Updated May 3, 2024, 9:05 AM ET
bloodJoe Biden Resident On Tuesday, May 7, he will address anti-Semitism during the Holocaust remembrance period in the Jewish religious calendar. In order for a speech to not fail or backfire, the president must be clear in his mind what he wants to say and why.
The questions Biden will have to answer Tuesday are not questions about beliefs or values. It's not a question about yourself or your personal commitments. It is a question about American liberalism in general and its ability to defend its stated promises against victim-justifying challengers. Biden touched on many of the right topics in informal remarks at the White House yesterday. But she has more to say, and she needs to speak clearly and without Trumpian warnings about “good people on both sides.”
Anti-Semitism takes two main forms in the United States. There is a right-wing variant based on religious dogmatism or delusions of racial supremacy, as revealed in “The Jews Will Not Replace Us!” There is also a leftist variant chanting in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017. Displayed on American university campuses this spring, Jews are presented as the chief oppressors of the world's oppressed people. The first version echoes Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's concerns that Jews might be prevented from accusing them of killing Christ. The second is exemplified by Rep. Ilhan Omar’s ridicule of Jews who “support genocide.”
Most American Jews accept that mainstream American liberals, like Biden, reject both strains of anti-Semitism. But as is very observable, mainstream American liberalism is much more comfortable with Greene's version than with Omar's version.
This difference explains why anti-Israel protests on campus have so alarmed many American Jews. The slogan “Palestine must be free from the river to the sea” rings out in schools, which many people hear means: “Destroy the state of Israel and kill, expel or subdue its Jewish inhabitants.” We hear the chant: “Globalize the Intifada.” This means “genocide the Jews everywhere on Earth.” We hear Jews blamed by the Association for everything from police brutality to climate change. This is true even when both occur simultaneously. We see checkpoints on campus where Jews are questioned about their faith before accessing the university library.
I assume that virtually every college president in America (and certainly the majority of college professors and administrators) opposes this behavior. But these officials have shown over the years that they are reluctant to take action against such misconduct. Jews are harassed and intimidated in ways that would immediately result in the full weight of institutional punishment if carried out against other similarly identifiable student groups. But those who harass and threaten Jews rarely face punishment.
Universities provide the most prominent example of this phenomenon in American society, but they are not the only examples. In every sphere where American liberalism exerts influence—public education, deep-blue city local politics, labor unions, literature and the arts—Jews, who share an almost universal bond with the Land of Israel, face insults, threats, ostracism, and even outright insults. violence.
All of this presents Biden with enormous political problems. Of course, he is not in charge of the arts, literature, or labor unions. He doesn't have much influence on public education, much less local politics. But he personifies American liberalism, and his political hopes for November are deeply intertwined with the image and standing of American liberalism.
Think of the national election as a job interview. The Republican candidate needs an answer to the question, “Are you willing to worry about me?” The Democratic Party must have an answer to the question, “Do you have the courage to protect me?”
When Democrats appear too weak to confront anti-Israel protests on campuses and other liberal areas, their problem is not just in the way they handle anti-Semitism. This is a problem that has to do with the perception of weakness, a key risk of political brands.
Anti-Israel protesters understand this: There is a way to stop their mayhem. They want to punish Biden in November. They don't have the votes to elect who they like better, not even close. But if they can't hope to replace Biden, they can help defeat him. By creating images of chaos, they support the Republican message that liberals like Biden are responsible for the disorder.
Republicans boldly attempted this message during the riots that broke out at protests against the police killing of George Floyd in 2020, when Donald Trump was actually president. They want to repeat this message in 2024.
rainAiden's Instinct On May 7, we will speak sympathetically to Jewish fears while emphasizing respect for the right to protest. His instinct is to express compassion for all civilians endangered by violence in the Middle East, both Palestinian and Israeli. If he does that and stops at it, he will have provided the right answer to the Republican question: the wrong question about sufficient consideration.
The speech he has to give is not from the heart. This is a speech about his courage. The desired message is more than ‘I care.’ The desired message is “dare.”
So after you instinctively say what you want to say, you have to keep going. He must say there is no reason to justify violence on America's streets and in the Quad. He must affirm that the University cannot tolerate intimidation and unlawful interference with educational activities. He should make it clear that he supports leaders who have protected the academic functions of the university, including their decisions to call the police when necessary. He must share the firm belief that protests that forcibly violate the rights of others are not peaceful.
He should do all this as a basic rule of good government, not as a special favor to Jews on or off campus. As president and presidential candidate, Trump has been a favorite among lawbreakers. In one instance, he urged police to smash his head against a patrol car door. He promised to forgive another class of criminals, calling them 'hostages'. If Biden is going to campaign against Trump, calling him an instigator of riots, he will have to be an unwavering voice against the rioters himself, no matter what their ideology.
Campus protesters may fantasize about a repeat of the 1968 uproar. Fortunately, I don't see history repeating itself. But one lesson from that year applies to this year as well. The point is that disorder harms the Democratic Party. When Biden speaks about anti-Semitism on Tuesday, he will be speaking about Jews as well as Jews. He will represent and speak about his political party and belief system. Can Democrats enforce the rules? Do they advocate for equal justice, or do they indulge a privileged category of rule breakers? Is his party strong enough to lead? is that Are you strong enough to lead?
me1843, Karl Marx wrote an essay called “On the Jewish Question,” arguing for “the liberation of mankind from Judaism.” Marx was not exactly calling for murder, but for the forced dismantling of Jewishness as a form of self-identification. In the more than a century since that essay, Marxist thought has mutated in many ways, but Marxist revolutionary movements have continued to resent Jewish specialness and identify it as a problem that must be overcome in some way.
Today, Marxism has succumbed to Palestinianism as the latest iteration of revolutionary idealism. But even though the goals changed, the obstacles did not. Marx wrote: “We therefore recognize that Judaism is now a common anti-social element.” exchange Judaism for zionismIt has become a euphemism for protestors' dog whistles, and at any campus encampment you can repeat Marx's accusations almost word for word and receive applause from the audience.
They are also the ones who are actually trying to replace Biden with Trump in November. When Biden opposes them, he is not just defending and defending American Jews. He stands up for himself and the ideals to which he has devoted his public service.
The article originally said President Biden's speech would take place on Sunday, May 5. It's actually scheduled for Tuesday, May 7th.