Antisemitism on the Ballot in Georgia: A danger to all Americans

“WE ARE EVERYWHERE” was the message surrounding the swastikas that defaced the Anne Frank Human Rights Memorial in Boise, Idaho, earlier this month in what The Hill called “the latest high-profile incident of anti-Semitism in the United States.” Of course, that was only the “latest high-profile incident” for a couple of days before another occurred: an antisemitic vehicular assault during an outdoor menorah lighting in Lexington, Kentucky.

I began 2020 on the Brooklyn Bridge with 25,000 others in the “No Hate. No Fear.” solidarity march in response to a spate of antisemitic violence in the New York City area.

These two events bookend a year like none other – a year that came on the tail of a year that had recorded a new high for antisemitism: 2,100 incidents in 2019, a 12 percent increase over the prior year and the highest rate in at least four decades. That was before the surge in antisemitic tropes that accompanied the global pandemic and before the alarming escalation of the politics of division in the 2020 elections.

Antisemitism is on the rise at the same time as 21 percent of Americans say they’ve never even heard of the term and another 25 percent have heard the term but are unsure of what it means, according to recent surveys.

Antisemitism is not always as obvious as a swastika plastered on the back of a statue of Anne Frank or a gunman opening fire in a kosher market. In fact, the mainstreaming of antisemitism – the banality of it, to borrow a cautionary term from the mid-20th century – and the lack of understanding about it, is what makes it so dangerous.

The attention of donors and activists across the political spectrum is fixed right now on Georgia, where control of the U.S. Senate lies in the hands of that state’s voters. What’s less obvious but also on the ballot is antisemitism. The Senate races in Georgia need to be understood as a referendum on antisemitism.

In an earlier phase of the contest between Republican Senator David Perdue and challenger Jon Ossoff, the Perdue campaign produced an ad that altered Ossoff’s image to make his nose appear bigger. In addition to using photo manipulation to emphasize this purportedly Jewish aspect of Ossoff’s appearance, the ad trafficked in the antisemitic trope of Jews as holding the international purse strings. Apparently oblivious of the irony of making such a charge in a fundraising ad, the Perdue campaign accused the Atlanta-born Ossoff and Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer (both are Jewish) of trying to “buy Georgia.” Perdue responded to calls to fire the digital firm responsible for the ad but declined to comment regarding the demand that the money raised by the ad be donated to pro-tolerance efforts.

The issue of antisemitism took center stage in the other Senate race during a debate earlier this month between the white incumbent, Senator Kelly Loeffler (a Republican), and challenger Rev. Raphael Warnock, a Black minister. Loeffler twice painted Warnock as antisemitic, citing what fact checkers and a diverse set of Jewish leaders have described as out-of-context remarks regarding controversial Chicago pastor Rev. Jeremiah Wright and statements critical of Israeli government policy.

Rabbi Peter Berg of The Temple, Atlanta’s first and largest synagogue, told the Atlanta Jewish Times:

“The recent attacks against Reverend Warnock misrepresent his position on Israel and are deceitful. As a close friend and clergy confidant, Reverend Warnock and I have spoken on numerous occasions about his strong support for a two-state solution. It was my honor to travel to the AIPAC Policy Conference with Rev. Warnock this past year. Reverend Warnock has publicly praised the [U.S.-Israel] Memorandum of Understanding, strongly condemned BDS [Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions] and looks forward to advancing cooperation between Georgia and Israel.”

Berg further noted, “We are blessed that all four candidates from both parties running for U.S. Senate from the state of Georgia are strongly pro-Israel and will work every day to advance the U.S.-Israel relationship. We cannot allow Israel to become a wedge issue.”

Unfortunately, Israel is already a wedge issue, cynically used to exploit a range of agendas. While no government or state on this planet is exempt from critique, what complicates many attempts at fair criticism of Israeli government policy is conscious and unconscious antisemitism.

Raising antisemitism in a Senate campaign debate could be good for democracy. But in this case, it’s suspect given Loeffler's affiliation with Trumpism and other movements steeped in antisemitism – for instance, her close association with QAnon adherent Marjorie Taylor Greene, now a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Georgia. QAnon traffics in deeply dangerous antisemitic tropes that date back to the Middle Ages, as detailed in the Insider article, “QAnon builds on centuries of anti-Semitic conspiracy theories that put Jewish people at risk.”

Greene, as reported by The New York Times, has made derogatory remarks about Black people, Jews and Muslims and calls QAnon “a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take this global cabal of Satan-worshiping pedophiles out.” Loeffler “readily accepted Ms. Greene’s endorsement,” according to The Times.

If ever there were an issue to unite a world still reeling from the millions slaughtered by a Nazi regime, it should be opposing antisemitism. Instead, not only is Holocaust-denial on the rise, antisemitism remains deeply embedded – if for differing reasons – across the political spectrum.

Antisemitism is emerging as an equal opportunity ideology. It crosses every line of race, political party and primary stances on a wide range of issues. The reluctance to recognize it as a form of racism that must be opposed will continue to leave movements vulnerable to wedges.

Antisemitism is more than hatred for the Jewish people. It is more accurate to describe it, in its current state, as a racialized form of bigotry. Antisemitism imagines a supernatural race, a threatening “other.” The conspiracist belief that Jews are the all-powerful puppet masters behind a range of concerns from left to right — everything from economic inequality to civil rights gains by the Black community to the mechanics of democracy itself — manipulates populist movements by appealing to the everyday folks who feel like the elites are holding out. Antisemitism is about not being clear where power really resides.

The bottom line is, antisemitism clouds our ability to understand that while this form of prejudice directly attacks the Jewish population, it in fact imperils us all. That is why it’s important for us all to pay attention to the story playing out in Georgia. It’s a national case study in the influence of antisemitism in electoral politics. Opposing antisemitism should not be used to make partisan or other ideological points. Our fight against antisemitism has to be value-based.

Earlier this year I spoke to a group of Jewish organizational leaders who wanted to know how they could best support the Movement for Black Lives. I think every jaw on the Zoom screen dropped when they heard my answer. What should the Jewish community do to fight racism? Fight antisemitism even harder.

Nine worshippers in a Charleston church died not only because they were Black, but also because the shooter believed he was at war with a Jewish conspiracy. Latinos died in El Paso because the conspiracy-infected shooter thought he was at war with a Jewish cabal. Scratch below the surface of most mission-oriented hate crimes against Sikhs, Muslims, Jews, Blacks and Latinos, and you will find the equal-opportunity poison, the ideology of antisemitism.

Even now, tens of thousands of Americans will die over the coming months from COVID-19 because of the antisemitism-tainted theories of QAnon and other conspiracists – theories that at least one candidate in Georgia has failed to disavow.

Antisemitism isn’t just making the lives of Jews harder. It’s killing the rest of us too.

Eric K. Ward is an SPLC senior fellow and executive director of Western States Center. Portions of this essay were previously published on Medium as “Somebody Must Be Blamed”: Antisemitism, the Equal Opportunity Ideology.

Photo by Ira L. Black/Getty Images