Jerusalem Post publishes column on antisemitism and “coalitions of grievance”
In Israel, The Jerusalem Post published an opinion column by Brian Blum on the views of Ruth Wisse and Dara Horn regarding the reasons for the spread of antisemitism in some liberal and progressive circles after the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7.
Blum refers to Ruth Wisse, a former professor of Yiddish and comparative literature at Harvard University associated with the conservative Tikvah Fund. According to the author’s account, in a 1992 book Wisse advanced the thesis that antisemitism can be a “unifying goal” for groups that focus their political activity on their own grievances and sense of injustice.
Ruth Wisse’s thesis
Wisse compares this mechanism to the search for culprits in Nazi Germany and calls it the “politics of the pointing finger.” In her view, blaming Jews or Israel can give different movements a common object of criticism.
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She also claims that Harvard has 33 separate “grievance groups” connected to different social issues. In her assessment, the Palestinian issue has become a means of uniting such groups. Wisse believes that part of the debate about Israel at the United Nations is aimed not at discussing the country’s specific actions, but at political mobilization.
Dara Horn’s position
Writer Dara Horn, the author of People Love Dead Jews, describes antisemitism in Blum’s account as a lie used to gain or retain power. She notes that antisemitic ideas often attribute special influence to Jews. Because of this, some people may present the fight against them as a pursuit of social justice, Horn believes.
According to the column, Horn advises not limiting oneself to responses to specific accusations, but instead determining why certain slogans become popular and who spreads them. She also spoke about the Tell Institute educational program for high school students, which, she says, is intended to teach them to recognize manipulation.
