The path to combating anti-Semitism is unity, not division
O
ne discouraging aspect of the recent rise of anti-Semitism is the attendant conflict it has created within the Jewish community itself.
Instead of joining forces against the threat of anti-Jewish hate, Jews are divided along the lines of left and right, with each side willing only to hear about vitriol and violence that emanates from the opposing camp.
This is dangerous. It fosters an atmosphere of Jew versus Jew, and gives rise to a situation in which community officials and activists are mainly preoccupied with scoring ideological points against their adversaries.
This past Monday, I witnessed this division firsthand at the annual convention of the American Jewish Committee, a global Jewish advocacy organization in Washington, D.C. One of the plenums featured Matt Brooks, executive director of the Republican Jewish Coalition, and Halie Soifer, executive director of the Jewish Democratic Council of America, debating which party offers Jews a better political home. The conversation, which lasted about 25 minutes, included about 20 minutes of Brooks and Soifer insisting that the other party was to blame for the uptick in anti-Semitism in the United States.
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