Note: This post was written in June of 2025.
The New York Times Editorial Board recently published a piece on antisemitism: “Antisemitism is an Urgent Problem. Too Many People Are Making Excuses.” The article primarily criticizes leftists for supposedly ‘enabling’ antisemitic behavior, while completely ignoring the actual source of antisemitism — the right. I’ve seen mostly praise in online spaces, from those who appreciate the condemnation of antisemitism. As would I, but this isn’t so much as a condemnation of antisemitism as it is an undeserving attack on the pro-Palestinian and anti-Zionist movements. Let’s look at some of what this piece talked about.
Whataboutism?
But some Americans have gone too far in the other direction. They have engaged in whataboutism regarding anti-Jewish hate. They have failed to denounce antisemitism in the unequivocal ways that they properly denounce other bigotry.
In the following paragraph, the author then writes:
Consider the double standard that leads to a fixation on Israel’s human rights record and little campus activism about the records of China, Russia, Sudan, Venezuela or almost any other country.
The irony and hypocrisy is, quite frankly, astounding. Calling out others for ‘whataboutism’ while simultaneously engaging in the same side-stepping with regard to protests over human rights abuses. The issue with this second paragraph is that it fails to capture any of the very significant nuance regarding Israel’s human rights record in particular. Israel is the United States’ closest strategic/military ally. In the year after October 7th, 2023, the United States Congress authorized $17.9 billion in aid to Israel. The United States has continued its abuse of power as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council to veto a resolution for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza — supported by the other 10 elected members of the board as well as the other four permanent members — as it has done before with similar ceasefire proposals last November and last February. Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister — who currently has an arrest warrant issued from the International Criminal Court — recently visited in the US in February. The focus on Israel’s human rights abuses — not to mention their violations of international law — is precisely because of Israel’s deep connections to the US.
The normalization of an ethnostate
Consider how often left-leaning groups suggest that the world's one Jewish state should not exist…
This framing asks us to accept that a “Jewish state” is normal, acceptable, and beyond critique. Israel’s own leaders refer to it in terms much aligned with the definition of an ‘ethnostate’; Netanyahu has said “Israel is not a state of all its citizens. According to the basic nationality law we passed, Israel is the nation state of the Jewish people – and only it.” The basic nationality law Netanyahu refers to, Basic Law: Israel as the Nation-State of the Jewish People, …
Consider how often people use "Zionist" as a slur — an echo of Soviet propaganda from the Cold War - and call for the exclusion of Zionists from public spaces.
The definition of a Zionist is somebody who supports the existence of Israel.
This definition of a Zionist/Zionism — “support[ing] the existence of Israel” — is overly simplistic. The existence of Israel — or any state/sovereign entity for that matter — cannot be quantified. How many countries even are there? What qualifies as a country/state? The existence of the current government of Israel? The land of Israel?
It’s also interesting framing that “the exclusion of Zionists from public spaces” is inherently negative. Would the exclusion of homophobes from public spaces be so controversial? What makes a person with Zionist beliefs any better than a person who hates queer people?
Two, the condemnation has been quieter and at times tellingly agonized. University leaders have often felt uncomfortable decrying antisemitism without also decrying Islamophobia.
It’s telling that this sentence and associated paragraph don’t link to any external sources. I’ve yet to hear of any university leaders decrying Islamophobia is recent months, let alone decrying it in the same breath as decrying antisemitism. The real agonizingly quiet condemnation is of Israel’s unambiguous genocide of Gaza and Palestinians. Amnesty International, the over 50-year-old world-renowned human rights advocacy organization, concluded in December of last year that Israel was committing genocide. Less than three months into the war, South Africa submitted a request to the ICC accusing Israel of committing genocide in the Gaza Strip. Yet we don’t see the New York Times condemning the genocide in Gaza, or even using the words genocide and/or ethnic cleansing to refer to Gaza and Palestine in their articles.
Generalizing
The man who burned marchers in Colorado shouted "Free Palestine!" and (awkwardly) "End Zionist!" The man charged with killing the young Israeli Embassy workers in Washington last month is suspected of having posted an online manifesto titled "Escalate for Gaza, Bring the War Home."
..the demonizing, delegitimizing rhetoric of the left bears some responsibility for the recent attacks.
While I of course unequivocally condemn violence against anyone, this connection between a single crazed, mentally ill gunman and the pro-Palestinian movement as a whole is a sweeping generalization. Anyone can say anything, pretend to be part of any group; I recently read a post on social media about a troll who walked by a “Free Gaza” rally and yelled "f- the jews" — to which the crowd instantly responded with something along the lines of "f- antisemitism". The vast, vast majority of pro-Palestinians and anti-Zionists are not in fact anti-semites (no matter how much the corrupted ADL tries to tell you). Major student-led groups such as Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) are themselves composed of many Jewish people.
Shifting the blame
We can’t skip over the allegation that “the left bears some responsibility for the recent attacks” — the recent attacks being the aforementioned double homicide of Israeli Embassy staffers. This line echoes the common thread of the editorial, that anti-Zionism and pro-Palestinian activism among leftists is a significant contributor to anti-semitic violence. In actuality, the anti-semitism perpetuated by the right has a far greater reach and impact. Look at the members of Donald Trump’s new White House, or the social media influencers which Trump has knowingly engaged with, or Trump’s own anti-semitism. Look at Elon Musk, Trump’s right-hand billionaire since last July, who repeatedly made gestures that can only be called Nazi salutes.
If the Editorial Board truly cared about fighting antisemitism, they could start by confronting its most dangerous source — instead of deflecting blame onto those demanding justice for Palestinians.