Them is Us

Disclosures

Full Disclosure:  I am not of the Jewish faith.   I was raised and confirmed into the Episcopal Church of the United States.  I lapsed from that faith in the mid-1970’s, and profess no organized religion today.  However, my father was Jewish, and while he didn’t practice most of his life, it was a Rabbi that officiated at his funeral.  (Mom was ex-communicated from the  Catholic Church for marrying Dad, and an Episcopal minister officiated her final service.  Dad’s funeral was handled by a Jewish Funeral home, Mom’s by a Catholic one.  We were children of a ”mixed marriage”).  

But as the son of a Jewish man, I learned a lot about Judaism growing up.    And as that son, it was often assumed by others that I was Jewish.   When I did the “Ancestry.com” genetics, my DNA was identified as 54% Jewish, 45% English/Irish/Scottish, and 1% “Mediterranean”.  That extra 4% of Jewish marked a family revelation.  Only 50% came from my Dad’s side, where was the extra 4% on Mom’s side?  My oldest sister did the research to find that ancestor, about four generations back.

So I’m “Jewish” by genetics, and often “Jewish” by cultural identification.  I’m more than just a “George Santos – Jew-ish”.   That’s worked both ways in my life.  Looking back, I think I got more first job in a Congressional office because they wanted a “Jewish kid”.  And on the other hand, I’m also aware that my “assumed” Jewishness was insulted behind my back, and sometimes even to my face.  I never used my “trump card” to get out of that – in many ways I accepted the social distinction of being Jewish.  It was, literally, part of me.

Hear O Israel

And like many American Jews, I struggled with the issues of Israelis and Palestinians.   I grew up with the almost mythical story of the Jews in Israel, literally rising from the ashes of the Holocaust to build their own nation.  The Biblical “David and Goliath” story of Israel, a small band of Jews standing against the millions of the Arab world who wanted them in the sea, was deeply engrained in my brain and soul.  (Need a refresher – watch the movie Exodus with Paul Newman). 

And like most Jews, I accepted the story that many of the Palestinians who lived in greater-Israel left at the urging of the Islamic leaders.   They were told to evacuate so that the Arab Armies could clear the Israelis out in 1948.  They could return after victory.  And that “story” is, in part, true.

But there was no Arab victory, in 1948, or 1956, or 1967, or 1973.   The Arabs kept the Palestinians encamped on the Israeli border, political pawns to use against Israel in world politics.  When Palestinians tried to assimilate into Jordan and Egypt, they were rejected.  Only in Lebanon did they find somewhat of a “home”.  And those camps, now almost eighty years later, have become the center of Palestinian resistance.  The idea of returning “home” to Israel is passed from generation to generation.  The sacrifices, some made by suicide bombers, are venerated in the family lore.  

Two State Solution

There is a “theory of revolution”, that states that revolt only happens after hope is given, then snatched away.   In the early 2000’s, there seemed to be some hope for a reconciliation between the Palestinians and Israel.  But the political party of “the two state solution” lost power in Israel, and the hard liners, willing to do almost anything to insure Israeli supremacy in the entire old Palestine, took over.  

Israel, a nation founded on the ashes of genocide, is perilously close to committing the same crime.   The results of the heinous and desperate Hamas October 7^th attack on Israeli citizens, gave license to the current Israeli government to do anything and everything to the Palestinians in Gaza.  The terrorism of October 7^thwas horrific, but the responding deaths of 50,000 Palestinians are no less awful.  

The hostages still held by surviving remnants of Hamas seem to be “inconvenient”  for both sides.   The Israeli government is still slightly restrained by their existence.  And Hamas can’t let them go, because of the horrific consequences Israel might levy on the remaining Palestinian people. 

Which Side 

For Jews in the America, it is a divisive issue.   Are they the traditional folks who fight for the oppressed, the “under-dog”, or are they in lock-step with the Netanyahu destruction of Gaza? Last year, there were Jewish college students on the sidewalks protesting against the Palestinian actions.  And there were Jewish college students having seder supper in tents in the pro-Palestinian protestors campgrounds.  (As I look back on my essays about October 7^th, I can see my own evolution from firm Israeli support, to questioning, to deep, deep concern about Israeli actions). 

Was there anti-Semitism on some college campuses?  Of course there was.  Were Jewish students at risk?  Some absolutely  were.  

But to say  that all of the protestors who couldn’t “stomach” the outrages of the Israeli attacks on Gaza were anti-Semitic is ridiculous.   They were anti-Netanyahu, anti-bombing Gaza hospitals, anti-starvation and destruction of civilians.  

Anti-Intellectual

And here’s the real “rub”.  The Trump Administration is using this watch-word of Anti-Semitism as a cudgel to beat American colleges.   They are withholding government grants and funding unless the college kowtow to the Trump’s demands.  Columbia folded, the price of their principles was $400 million.  Harvard, and other institutions, are still standing firm.

But the determination of “Anti-Semitism” isn’t the purview of Donald Trump and his minions.   It is up to the “Semites”, American Jews, to determine what is anti and what is not.  It’s not up to Trump to punish the universities.  It’s up to American Jews, many of whom are benefactors to those same universities, to make that decision.

Trump and his group are using the “Jewish issue” to pursue their own agenda of retribution against America’s colleges.   But their real issue isn’t Anti-Semitism, it’s anti-intellectualism.  Their issue isn’t what colleges “aren’t doing” for Jewish students, it’s that Trump doesn’t like open, intellectual, sometimes fiery, discussion of ideas.  The protests of last spring were against Trump’s “buddy” Netanyahu, and Trump is getting “paybacks” for him.

Trump promised to be America’s retribution in the 2024 campaign.   And, so far, he’s living up to that promise.  But don’t use “the Jews” as an excuser to muzzle colleges when it’s really about silencing America’s intellectuals.   

To plagiarize the old cartoon “Pogo”, “Them is us”.