Antisemitism not so right-wing anymore
It would be easy to believe that antisemitism in Texas is a problem only for the political right.
Just Google “antisemitism, Texas” and the most prominent headline returned from the Texas Tribune reads, “Jewish Texans see surge in antisemitism as precursor to fascism.”
The accompanying story, from late 2022, tracks a rise in reported antisemitic incidents, which the experts cited attribute solely to Qanon followers and other white supremacist groups, otherwise known as “ultra right-wingers.”
The author even goes so far as to accuse Gov. Greg Abbott of employing insidiously antisemitic rhetoric as a political tool.
Fast forward 18 months, to the not-so-subtle antisemitic protests led by progressive youth on elite university campuses across the U.S., including the flagship University of Texas at Austin.
It would seem that the greatest source of antisemitism in Texas and beyond doesn’t look very right-wing anymore.
It looks downright progressive.
Since last year’s horrific surprise attack by Hamas militants on the nation of Israel, contingents of Hamas sympathizers in the U.S. have been voicing their support for the group’s aims.
These Hamas sympathizers are frequently far-left activists and increasingly concentrated on college campuses, where they have made wreaking havoc on their institutions of higher learning second only to terrorizing their fellow Jewish students.
Hundreds of incidents of harassment have been documented, some resulting in actual physical violence, many causing Jews to feel unsafe at their schools, and most going unaddressed by campus administrators.
Last month, protesters escalated their hateful efforts at New York City’s Columbia University.
Masked protesters and their non-student supporters began issuing demands, occupying campus buildings and setting up encampments on the university quad — all the while chanting antisemitic and sometimes murderous slurs at their Jewish peers.
Their actions forced professors to move classes online and even obliged a rabbi affiliated with the school to urge Jewish students to stay away from campus for their own safety.
One might think such antics would be isolated to elitist coastal schools, but no.
Channeling their activist peers at Columbia and UCLA, a group of about 500 students and supporters at the University of Texas recently announced their intent to occupy the lawn in solidarity with occupied Gaza.
They walked out of their classes chanting antisemitic slogans, accused Abbott of genocide against the Palestinians (for what isn’t exactly clear) and harassed police officers who were monitoring and eventually broke up the crowd, arresting 55 people.
Similar protests have cropped up at other Texas campuses, including the University of Texas at Dallas in Richardson, where 17 were arrested last week. I could go on.
Unlike the administration at Columbia, though, Texas schools have championed free speech but made clear that the protests must not disrupt the school’s ability to function for a long period of time without consequence.
And they have followed through.
Unfortunately, most of the reporting on these events focuses on the response of the school or the state — often criticized — and not on the insidiously hateful rhetoric of the perpetrators.
You might have a guess as to why.
Several months ago, a small group of white supremacists gathered at a taco joint in Fort Worth before dropping antisemitic fliers at various locations around the city.
Their decision to quietly share their hatred through paraphernalia was roundly condemned by multiple outlets. I, too, expressed my disgust, but also surmised about how when it comes to antisemitism, the far-left and the far-right really are not so far apart.
In Texas, only the latter seems to get critical coverage. That must change.
But make no mistake, political leftists are now a far greater source of hatred toward Jews — whether they and are willing to admit it or not.