Several days ago, a Jewish friend of mine remarked that he was “shocked to learn that there were so many Jew-haters in America.” I responded that I was shocked as well, but differently. I’ve been watching the recrudescence of American and European anti-Semitism for several years, so its existence came as no surprise. What I found shocking was the explosion of raw hatred in the wake of the October 7 Hamas atrocities in Israel and the sudden and massive sense of empowerment this seemed to give to the haters. Above all, I was shocked at the extent to which this was a phenomenon of America’s own children. I never thought it would come to this. How to explain this? I believe the answer lies in something we should call “Holocaust envy,” which is very different from the traditional strain of anti-Semitism.
Once and for all, we need to reject the twin notions of collective guilt and collective innocence.
Hamas, along with Hezbollah, ISIS, and the theocratic regime in Iran, collectively represent a millennial hatred, not just of the Jews, but also the whole thrust of modern Western civilization. In a previous American Spectator article I described Israel as the “canary in the coalmine” for all that we hold dear.
