American Antisemitism
Three times in as many months, people who claim to fight for Palestinian rights have attacked Jews on American soil.
Sunday's Molotov cocktail assault in Boulder followed the killing in May of two young Israeli embassy aides in Washington, D.C., and the April firebombing of the governor's mansion in Harrisburg, Pa., where Gov. Josh Shapiro and his family were celebrating Passover.
This is what a resurgence of violent antisemitism looks like.
The attacks were also acts of anti-Zionism — a clear response to the war in Gaza. There is a useful distinction between the clear bigotry of Jew hatred and the political and historical debate over Zionism — the support for a Jewish state. But, partly in response to the Oct. 7 war, the categories are collapsing. Salvos against Israel are colliding with longstanding prejudice, sometimes with deadly effect.
Today's newsletter is about that collision.
The collapse
It is a moment of despair for advocates for Palestinian rights. Many are desperate: More than 50,000 have died in Gaza, and much of the territory has been razed.
The Trump administration appears to believe any defense of Palestinian lives is evidence of Jew hatred. (As my colleague Tyler Pager put it last night, the president has lots to say about antisemitism and little to say about Jews.) It has used pro-Palestinian speech as a pretext for assaults on higher education, science funding, foreign students and immigrants.
But attacks on Jews for the actions of an Israeli government a world away are collective punishment, and collective punishment is bigotry. This was not even a question when Muslims in America were attacked as retribution for the murderous actions of Al Qaeda on 9/11.
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