Internalized Judeophobia: Modern Manifestations of Systemic Prejudice Against Jews

Internalized Judeophobia, Explaining the Self-Hating Jew: Part 3

“A sacred circle is drawn around those whom the progressive modern left are prepared to go into battle for, and it seems as if the Jews aren’t in it.”

― David Baddiel, Jews Don’t Count

In the previous edition, we looked at the historical proof for systemic Judeophobia and traced a surface level chronology of the phenomenon. Judeophobia’s two primary manifestations: An aversion to Jews and Judaism. An aversion to a Jewish state. This section will look at the modern context of systemic Judeophobia along those same lines, with a sharp focus on its core manifestation in the west: Anti-Zionism. Given that I am Canadian and the Canadian context is what I can best speak to, that is where I will focus my efforts. Readers in other jurisdictions will be able to graft their own local experiences onto this framework I am sure.

Jew hate and antisemitism (two key manifestations of Judeophobia) are clearly and dangerously on the rise in Canada. This is so pernicious, that a list of 100 business leaders recently put a call out to put a stop to it. Hate crimes are increasing. Jewish businesses are being targeted and vandalized. Synagogues are being shot at. It is so bad that the Prime Minister of the country flew into Toronto and made a speech addressing this very issue.

With such a clear problem manifesting within Canadian society, it would therefore follow that keen awareness and sympathy for Jews would be top of mind. Especially so given that Canada is in a particularly empathetic era: one of intersectionality and corporate diversity training. Canada has clear quotas for marginalized groups in public service. It has a population largely focused on the horrors of residential schools. It keeps a constant eye towards the perils of colonization. This way of thinking is particularly keen in Trudeau era leftist and progressive spaces.

Given the presence of the antisemitic incidents alongside the apparatus seemingly ready to support victims, we would expect the left to have a keen awareness and strong reaction to any and all Jew hate. Yet, the constant episodes and news articles do not move the hearts and minds of left wing ideologues. To make it more stark, the Judeophobic tendencies are not only ignored, they are actually reinforced by those same progressives. In other words, addressing the hatred of Jews and/or anything tangentially related to Israel is mysteriously and conveniently absent from the most sympathetic parts of society. The left wing cultural zeitgeist just doesn’t address Jews.

The omission is as glaring as it is nonsensical without the underlying explanation of systemic Judeophobia.

As an analogue and control group, we can look at the LGBTQ+ populations and compare them to Jews writ large within Canadian society. The comparison is potent for a number of reasons: both groups experience equal rights in law and theory but run into difficulty in practice. Neither are monoliths: Both contain tremendous diversity within their populations. Both populations are discriminated against for their immutable characteristics. Those characteristics are hard to define, they break out into many different personal and sub-group identities. They are therefore oftentimes lumped together under the umbrella of being “Jews” or “Queer” respectively.

The comparison is most salient though when we look at these two groups of people as “others” who can, in the right circumstances pass as “normal”. Of course there are key differences between the Queer and Jewish experiences, but the historical treatment of homosexuals and Jews in the west are similar. These two groups ought to form a natural alliance built on a shared experience of historical exclusion. Yet one is included, and the other is not.

This exceptional status can only be explained by systemic Judeophobia. Both groups have long been victims of right wing and religious fundamentalist hate. But only Jews are also excluded from left wing ideology. Where a queer person can find refuge in the left without compromising their identity, Jews are asked to hide their views on Israel, or risk alienation from precisely the refuge they would typically look towards for succour.

Ultimately, this is the equivalent of being psychologically surrounded by the systemic aversion to your identity and peoplehood.

As an historic and cultural group, Jews have been a significant minority in Canada for over a hundred years. Like many other ethnic groups, Jews came to the country primarily as economic migrants and refugees. Over those hundred years, Jews have had the staying power and good fortune to achieve prosperity. Yet, no other group of individuals is ostracized in the same way. In Toronto, where over half of the 400,000 Canadian Jews live, there are control groups to further demonstrate systemic Judeophobia.

An easy comparison is one with the Italian population. Italian migrants and Jews arrived in the country en masse at approximately the same time. They faced similar discrimination, they struggled as all migrants do. They understood each other’s plight, and stood up for each other when it mattered. This was perhaps best elucidated by the famous Christie Pitts riot in Toronto of 1933 where Jews and Italians literally fought Nazi supporters in a city park. Nearly one hundred years later however, the communities’ paths have diverged. While there used to be specific racial slurs for Italians, and a genuine dislike of the Italian way of life, any aversion to Italians has dissipated. There is rightfully no concept of prejudice against Italians in Canada anymore.

How can we possibly explain the difference? After their arrivals, both populations were forced to overcome a normal amount of newcomer aversion. Both populations established ethnic enclaves, older downtown boroughs packed with culture, and newer suburban cities a highway away from those cultural artifacts. In other words, Jews and Italians have seemingly assimilated and are operating and thriving in Canadian society.

Italians are also an apt comparison because Italy is no ancient country. Italy was only fully unified in 1871, four years after the establishment of Canada. Canada has considered Italy an enemy, in active combat with each other: Canada fought against Italy in the second world war. Yet, there is no question of the validity of Italy as a nation state.

There is no country’s diaspora, nor is there any legitimate Canadian minority whose support carries even close to the same compromises and qualifiers in Canadian society. There is political and social risk for supporting Jews and Israel in Canada. Heads of institutions either need to qualify their support before providing it, or balance it with platitudes to other minorities in the same breath. There are no such conditions for Italians.

None of this is to ignore legitimate criticisms of Israel’s foreign policy, Israel is a nation state just as flawed as any other global power. Yes, some of its national politicians are as contemptible as any awful global leaders. But the double standard used to classify Israel as a singular driver of the world’s problems is so extreme it borders on absurd. We can see this when we compare the Israeli-Iranian, or the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to other conflicts of the day. The lowest hanging fruit is the conflict between Ukraine and Russia.

Despite widespread enmity towards Russia’s actions, there is not a single sane person that would argue that Ukraine or Russia should not exist. Of course, in this comparison, Israel is more like Ukraine - defending itself against attacks and threats from abroad. Democracies that are allies of NATO. Yet, somehow, that narrative has been flipped.

In a country like Canada, packed full of multiculturalism, there can be only one explanation - systemic Judeophobia. Something intangible and unique about the Jews and Israel makes it permissible to question their very existence. To debate borders and historical rights is one thing, to debate the legitimacy of the one Jewish state is another altogether. The double standard is the same as jew hatred is the same as antisemitism - all clear symptoms of systemic Judeophobia.

The examples of those double standards are endless. When other minorities overcome challenges to reach elected office, their diversity is lauded. When an Italian is elected as a mayor, or a Lesbian is elected Premier, their minority status is seen as an asset. It shows an ability to overcome stigma, or an ability to galvanize a community and reach out beyond it. It would be ludicrous to hear accusations of a globalist Italian or homosexual plot designed to seize Canadian institutions. Yet for Jews in positions of power, there is always talk of Zionist ambitions, incentives, handlers, and double loyalties. This is particularly alarming to modern Canadian Jews. While this rhetoric has always been a subtle feature of Canadian society, it used to be limited to private conversation or the darkest corners of the internet. Now, these points of view are common in the public discourse and rampant online.

As we leave these two comparative populations, each of these examples are ultimately evidence of a systemic problem: the inexplicable aversion to Jews, Judaism, Israel, and Israelis. In other words, systemic Judeophobia.

This is of course not a new phenomenon in the Canadian context. In the era of William Lyon Mackenzie King, “None is too Many” was the government’s immigration policy. The systemic Judeophobia was so overwhelming that Jews needed to create their own institutions — places like Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto, or the Jewish Hospital in Montreal. This was not done out of preference, it was done because Jews were excluded from the mainstream. Growing up, my grandfather told us stories of his life as a doctor in the 1950s where there were signs at water fountains that read “No Dogs or Jews”.

The sense of normalcy we see today, where Jews do have hospitals and universities named after their communities, is a testament to the overcoming of systemic oppression, not the removal of it. Systemic Judeophobia never disappeared. Jews had beaten it back. This was a temporary victory. The virus that is antisemitism was incubating and morphing into something new.

At last we must address directly the primary contemporary manifestation of systemic Judeophobia: the unique contempt for Israel, or “anti-zionism”. Anti-zionism has picked up such ferocity and purchase in left wing spaces it defies logic. It has achieved that prominence in part because of its unique positioning as a judeophobic movement resistant to the taboos of antisemitism that came out of the Holocaust.

While post World War Canada was reckoning with antisemitism, it failed in addressing the underlying cause, Judeophobia. Antisemitism’s shortcoming was its inability to incorporate Israel. Advocates of the day cannot be blamed however, as the world has not known a Jewish state for two thousand years.

This change in the angle of attack – that Israel is a uniquely devilish entity – has become a societally appropriate manner to discriminate against Jews. As we saw in part two this is not new - it is a return to the ancient manifestations of Judeophobia: Discrimination against the one Jewish state in the land of Israel.

The blanket hate, the constant and total presence of anti-Zionist rhetoric, accusations of genocide, and double standards is severe. Further, the central tenets of the ideology defy any logic. It has become an omni-cause that can be used to explain any injustice.

This newfound outlet, an orgiastic compilation of Judeophobia disguised as being in the name of hating Israel, scratches at some primal itch. The hateful relish and take advantage of the double standard. Well meaning progressives are either ignorant of the facts or too afraid to point out the logical confusion.

Somehow a nation state of 10 million people is the root of all progressive grievances. There is no rational explanation for this besides systemic Judeophobia. According to Israel’s enemies, all of these are rational positions:

• Israel is committing a genocide against a people who’s population is increasing.

• Israel is a repressive theocracy despite it having the most liberal rights for Gays in the Middle East.

• Israel is an ethnostate despite it being composed of less than 30% Ashkenazi (white) Jews.

• Israel is an apartheid state despite Muslims and Israeli Arabs enjoying full rights within the country - including holding elected office.

• Israel is a colonial entity despite it being made up primarily of an indigenous people returning to their ancient land.

• Zionists control the media despite constantly being accused of atrocities and painted as villains in that very same media.

Then there are the comedic accusations that come and go, already forgotten since Algeria, Iran, and Egypt exited the world cup. Some soccer analysts and federation members declare that Zionists are influencing the outcomes for FIFA. They omit however, that those same Zionists are not sophisticated enough to rig the competition for Israel to qualify.

The example that hits closest to home is demonstrated by the reaction to this piece published on accordingto.ca - a story about Israelis migrants living in Canada.

Feedback to the piece included responses that neatly described this hate movement in its entirety: Canadian anti-Zionists would say that there is no place for zionism or Zionists in Israel, but they would also say that there is no place for Zionists here in Canada. In other words, there is no place for Zionists anywhere - thus the anti-Zionist movement reminds us why Zionism was ever necessary in the first place.

Despite all the contradictions in their thinking, progressive movements are relentless in their energy for despising Israel. The flames of hatred are fanned by religious fundamentalists. The most passionate anarchists relish in Anti-Zionism rooted in Judeophobia. Judeophobia is their lingua franca - Jews can be their scapegoat, no matter the issue of the day. Israel is often described as the global Jew, and there is unfortunately an understandable allure to this positioning. It plays on the human need to have simple solutions to complex problems. Digging deep for answers is painstaking when one could simply tap into the latent Judeophobia in the aether, like mana from heaven.

Finally there is the fact that there is relatively little social or political capital expended when blaming Israel or Jews for a problem. This is a systemic feedback loop that further normalizes Judeophobia. Leaning into this conflict is so popular that entire Canadian political careers become focused on it, despite it having next to no bearing on Canadian life.

Israel could make any number of policy decisions, it could double in size, or cease to exist entirely, and the facts on the ground for the vast majority of Canadians would not change one bit. Yet Israel is a focal point for every news outlet, the headlines take up so much oxygen it baffles the mind. Anti-Zionism is a focal point for every progressive movement. With no cost besides abandoning some loosely held ephemeral principals, it is all upside. The ends justify the means perhaps.

This is why the existence of Judeophobia defies logic. Human beings desire a target for othering, and these prejudices are deeply enmeshed into the western psyche.

There is a tremendous amount of well documented transgression. The sheer volume of hate, the constant sapping of energy, and the base level of discomfort and fear all add up. Ultimately this presents a pretty logical search for an escape route. Forgo the downsides of Jewish identity entirely. Explore the idea of abandoning your identity and assimilating. The pull is strong. The grass is greener perhaps without the Jewish anchor.

As we will see in the next edition here though, assimilation is never really possible.

Read Part IV Below: