Against the Anti-s

 Back in third grade, I was the teacher’s pet and I hated it. No matter what I did, it was showered with praise. This gained me no love from my peers and just made me try to find ways to avoid the unwanted attention.

One day, I gloriously was “bad” enough to warrant being benched at recess. Sitting on the silver bench while others ran around freely was a fabulous success for me. I don’t remember what my crime had been, but I know I thought it might get me out of being bullied on the bus.

Unfortunately, my strategy went awry when another well-meaning teacher came up to me and asked why I was sitting there. Before I could tell her the truth, Mrs. S jumped in and covered for me. “Emmy is here because she is sick,” she claimed.

In outrage, I stood up and exclaimed that she was a “big liar! You know why I’m here; I’m here because I was bad! I was bad and that’s why I’m here!”

Apparently, it’s not desirable to call your teacher a liar. She called my parents — out of concern for her little star?— and my outburst has made it into family lore. However, whenever someone is accused of lying or hiding the truth, we tend to (humorously) accuse them of being a liar “just like Mrs. S.” (Poor well-meaning lady…)

Well, if you follow my blog or my posts, you’ll know that my anecdotes from the past usually unveil some issue in the present. This entry is no different, but I want to caution you that the analogy is not perfect.

Currently, the Trump administration is bending the truth in a lot of ways. One way that outwardly seems well-meaning is in their acts to combat antisemitism. In appearance, you would think Jews are Trump’s chosen people. It is in our name that he is deporting hundreds of students.

Do not believe it.

Antisemitism is bad. Islamophobia is bad. Trump doesn’t care about either. He just wants power from his base.

Yes, I would have been scared to be on college campuses during the protests last year. I’m horrified about the actions of Hamas on October 7th and I’m horrified about the ongoing devastation in Gaza. But as a Jewish person, I am no more responsible for Netanyahu’s decisions than I am for Trump’s. I am responsible for my responses: those of a peace activist, not a warmonger.

Students are being accosted by ICE agents who feel obliged to hide their identity with masks… they’re being rounded up, sent to Louisiana for trial, and then deported. They are accused of being antisemitic.

Maybe they are. Maybe they aren’t. As I say, I’m against antisemitism and against Islamophobia. I would want there to be consequences — and education—- for anyone promoting either of those ills. But this administration’s actions will only deepen the divide between the two cousin faiths.

Trump is not a true supporter of Jewish people. If he were, he would not have freed January 6th protesters who were filmed wearing neonazi paraphernalia. If he were, he would have reprimanded Musk for his Nazi pose at inauguration and he would have spoken up about Texas representative Self for quoting Goebbels as an authority. If Trump were a true supporter of Jewish causes, he would have appointed a legitimate Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism after Deborah Lipstadt retired, and he wouldn’t have appointed Huckabee (who blamed “Jewish liberals” of smearing Trump and his supporters) as Ambassador to Israel.

Judaism values conversation and debate. This administration’s actions favor Christian Zionists who believe that exacerbating the Israeli-Palestinian crisis will expedite end times and the Rapture. Many in the highest rungs of Trumpdom support the “Great Replacement Theory” which exploits antisemitic tropes accusing the Jews of taking over positions of white Christian males. (The same theory is also loathesome to all immigrant populations.)

Jewish tradition celebrates the justice of King Solomon, a man of wisdom and understanding. Trump’s administration is wearing away at due process.

Just as Mrs. S appeared to be taking care of me— when in fact she was further ostracizing me from my peers— the president and ICE are trying to appear like they are taking care of Jewish students, when in fact they are only deepening the divide.