Julie Roginsky joined me today for the kind of crucial, personal conversation we should all have with political allies when we see deeply unsettling behavior. Julie and I, both 50-something, longtime Democratic consultants, talkers, and Jews—though decidedly unreligious and not hugely culturally Jewish—felt it was time to address something that’s bothered us both: the increasingly open and virulent anti-Semitism on parts of The Left.
We both think Bibi Netanyahu is a war criminal. A criminal-criminal. And we think AIPAC are a bunch of right-wing Republican clods. But we’re seeing conspiracy theories shared by people we know, and by those in our comment sections we don’t, who are otherwise progressive. Some blame American Jews for all Israel does. Blame all Israeli Jews for Bibi’s crimes (akin to blaming all Americans for Trump’s). Some use “Zionist” as a slur similar to “white supremacist,” even though their origins and belief systems couldn’t be more unalike. (See chart below).
Julie told stories about how she had to flee Russia in the 1980s. How her family was nearly killed while they were in Israel. I talked about the anti-Semitism I encountered growing up in 1970s New York (go see the film “Gentleman’s Agreement,” if you doubt this). And my family having to escape pogroms from Odessa to Vienna 100+ years ago when they came to this country. We both talked about how this kind of violence always starts with rhetoric and conspiracies, but never ends there.
It was an emotional conversation. But there was no ranting. We wanted people to understand the impact of what’s happening on the human beings behind the figures. What figures? The 9,354 anti-Semitic incidents in 2024, the most on record since tracking began in 1979. The fact that Jews, who make up 2% of the U.S., were the targets of 70% of “religion-based hate crimes” in the. U.S. In 2024, according to the FBI. And more.
Gaza is horrific. But so are Sudan, Myanmar, and Syria. China puts Muslims in concentration camps. Saudi Arabia has mass-murdered Yemenis, and has a leader, Mohammed bin Salman who ordered an American green-card holder bonesawed to death. Kills women for the “crime” of being raped. And MBS was every bit as important in convincing Trump to attack Iran as Netanyahu. And the U.S. funds them. Heavily.
But there are no protests standing up for innocent Yemenis against Saudi Arabia on American college campuses, and few articles on Substack. Why? We make a plea for consistency, context and nuance. For understanding not only the moral impact of what we choose to say (and ignore), but the political fallout. Which a certain Russian leader has a keen interest in causing, and he just happens to hail from a country that mastered dividing the West with anti-Semitism in the 1960s. This could crack the Democratic coalition.
Please watch the video, my friends. 🙏 There is much more there.
—Cliff
Cliff’s Note: Look—we don’t do a conversation like this one for clicks. There’s no fun thumbnail here, no easy applause line. Julie and I did it because somebody has to, and because the people funding Blue Amp Media are the only reason we can.
That’s not a figure of speech. We have no network suits, no billionaire owner, nobody whispering “go easier on this one.” It’s you. So if this conversation meant something to you, here’s how you keep it coming.
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And get in the comments. This is the part I mean most. We didn’t make this to lecture anybody—we made it to start a conversation among family. Tell me where you agree, tell me where you think we’re wrong, tell me your own story. We read them. We answer them. That’s the whole point of doing this here instead of on someone else’s platform.
We’ve shown up for every fight. Help us keep showing up. —Cliff
