Sen. Chuck Schumer, the Jewish Majority leader of the U.S. Senate, discussed the fears of Jewish Americans in a recent address to the legislative body, in one of the strongest speeches in his long political career.
"After October 7, Jewish Americans are feeling singled out, targeted and isolated. In many ways, we feel alone. The solidarity that Jewish Americans initially received from many of our fellow citizens was quickly drowned out by other voices. While the dead bodies of Jewish Israelis were still warm, and while hundreds of Jewish Israelis were being carried as hostages back to Hamas tunnels under Gaza, Jewish Americans were alarmed to see some of our fellow citizens characterize a brutal terrorist attack as justified," Schumer said.
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Schumer painfully described how Jewish Americans are being excluded from the public sphere by groups that justify the brutal terror attack of October 7, despite Jews' standing with several minorities through their hardships. This might be leading to "Jewish erasure," meaning to eradicate symbols related to Judaism and Israel in the world. This occurs on several levels, with the basic method being in the physical space.
Take the holiday of Hanukkah for example, which ended not long ago; it is considered one of the most well-known and beloved holidays in the entire world, even among non-Jewish communities. Many political leaders and public figures have participated in candle-lighting events over the years, including the traditional menorah lighting at the White House. This year, Hanukkah was much less present around the world than usual. The connection between Israel's war in Gaza and the Jewish communities around the world caused many to not want to participate in the Jewish celebration, and the menorah became a taboo symbol in some places.
Eran Shayshon, CEO of Atchalta, a non-partisan Zionist organization that strives to strengthen national resilience and social cohesion in Israel, said that an example of this can be seen in the decision by the University of Alberta in Canada to refuse a request to place a menorah in the public space as had been customary every year. To make the decision appear logical, the administration said it would remove Christmas trees and any other religious symbol to avoid clashes.
I guess the university felt this was an opening for trouble and decided to just avoid everything, didn't they?
"Until last year, there were menorahs and Christmas trees and everything, not only at the University of Alberta, but in many places. The context of the erasure and exclusion comes following October 7. Now, amid the Gaza war, when a Jewish student comes and asks for representation and inclusion in the public sphere, as happens every year, they suddenly decide in one moment to remove every symbol. This is the exclusion of Jews, and instead of saying it directly and it being perceived as antisemitic, they hide behind the religious issue. The connection between a Jewish Canadian girl and what is happening with Hamas is very problematic."
"In Canada, even more than in the United States, what is happening is truly an earthquake," according to Shayshon. "Life in the United States is a 'melting pot' that tries to create some kind of person that is first and foremost American and only then something else. In Canada, life is more of a mosaic, meaning you have a Canadian identity but also another identity of another religion or nationality, and this is very characteristic of the public sphere. Therefore, as soon as a large institution like a university makes such a decision, it has great significance."
At Harvard University, which has become a pro-Palestinian stronghold in the U.S., Chabad Rabbi Hirschy Zarchi, who presided over the lighting of Hanukkah candles on campus, said that he was asked to put away the menorah at the end of the ceremony. "We have to hide it somewhere because Harvard will not allow us to leave the menorah here at night, because there is a fear that it will be vandalized and it will not look good from the university's point of view," he said during the holiday.
'The Jews are seen as "white" oppressors'
"Jewish erasure" is not only physical, but also in the conceptual sense. Shayshon explains that "the Jews are seen as 'privileged whites' within the identity politics that dominates in the United States. According to this world view, the world is divided into two, the oppressors, who are usually 'white', and the oppressed, more or less all blacks and minorities. This is due to the cooperation of all kinds of minority groups, each of which fought its own battle separately, but they have decided to join forces, and we therefore see, for example, the cooperation of blacks with Latinos, of feminists with the LGBTQ community. It reminds us of the dynamics of the civil rights movement in the U.S. more than 50 years ago, but with one huge difference. The Jews were an integral part of the struggle movement, and today they are identified with the other side, the white oppressors."
Why is this identification so significant?
"This has serious consequences for all Jews as well as for Israel. "Jewish erasure" is one of the main reasons for the rise in antisemitism. It is normalized and does not meet strong opposition in the American mainstream. Suddenly antisemitism is already considered just a 'problem.' According to their perception, discrimination or hatred of Jews can be compared to discrimination against blacks and other minorities. As far as Israel is concerned, the problem is broader. Since Jews are defined as 'white', the Jewish state is categorized as a 'white state', and therefore a conquering colonialist. It does not matter at all that Israel's demographic composition is different or that what is happening here is very far from the definition of colonialism. The more general problem, of course, is this binary distinction that 'white equals evil.' This presents young Jews with a crossroads: either they will "move to the other side" and religiously adhere to progressive values, or they will remain faithful to their Jewish identity. It is almost impossible to be on both sides."
Jews are hurt and the world is silent
A week ago, Britain's Daily Telegraph revealed that British Airways delayed plans to broadcast the comedy series called "Hapless," about a struggling Jewish newspaper, on its entertainment systems. The reason, according to the creator of the series and additional sources, was the airline's attempt not to be perceived as "taking sides" in the Israel-Hamas conflict. Only after severe criticism did the company revoke its decision. How is a series that will be broadcast on a plane part of the conflict? This is exactly what erasure is. Everything Jewish is removed from the public sphere so as not to stir up controversy.
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British Airways scandal for dragging Jewish content into Gaza war
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In another event, also in Canada, a Jewish professor at the University of Toronto discovered that her union supports an anti-Israel event called "Organized Labor Against Apartheid," which is meant as a protest against Israel. The Canadian professor experienced "Jewish erasure" when the labor union of which she is a member participated in an event that morally supports Hamas, an antisemitic terror organization that calls for genocide. Among the members of the union there are certainly other Jews, but the workers' union apparently did not perceive them as a group whose sensitivity should be taken into account in view of their so-called "privileged" status.
Perhaps the climax of the erasure was in the famous Ivy League university presidents' congressional hearings, where the presidents of the universities tried to dodge the question of whether the chants against Israel and the Jews in the demonstrations on the campuses are harassment. Their hiding behind "freedom of speech" and the claim that calls for genocide "depend on the context" are the result of the distorted thinking that it is possible to exclude Jews and call them out because it is actually a political issue.
Another aspect in which Jews have been excluded since October 7 is the issue of rape and sexual assaults on Israeli women and men during the massacre. The international women's rights organizations ignored the issue and it took the UN two long months to agree that the testimonies from the massacre would be heard. Despite this, there was total silence regarding the events and the terrorists' use of rape as a weapon all over the world. Only an aggressive campaign that came out of Israel, with some international backing, managed to stir up the international organizations a little and make them and the media address the issue.
What can be done about it?
According to Shayshon: "After October 7, we have an opportunity to deal with the issue of 'Jewish erasure.' For this, a wide coalition should reject the simplistic binary division of the progressive discourse. This action is essential so that it is possible to have a discussion based on facts regarding Israel instead of a distorted and ideologically biased discourse."