Although it got the most coverage, political pundit Anne Coulter’s vulgar outburst last week was not the only calumny recently directed at Jews.
It was during the Republican presidential debate that Ms. Coulter, apparently outraged at the frequent expressions of support for Israel voiced by many of the candidates, tweeted “How many [expletive] Jews do these people think there are in the United States?” She also wrote, “Good Grief, [former Arkansas Governor] Huckabee is running for prime minister of Israel.”
Her disturbing message was plain: Despite their relatively small numbers, Jews manipulate the American political system in order to build unwarranted American support for Israel at the expense of American interests.
Although she tweeted after Mr. Huckabee, Florida Senator Marco Rubio, and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie had made statements of support for Israel, the subsequent comment of Carly Fiorina, who got a big boost from her debate performance on the strength of her forthright comments on domestic affairs and foreign policy, must have driven Ms. Coulter to apoplexy.
“On day one in the Oval Office,” said Ms. Fiorina, “I will make two phone calls. The first to my good friend Bibi Netanyahu to reassure him we will stand with the state of Israel….”
What escapes Ms. Coulter is the fact that polls show Americans support Israel in overwhelming numbers – support reflected in the near wall-to-wall backing of Israel in Congress. The vast majority of Americans are not at all bothered by presidential aspirants signaling their esteem for Israel. Now why do you suppose it drives Ms. Coulter to a foul-mouthed primal scream?
Then there’s Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who praised the Palestinians rioting on the Temple Mount against new Israeli security measures designed to protect Jewish visitors to the site:
Every drop of blood spilled in Jerusalem is pure, every shahid [martyr] will reach paradise, and every injured person will be rewarded by God.… The Al-Aksa Mosque is ours. The Church of the Holy Sepulcher is ours as well. They have no right to desecrate the mosque with their dirty feet. We will not allow them to…
Despite this clear endorsement of violence and defamation of Jews, the UN Security Council resolution on the conflict did not address Mr. Abbas’s incitement and made no reference to Palestinian violence, expressing only “grave concern” about violence generally and that Muslims “must be allowed to worship in peace, free from violence, threats and provocations….” The resolution also used only the Arabic name for the Temple Mount and failed to acknowledge any connection between the site and the Jewish people.
Finally, it seems incredible that in 2015 a major media outlet would feature an anti-Semitic caricature in a program for its annual concert festival, specifically an exaggeratedly hook-nosed and stooped likeness of famed violinist Leopold Auer, but that is exactly what the BBC did in connection with a performance of Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto at the tail end of its eight-week summer concert series.
To be sure, BBC officials apologized and withdrew the program after receiving outraged complaints. But what could have been going through the minds of those responsible for the program when they decided to use the offensive image?
As the above incidents indicate, Jews are still uniquely fair game, and to a widely disparate group at that – a right-wing political pundit, the chairman of the Palestinian Authority, and a group of BBC functionaries. Their political, cultural, and social differences magically melt away when it comes to Jews.