For centuries, the Jewish religion has had criteria for one to be considered Jewish. Some people on the Left have used the idea that someone is Jewish as a cudgel to charge right-of-center folks as anti-Semites while they themselves are anti-Semitic in their actions. It is time to deal with the truth — if you can handle the truth.
The definitive standard for me is a column I have used for over thirty years. After realizing I did not have a copy, I went to National Review who sent me an electronic copy of the magazine in which the column was published. I am happy to provide to any reader. William F. Buckley, a man of true brilliance in word and his writings, in 1991 addressed the issue regarding then-Presidential candidate Pat Buchanan. He did a thorough analysis of Buchanan’s actions and came to the conclusion that anyone who is singularly focused on Israel’s activities while ignoring other country’s activities cannot be anti-Zionist; they are anti-Semitic.
When I mentioned this to people on the Left, they had a knee-jerk reaction with revulsion because they cannot accept a concept offered by someone like Buckley. So much for the benefit of getting a college education. No enlightenment there.
In my opinion, just going to a Jewish deli a few times each year is not sufficient to show your “Jewishness.” If that is the only thing you do, you are doing nothing to perpetuate the Jewish religion for the next generations and Judaism will die out.
Recent activities now include something else constituting anti-Semitism: The lack of support for Israel. Israel and in particular Jerusalem have been a focus of Judaism for millenniums. It is customary to conclude the Passover seder with the words “next year in Jerusalem.” Only anti-Semites argue Israel is not now nor has been for thousands of years a central core of Jewish life. Only anti-Semites argue Jews have not been in Jerusalem and the land of Israel for millenniums.
Let us focus on three people of note that are bantered around as being Jewish. Anytime the Left wants to call people right-of-center anti-Semitic, they focus on attacks on George Soros. There is nothing that makes George Soros Jewish for at least half a century. In fact, he and his son fund anti-Israel and clearly anti-Semitic groups like Palestine Action. Soros is brandished against the leader of his home country, Hungary, to tarnish him as anti-Semitic. Victor Orban, Prime Minister of Hungary, runs the most pro-Jew country in Europe. Jewish people and temples are safer in Hungary than in any other country in Europe. Hungary is one of the few countries that regularly supports Israel in international bodies. There is nothing Jewish about George Soros.
In the same regard, Bernie Sanders isn’t Jewish. Certainly, he was born that way, but he chose socialism (a nice term for Communism) over the Jewish people ages ago. He is one of the most anti-Israel members of Congress. You can’t be socialist and Jewish because socialists believe only in the power of the state. Democrats try and bludgeon us with Bernie being a Jew while they attack Israel and everything Jewish. Don’t waste your breath. He is no more Jewish than Lenin.
What I mean by that is the story of David Ben-Gurion. He was a Communist. Then he went to Russia and had a meeting in the 1920’s with “his hero” Vladimir Lenin. When Lenin discovered Ben-Gurion was a Jew, he rejected him. At that point Ben-Gurion deserted Communism in favor of being Jewish and Zionism. He went on to become a primary founder of Israel and its first prime minister. Bernie is no Ben-Gurion.
The new darling of the Left is Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, the new President of Mexico. When she was elected, she was touted as the first woman and first Jew to be elected to that position. She may have been born Jewish, but she has displayed no interest in the religion in over fifty years. The Left was just using her “Jewishness” to batter people with the fact they, the Left, are not anti-Semitic. It doesn’t work. As an aside, they fail to mention that at least the past five presidents were white men because in their minds you cannot actually be Mexican and be white.
Then there are all those protesters on college campuses posing as Jews. Maybe they were born into Jewish families, but how can you call yourself Jewish when you support a group who are modern day Nazis. You know, “from the the river to the sea.” A perfect example of this is Sara Kershnar, co-founder of the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network.
Kershnar is so anti-Semitic that she, by her own account, began her support of Hamas during the second Intifada in 2007. Notice that date. It is after Israel left Gaza in the hands of the people who live there. I could go on for days about this woman and the supposed organization with unknown members and funding resources, but she has zero comprehension of the ties between Judaism and Israel.
When asked to define anti-Semitism she responded, “I think the reason it’s so hard is because Zionism has co-opted it and because Zionism has conflated what it means to be Jewish with what it means to be Zionist, Judaism with Zionism, Jewish with Zionist. That conflation means that it becomes very hard to define antisemitism even though we’ve had a definition of it that had nothing to do with the state of Israel or Zionism. That is the result of very, very solid propaganda.”
You would probably get a similar answer from the malcontents protesting at college campuses. They need to be reprogrammed from the anti-Semitic propaganda they have been dished out by the college professors.
Referring to any of these people as being Jewish is akin to the person saying they aren’t racist because they have a black friend. It may be even worse because at least that black friend is actually black. These people aren’t Jewish.
