JUSTICE - No. 65

41 Fall 2020 antisemitism is quickly portrayed by the proponents of the cancel culture as “Islamophobia.”“When Western intellectuals do weigh in,”Weiss writes, “it is often to apologize or to justify or even to inadvertently regurgitate an Islamist talking point” (p. 151). Eventually, the cancel culture hit Weiss at the most liberal American newspaper. In July 2020, Weiss resigned from her position as staff editor and writer at The New York Times opinion section. Her book may have contributed to her resignation. This was a surprising move, because in 2017 she was hired from the Wall Street Journal to analyze opinions of large sections in the American society missed by the Times during the 2016 presidential elections. This was exactly what she did. In her resignation letter, however, she cited a hostile work environment — a culture of bullying and groupthink at the newspaper. 9 “Colleagues who disagree with my views,” she wrote“have called me a Nazi and a racist.”The nasty comments appeared on the Times-wide Slack communication channels and Twitter, with no reprimand from senior management. Apparently, liberalism and free exchange of ideas stop at the gate of the most liberal newspaper in the U.S. The New York Times has“a problem”with antisemitism and Israel. 10 Weiss mentions in passing an instructive recent example (p. 120). On April 25, 2019, the paper's international edition published an editorial cartoon depicting Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu as a dog on a leash, Star of David around his neck, held by a blind President Donald Trump wearing sunglasses and a Jewish skullcap. The cartoon drew sharp criticism from American Jewish organizations, Jewish communities around the world, and prominent American and Israeli politicians and diplomats. They said the cartoon copied antisemitic propaganda published by the Nazis in the infamous paper Der Stürmer . They strongly condemned the Times and demanded an investigation and apology. It took two days for the Times to admit an editorial error, but the tweeted statement was ambiguous and nebulous. The inadequate response sparked protests of hundreds of people outside the Times ’ building, amid claims of a culture of anti-Jewish and anti-Israeli biases at the newspaper. Under pressure, the Times acknowledged the cartoon's antisemitic nature, and the editorial board apologized and placed the issue in the larger context of rising antisemitism.“Anti-Zionism can clearly serve as a cover for anti-Semitism,”wrote the paper's board, “and some criticism of Israel, as the cartoon demonstrated, is couched openly in anti-Semitic terms.”A.G. Sulzberger, the newspaper’s publisher, wrote to his employees that “the Times will update its bias training to include a focus on anti-Semitism, and processes would change to ensure the situation couldn’t be repeated.” The recent appointment of anti-Zionist Peter Beinart as opinion writer showed that Sulzberger ignored his own message. The last chapter suggests a long list of various ways to fight the forms of antisemitism discussed throughout the book. These include conventional as well as innovative techniques.“Tell the truth,”“call it out,”and “tell your story” are conventional methods; but to be effective they require audiences, which in the case of fighting antisemitism, as the book convincingly demonstrates, is very difficult to cultivate. Several ways appeal to the individual self, such as“If you find yourself standing alone, know that you are in good company,” and“knowing when to stand alone depends on knowing exactly what you are fighting for,” or “never ask of yourself what you would not ask of another minority.” Several ideas deal with the American Jewish community, such as “don’t trust people who seek to divide Jews, even if they are Jews,”“notice your enemies, but even more, notice your friends,” and “we must fight the antisemitism on our own side.” Regardless, effective fighting of antisemitism must be a project of the Jewish people and Israel. Anti-Zionism or Israel denial is severely damaging this crucial goal. For good reasons, How to Fight Anti-Semitism was awarded a 2019 National Jewish Book Award. Weiss engages the literature and sources on antisemitism today in the U.S., Europe and the Middle East. (It would have been useful to add notes, bibliography and index.) Weiss offers interesting observations and supports them with relevant evidence, statements and writings. Weiss is much less biased than most of her critics, and it is worthwhile to read her book, even if at times it looks too short and not sufficiently developed, than to brush aside the significant points she makes about the alarming manifestations of antisemitism in today's U.S., both on the right and the left. n Eytan Gilboa (Ph.D. Harvard) has been a professor of political science and international communication at Bar-Ilan University and a senior research associate at the BESA Center for Strategic Studies. His mo st recent book, The American Public and Israel in the Twenty-Fir st Century, was published by the BESA Center: https:// besacenter.org/wpcontent/uploads/2020/10/181-web.pdf 9. Bari Weiss,“Resignation Letter”(July 14, 2020), available at https://www.bariweiss.com/resignation-letter 10. Jerold S. Auerbach, P RINT TO F IT : T HE N EW Y ORK T IMES , Z IONISM AND I SRAEL , 1896-2016 (Brighton, MA: Academic Studies Press, 2019).