The recent tragedy in the Middle East is creating a division between two historic components of the American left: the progressive Jewish community and the radical pro-Hamas wing that dominates on college campuses as well as in other radical factions such as the anti-racist extremism movement Black Lives Matter.
One expression of this divide is major donors, who are essential for the smooth functioning of elite universities. The Jewish community is well represented among the donors who generously fund American science. This is now distancing itself, at least among some of its leading representatives, from or openly boycotting the universities that have hosted and supported pro-Hamas demonstrations and episodes of open anti-Semitism.
The division is directed against some of the historic constituencies of the democratic left in the United States. The case of the wealthy patrons is just one aspect. Even in the world of culture and entertainment, the division is evident, for example with the unsparing criticism of a king of television satire like Bill Maher of privileged students who support Hamas and have not expressed a word of condolences for the killed Israeli children. New Yorker Maher embodies a concentration of the historical left’s electorate: with an Irish Catholic father and a Hungarian Jewish mother, his family album unites two communities that are pillars of the Democratic electorate on the East Coast. Given his comic verve and popularity, Maher’s indictment of the ignorance of students whose families pay $70,000 a year to receive an education that is far less “skilled” than assumed had particular resonance.
Among philanthropists, a prominent case is Ron Lauder, a member of a famous Jewish family, heir to the dynasty that founded the multinational cosmetics company Estée Lauder. The Lauder family has always been distinguished by its patronage: from major universities to the art world (in New York, it founded the Neue Galerie and one of its collections occupies an entire wing of the Metropolitan Museum). Ron Lauder has announced a “review” of the financial support the multinational has offered to the University of Pennsylvania for years. This university is one of many where academic authorities have openly tolerated support for terrorism and hostile acts against Jewish students.
At Harvard, Israeli billionaire Idan Ofer and Victoria’s Secret founder Leslie Wesner severed ties with the university after 34 student organizations blamed Israel for the massacre of Israeli civilians by Hamas (again, without encountering resistance from academic authorities). ).
The Jewish community in the United States includes several advocates of progressive causes, the richest and most well-known including George Soros and Michael Bloomberg. Soros funds movements for human rights and freedoms around the world; In the United States, it has supported some of the most radical fringe groups, for example, it has donated to the campaigns of ultra-left judges who systematically exonerate and release those guilty of crimes involving minorities of color. Former New York City Mayor Bloomberg was born a Republican but ultimately ran for the White House as a Democrat; finances many environmental campaigns. Both are among the most generous supporters of universities. Now part of this Jewish-American community is discovering that it has bred a snake within itself. The rampant anti-Semitism at universities has surprised many prominent donors. How can this phenomenon be explained? Perhaps they had not paid attention to what was happening in the teaching staff, in the academic bureaucracy, in the teaching programs.
Here is the subtitle of a course offered to Harvard students on “Ethnicities, Migrations, Rights”: “Global Revolt: Race, Solidarity, Decolonization: How to Rebel Against White Supremacy.” The readings assigned to students are a concentration of the old Marxism-Leninism prevalent on campuses, with echoes of anti-Western third worldism, calls to fight against the West and against the Zionist enemy that would not be out of place in a Hamas leaflet . Berkeley, Stanford, Yale and Princeton have similar programs. In this world, it is obligatory to describe Gaza as an open-air prison or a concentration camp where Israel’s genocide is taking place, ignoring the fact that since 2007, Hamas has been the sole authority in the Gaza Strip.
Another dogma in American universities identifies Israel with Western capitalism – cruel, oppressive, predatory – while Gaza is the symbol of the Marxist exploited proletariat.
The relative prosperity of the State of Israel is seen by many American students as a result of the abject exploitation of poor Palestinians. In reality, the State of Israel was poor and labor socialist at its birth and for several decades. The kibbutz experiment was the equivalent of “communes.” Israel’s economic miracle only began in the 1980s with a series of market reforms that allowed entrepreneurial talent to flourish. Today, Israel’s per capita income is ten times higher than that of Gazans, but this is not due to the exploitation of Gazans (who are impoverished by Hamas). Since the beginning of the millennium, other tax and banking reforms have encouraged the venture capital boom, even creating the new metaphor of Israel as a “start-up nation.”
Already at the beginning of the millennium, Israel had 140 scientists for every ten thousand employees, more than the United States and Germany in relation to the population. The economic, scientific and technological miracle of which Israel was the protagonist – which has nothing to do with the plight of the Palestinian people – also benefited from an influx of new talent, for example fresh graduates, researchers and Jewish scientists fleeing Russia. This miracle has caught the attention of some Arab ruling classes, from Dubai to Riyadh. Emiratis and Saudis have begun to see Israel no longer as an enemy but as a role model to emulate. This is one of the explanations for the Abraham Accords, which was to be followed by Saudi Arabia’s recognition of Israel.
On American campuses, particularly at elite universities, various opinion polls have shown that the majority of students consider socialism to be a system far superior to capitalism. In order not to suffer from the discomfort of “cognitive dissonance” – which occurs when real-world information diverges from our preconceptions – these students, with the help of teachers, must turn Israel into a monster whose successes are entirely the result of atrocities. The fact that this is also leading to a resurgence of anti-Semitism took Bloomberg, Soros, Lauder, etc. by surprise.
This is not the first time that the American Jewish community has felt “betrayed” by its fellow travelers. The more progressive component of Jewish Americans has long supported the struggles of African Americans, including extremist fringe groups like Black Lives Matter.
For left-wing Jews, who make up the majority of their community in a metropolis like New York (with political leaders like Senator Chuck Schumer), it is imperative to protect other ethnic minorities, remembering the origins of the disadvantaged and discriminatory condition of the first Jews Migration to the United States. This solidarity has not been reciprocated by the more radical militancy of anti-racist movements, where it is mandatory to identify with all forms of Palestinian struggle, even the most violent.
Recent outbreaks of anti-Semitism, including some attacks against American Jews, have often involved black people. Will the division also have an impact on voting behavior and political balance? It’s too early to tell, but I’ve reported the presidential bid as an independent of Cornel West, a pro-Palestinian black intellectual on the far left who could steal youth support from the Democratic Party.