moderates, or they are leftists that belong more to the extreme left wing–which is unfortunately disproportionately common. I should think the historical far-left communist experience should be sufficient to scare Jews (remember the oppression of Soviet Jewry). The fact is that the academics, journalists, and public advocates who are involved are more often than not Jewish. I actually fear reading the bylines and quotes in publications, because I know that Jewish names are so often attached to “progressivism.” Yet why is this?
Some causes may be obvious. Both fascists and extreme nationalists have of course been hostile to Jews, even for example as far back as the Dreyfus affair. Yet you would think that Jews were knowledgeable about history. Naturally, Jews are sympathetic toward minorities and more sensitive toward racism. And yet why do Jews automatically think that the state is their friend? The state has often been helpful but has also often been the enemy. Still, many Jews are directed to professions and high-level academic achievement, which tends to focus on statist-finance involvement.
Actually there is no question that there is still antisemitic bias in the U.S., most often seen among the left with their lack of sympathy for Jewish causes and dishonesty in dealing with Israel policy, often in anti-Israel bias. Israel is by far the country that others are the most unfairly biased toward–higher than any bias against Muslims. Yet this is not recognized by Jews, because it makes radicals look better. And, of course, if this is a real bias than the fact that some Muslims want genocide is not taken seriously, especially in university classes.
Let’s look at the facts. FBI statistics report that in 2012, 62.4% of hate crimes in the United States were against Jews, who make up about 2-3 percent of the U.S. population. Close to two-thirds of the 1,340 religious hate crimes were thus anti-Jewish. In other words, the chance of Jews being persecuted for their religion is about 40 times as likely.
Muslims were the number-two targeted group victimized on a religious bias, with 11.6% of hate crimes being anti-Islamic. Although the statistics available on Islam are not detailed, Muslims make up roughly 1 percent of the population (the last Pew Report, in 2010, estimated the Muslim population in the United States at 2.9 million, but the number has grown).
In other words, Jews–who are not easily identified except for the 10 percent of which are Orthodox–are about 40 times more likely to be victims. Of course only claims that are reported to the FBI are published. Incidentally, the intermarriage rate of Jews is also now over 70%.
The question then is: Is anybody going to wake up to this or not? Are Jews going to realize that the two-state solution is only desirable if it really brings full peace? And if peace were achieved, would Middle Eastern Arabs no longer want to try to wipe out Jews and Israel? If so, the Jewish Democratic vote will change drastically. But have no doubt that many public officials, journalists, and especially academics will as a priority or out of ignorance place Jews and Israelis in jeopardy.
