It is clear now more than ever that modern antisemitism has evolved into a type of ideological bridge, furthermarrying groups of people who otherwise would be enemies. There is no better example than the so-called Red and Green alliance. Since the mid 20th century,left-wing Marxists and Islamic Fundamentalists have grown considerably close under their shared hatred of Jewish power personified by Israel and its advocates as well as a complete rejection of western civilization.
To make two long stories short, both groups view Jewish pride, power, and existence as the first of many major obstacles stopping their designs to create what they view as the ideal global society (i.e. world domination.) Antisemitism is both a means to this end and inherent to their core philosophies – the Hadith of the Stones and the Trees and Karl Marx’s “On the Jewish Question” undeniably reflect this truth. For those paying attention during the past sixty years when Jews desperately tried to escape the Soviet Union’s anti-Zionist oppression on one side of the world and were summarily expelled from every Arab anti-Zionist country on the other, this is not new.
What is new is the extent to which citizens of western culture have sacrificed their own morals to embrace such self-destructive antisemitism.
Since the most recent rape and massacre of Jews on October 7th, 2023, (committed by the Palestinian Islamic Fundamentalist group, Hamas,) higher education in the West has seemingly been taken over by these antisemitic movements. By exploiting the guilt stemming from the widely acknowledged moral failures of predominantly secular and capitalist Western societies, as taught in these universities, these groups aim to replace these societies; all while conveniently ignoring the arguably greater moral shortcomings of their own civilizational projects.
This is how schools in the UK have now found themselves harbouring large groups of activists who openly support violent terrorism, attack and intimidate students and faculty who disagree, and have no problem distorting the values of free speech and open education to justify their actions.
On February 10th, 2024, the Hillel House of the Jewish Society of the University of Leeds was defaced with ‘Free Palestine’ graffiti – a tactic used to intimidate Jews who rightly interpret this is a call to commit genocide into silence.
Immediately after those 1400 Jews and Israelis were either kidnapped or murdered, the Palestine societies at the University of Warwick, University College London and the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) all openly praised the Hamas attacks quoted Hamas leaders, and justified their support by denying any Jewish connection to Jerusalem.
Less than two weeks later on 10/18, The Marxist Society at University College London was suspended after openly glorifying the chant “intifada till victory.” For readers who don’t already know, this statement expresses the desire to repeat the atrocities of the first and second Palestinian uprisings against Israeli civilians that also lead to the deaths of many Palestinians. It should be blatantly obvious to everyone that calling for people to be murdered by suicide bombings, mass shootings, lynchings, and car ramming attacks has no place in academic institutions let alone in the UK.
Unsurprisingly, school administrators have left Jewish students vulnerable to further escalating verbal and physical violence by generally refusing to act. In addition to the incidents mentioned earlier, over the past nine months, there have been 55 assaults on Jewish people and more than 1.100 recorded antisemitic incidents in the UK alone.
And though the violent antisemitism of the Nazis and Christian fundamentalists has never fully disappeared, their movements have considerably less influence than the Socialist and Pro-Palestine societies that have sprung up on every major campus. The Red-Green alliance. We can already see where this is leading without making any more tired comparisons to pre-WWII Germany. On the American front, (where UK activists often seem to be taking cues from,) these groups have either threatened or attempted to create “Zionist Free Zones,” effectively banning all but a few Jewish students access to libraries, classrooms, and student housing. While the Western universities refuse to take sufficient action in fear of being falsely accused of espousing Islamophobia and fascism, (the convenient red+ green boogeymen of the West,) the anti-Western leaders in Tehran, Moscow and Beijing have been celebrating.
As long as the West tolerates the radical left and Islamists, campuses will remain unsafe for students who disagree with them, whether Jewish or not. Both groups cannot help but promote values that undermine dignity, tolerance, and respect for differing religious and political views.
This article was originally published in the Times of Israel blogs.