Conflating Anti-Semitism and Anti-Zionism
Josh Nathan-Kazis December 27, 2011
A brief addendum to Gal’s earlier post on Ron Paul.
The New York Times published a thorough piece this weekend examining Paul’s much-discussed relationship with the racist fringe of the libertarian spectrum. The story, which reported that Paul doesn’t agree with his most extreme followers but that he won’t reject their support, is well worth reading.
But two lines near the top of the article — both of which appeared on the front page of the edition of the Times I read on Sunday — struck me as odd. My questions are more or less semantic quibbles relating to the line between a fierce rejection of Israel and a hatred of the Jewish people, but both bear mention due to the story’s front page play.
In the fifth paragraph, the Paul story reads:
“The white supremacists, survivalists and anti-Zionists who have rallied behind his candidacy have not exactly been warmly welcomed. ‘I wouldn’t be happy with that,’ Mr. Paul said in an interview Friday when asked about getting help from volunteers with anti-Jewish or antiblack views.”
This paragraph is difficult to parse, but it appears to be using the terms “anti-Zionist” and “anti-Jewish” as synonyms. That’s not the only possible reading — it may also be that Paul was asked about anti-Jewish volunteers before the piece’s authors came up with the story’s framing. But if the terms are being used as synonyms, it’s worth noting that, while some anti-Zionists are anti-Jewish, some Jews are anti-Zionist, and the terms are certainly not identical.
I also thought it odd that the story lists a book called “The Invention of the Jewish People” as among the implicitly racist books published by an apparently extremist press that has supported Paul. “The Invention of the Jewish People,” written by Tel Aviv University professor Shlomo Sand, was certainly controversial when it was published in English in 2009, as the Times itself reported that year. And Sand could be called anti-Jewish, in the sense that he doesn’t believe Jews exist as a people. But he’s not an anti-Semite, in that his work is not apparently motivated by hate.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and the protests on college campuses.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
