Antisemitism, the world’s oldest hatred, keeps getting worse | Editorial

Antisemitism was surging in America and around the world even before the war in Gaza stirred up that sorry lot of people whose lives are defined and warped by their bigotries. After Oct. 7, according to the ADL, reported antisemitic incidents in the U.S. increased more than fourfold over the same period from the year before.

That year set a historic record. The ADL expects the final tally for 2023 to be worse.

Pro-Palestinian rallies have become a significant outlet for the world’s oldest hatred. The FBI blamed an unknown foreign source for more than 200 swatting incidents of false emergency calls over the Dec. 19 weekend. Many synagogues have had bomb threats, some multiple times.

A startling number of specific incidents of outspoken hatred and threats have beset Jewish students. The ADL noted at least 505 incidents on college campuses and 246 in K-12 schools. In a survey, 73% of Jewish college students said they had seen or experienced antisemitism since the current school year began. Even 44% of non-Jewish students had recognized it.

This is not what America is supposed to be. But it is what many Americans obviously are.

A moral responsibility

All others, and particularly those in government, have a moral responsibility to speak out, to show by both word and deed that bigotry is incompatible with democracy.

The Florida House did so, passing House Bill 187 to codify definitions of antisemitism in the general laws. This bipartisan legislation is sponsored by Rep. Michael Gottlieb, D-Davie, with 34 co-introducers. The vote was 113 to 3.

HB 187 is in the Senate’s hands now, where Sen. Lori Berman, D-Boynton Beach, had introduced an identical bill (SB 148) that was referred to three committees. On arrival, however, the House version was sent to only the Rules Committee, usually a sign of swift passage.

The Senate should take the opportunity to decry islamophobia as well. That has also been on the rise, if to a lesser extent, since Oct. 7.

Muslims in America are no more responsible for the atrocities that day than Jews in America are responsible for how Israel has retaliated.

The definitions of antisemitism, adopted by the U.S. and 43 other nations, are similar to language already in Florida’s school code.

Enacting them in general law could figure in hate-crime prosecutions and affect government in other ways. That makes HB 187 more than symbolic.

What it is — and isn’t

It also makes it as important to define what antisemitism is not as much to say what it is.

It is not inherently antisemitic to criticize Israel’s refusal to countenance a Palestinian state in the occupied West Bank or how it is conducting the war in Gaza. (Is criticism of the U.S. government anti-American? No, it isn’t.)

HB 187 does not make that plain enough. To the contrary, it says it is antisemitic to expect from Israel “a standard of behavior not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation.” That wording is problematic and should come out. It seems to be aimed at people who deplore Israel’s conduct but who have nothing to say about what Russia is doing to Ukraine — a separate issue.

Many Jews in Israel as well as in the U.S., oppose the regime of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and what they consider the disproportionate death and destruction it has inflicted on Gaza in reaction to the Hamas atrocities of Oct. 7.

By prolonging the war to a conclusion that looks increasingly unattainable, Netanyahu is putting off the reckoning he owes the Israeli people for the intelligence and political failures that left them so vulnerable to attack. He should have resigned the next day. It is not antisemitic to want him out, or to observe that he’s trifling with the safety of the hostages as well as with his major ally, the U.S. He’s holding our foreign policy hostage by his obstinate opposition to a Palestinian state.

Religious persecution fear

Meanwhile, Florida is offering sanctuary to college students wanting to escape actual or feared antisemitism where they are. Gov. Ron DeSantis ordered the system to waive admission protocols and possibly out-of-state fees. Chancellor Ray Rodrigues expanded on the order to require a documented “well-founded fear.” He also extended the invitation to all students fearing religious persecution, which we assume includes Muslims, as it should.

There has been no adequate explanation, though, as to how it doesn’t violate the racist law DeSantis signed to promote his now-suspended presidential candidacy that bans all diversity, equity and inclusion programs at the universities (SB 266 in 2023).

It does appear that Florida indeed is safer for Jewish students. The ADL says its nationwide poll reflected that “more Florida Jewish students were more likely to say that they felt very or extremely emotionally safe than Jewish students elsewhere.” There was no “clear picture” on whether they felt more or less physically safe, but the survey showed those in Florida were more likely to be comfortable with non-Jewish students and have less need to hide their Jewish identities.

Those are only relative comparisons, because there is antisemitism here, too. At the University of Florida, which leads all U.S. universities in Jewish student enrollment (presently 6,500), the Bud Shorstein Center for Jewish Studies said recently that “Jewish faculty, students and community members have repeatedly conveyed anxiety” and “fear of being attacked for speaking against antisemitism.”

In November, the Chabad UF Jewish Center was vandalized with antisemitic graffiti. There had been a series of on-campus incidents in 2022, well before the Gaza war.

It is always necessary to oppose antisemitism — but never more so than now.

The Sun Sentinel Editorial Board consists of Opinion Editor Steve Bousquet, Deputy Opinion Editor Dan Sweeney, editorial writer Martin Dyckman and Editor-in-Chief Julie Anderson. Editorials are the opinion of the Board and written by one of its members or a designee. To contact us, email at letters@sun-sentinel.com.