Republicans have been attacking elite universities for years. After a tense congressional hearing last week, many on the left are joining them.
For years, conservatives have struggled to persuade American voters that the left-wing tilt of higher education is not only wrong but dangerous. Universities and their students, they’ve argued, have been increasingly clenched by suffocating ideologies — political correctness in one decade, overweening “social justice” in another, “woke-ism” most recently — that shouldn’t be dismissed as academic fads or harmless zeal.
The validation they have sought seemed to finally arrive this fall, as campuses convulsed with protests against Israel’s military campaign in Gaza and hostile, sometimes violent, rhetoric toward Jews. It came to a head last week on Capitol Hill, as the presidents of three elite universities struggled to answer a question about whether “calling for the genocide of Jews” would violate school rules, and Republicans asserted that outbreaks of campus antisemitism were a symptom of the radical ideas they had long warned about. On Saturday, amid the fallout, one of those presidents, M. Elizabeth Magill of the University of Pennsylvania, resigned.
Conservatives do not give one single fuck about Jews except that they think all the Jews need to return to Israel for Jesus to come back, after which he will throw all of those sinful Jews into Hell where Conservatives think they belong.
That and they hate Muslims even more than they hate Jews.
Has there been a rise in antisemitism in the U.S. since Israel and Hamas went to war? Definitely. But they don’t actually give a shit.
I think his entire article misses the point. NYT is so goddamn focused on their “conservatives SLAM liberals” or “republicans CAUGHT RED HANDED” framing that they can’t see the forest for the trees.
This isn’t a matter of “liberals” harboring antisemitic feelings. And it’s definitely at least six layers deeper than “republicans score points as liberals FLOUNDER.” Like…this is the only way these people can conceive of the world? I don’t know how to explain what I’m feeling—I mean, I guess I do. It’s a fucking farce. Zero critical thinking skills whatsoever. And all these writers went to fucking Harvard and Yale, I guarantee it.
Anyway, my point is, the real issue here is that no one can conceive of nuance anymore. People who typically fall under the “liberal” label are fully aware of racism, antisemitism, etc. In fact, the white liberal LOVES to accuse people of it—because it bolsters their liberal bonafides (or at least scores them internet points). They are fully aware of long-running antisemitism and systemic racism showing itself as subtle social cues. They know it. They’re not unaware of what it looks like.
The disconnect is happening because the same social media ecosystem in which they score those “I’m more aware than you” points is also giving them points in the “pro-Palestine minigame.” Their feelings are commodified—in engagement, in views, in likes…being personally affected by the news is like gold stars and everyone is so goddamn busy trying to make the global situation about them. So if you can show just how angry you are, people will see that you care, and the further you take that to further display your anger, the more it shows.
We’ve lost our ability to operate in any gray area—or to even conceive of a gray area. It’s black or white, no questions, no straying from the pack. Peoples opinions are streamlined now. It’s all served up to us on a platter in the most digestible form possible, and then regurgitated down the line so that our opinions on “Our Side” all match. That doesn’t leave any room for critical thinking, and it sure as shit doesn’t leave room for “well, let me just say, I don’t think we should really say _____.” As soon as you question anyone on your established “side,” the groupthink jumps into action to label you whatever the most egregious opposite of a perfect liberal/conservative is. Because you’re a traitor. We’ve established an order here and it leaves no room for drawing logical conclusions on your own. From there it’s a short hop to “kill all Jews.” Because we weren’t questioning the thinking anyway. So why question the calls for genocide? It’s all legitimately unhinged and tragic to see all these people lost to this sort of…idiocy. I’ve tried pointing this out to people who otherwise wouldn’t be harboring super extreme thoughts. But they just can’t see it. Or won’t admit to seeing it. And I’m not sure which is worse.
That’s the much, much larger and deeper problem here. And it’s going to doom us all.
Did…you actually read the article?
You RACIST! /s
The belief that Jews returning to Israel is part of a prophecy that needs to be fulfilled before the Second Coming is not exactly mainstream among Republicans…
Feel free to explain why they suddenly love Jews so much. And yes, it is suddenly.
Republicans always support a new war. These “aid” packages come in the form of weapons. These weapons come from republican donors. They start with supporting the new war and work their way back to why. Remember when Trump was trying to make an Iran war happen? I’m sure there are some nutcases who believe that this will start the end times, but really this is Fox News selling the idea of war.
I don’t think it is as much loving Jews as it is hating Muslims.
It so happens that there’s a comprehensive survey of the topic here. Highlights include
and
As you see, sympathy for Israel has been fairly stable for 30 years, and while people who do believe in that prophecy are much more likely to sympathize with Israel, they are a (large) minority and even the people who don’t belive in it are twice as likely to sympathize more with Israel than with Palestinians.
Given that most of the believers in that prophecy would probably sympathize with Israel even if they didn’t believe in it, I think it’s reasonable to conclude that that belief has a significant effect but not the dominant effect on Republican policy.
But that’s not an explanation for why Republicans suddenly care so much about Jews.
I don’t see why you’re claiming that this opposition to antisemitism has appeared suddenly, given that American attitudes haven’t changed much in decades. People (both Republicans and Democrats) are suddenly talking about antisemitism more, but that’s a response to a rise in (open) antisemitism and not a sign of increased opposition to antisemitism. I think both parties from thirty years ago would respond the same way the modern parties are responding.
I don’t know, maybe growing up as a Jew in America has given me a little perspective about how Republicans have viewed me my whole life…
My experience as a Jewish kid in Texas* in the 90’s must have been quite different from yours - most people didn’t care, some people were curious, and there were a couple who made well-meaning attempts to convert me to Christianity, but the only “hostility” I ever encountered there was from a seven-year-old boy who told me he wouldn’t play with anyone who didn’t love Jesus.
*The county where I lived voted 70% Trump 30% Biden in 2020.
Evangelicals seem to hold that belief and my understanding is that they cannot be alienated or the fortunes of the Republican party will weaken, so apparently it gets incorporated into how they all need to behave.
It’s such insanity that supposed liberals are giving any credence to these totally insane and bad faith allegations conservatives are trotting out. These presidents didn’t even say anything sympathetic to Palestine, much less anything antisemitic, they just didn’t crack down on student free speech as much as the right wing wants to.
I always have to ask for specifics when someone mentions antisemitism.
The word has been corrupted to the point of meaninglessness.
At least with specifics there is no ambiguity and I can make my judgements for myself.
Of course, biased people with an agenda do not want that to happen.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Universities and their students, they’ve argued, have been increasingly clenched by suffocating ideologies — political correctness in one decade, overweening “social justice” in another, “woke-ism” most recently — that shouldn’t be dismissed as academic fads or harmless zeal.
It came to a head last week on Capitol Hill, as the presidents of three elite universities struggled to answer a question about whether “calling for the genocide of Jews” would violate school rules, and Republicans asserted that outbreaks of campus antisemitism were a symptom of the radical ideas they had long warned about.
For Republicans, the rise of antisemitic speech and the timid responses of some academic leaders presented a long-sought opportunity to flip the political script and cast liberals or their institutions as hateful and intolerant.
Just as celebratory rallies in the aftermath of Hamas’s October rampage have split Jewish progressives from some of their own longtime allies, anti-Israel protests on campus in recent weeks have driven a wedge into the Democratic Party more broadly.
On the presidential campaign trail, where Republican contenders largely phased out their critiques of college woke-ism this summer after finding it had limited appeal to a broader political audience, the issue came back to the fore at last Wednesday’s debate.
Jay P. Greene, a senior researcher at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, said that antisemitic and anti-Israel protests on campuses — and the university presidents’ lawyerly responses at last week’s hearing — were akin to what he called the “Zoom moment” during the pandemic, when some parents first listened closely to what their children were learning in school and concluded it was “subpar in quality and radical in content.”
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