Current Antisemitism From the Right and the Left in the U.S. | Reconstructing Judaism

For the blog of the Reconstructionist movement, I wrote an overview of antisemitism in America in 2024, and how to fight back.

“In recent years, we American Jews have scarcely needed reminders that antisemitism is on the rise — we know from personal experience. Maybe, God forbid, we have faced vandalism, harassment or attack on the streets, or at our shuls and community centers. Or we have been targeted by white nationalists on social media, suffered bomb threats at our synagogues or “Zoom bombing” on our video calls, or driven past white nationalist highway banners and roadside protests.

Since Oct. 7, the fear and the reality of antisemitic graffiti and vandalism, virtual and real-life harassment, intimidation and violence has grown more acute. If we haven’t experienced these personally, we likely know someone who has.

At the same time, questions of antisemitism today feel more convoluted and confusing than ever. Some of us have felt deeply shaken by rhetoric and activism we’ve seen from critics of Israel’s assault on Gaza and are trying to figure out where legitimate criticism ends and antisemitism begins. Meanwhile, right-wing antisemites like billionaire entrepreneur and X owner Elon Musk accuse Jews of “pushing … dialectical hatred against whites” one moment, and are applauded by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and Israeli leaders as staunch defenders of Israel and the Jewish people the next. MAGA politicians like Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene peddle George Soros conspiracy theories with one hand while slandering Jewish anti-occupation groups as irredeemable Jew-haters with the other.

When accusations fly across the aisle — and denial, defensiveness and division rule the day — our community becomes more isolated and bereft of allies. How to separate fact from fiction, signal from noise, as we struggle to understand and counter the threats we face?”

Read more at Reconstructing Judaism.