Attacks on Elon Musk Don't Mask Failures on U.S. Antisemitism Policy

Major Jewish leaders just tried to pull a “bait & switch” on the public and their own community. At the very same time they were playing “gotcha antisemitism” against Elon Musk, they hid the truth from you that the true fight against antisemitism recently lost ground -- not due to “extremists” -- but due to our own government. 

The United States had a longstanding policy of using the strong International Holocaust Remembrance Association (IHRA) definition of antisemitism across several administrations. The IHRA definition is strong enough to correctly identify antisemitism from any source, and nearly all Jewish organizations support it. 

However, over the holiday news dump, the government just announced it will backtrack to a much weaker definition that has several drawbacks. It was designed in part by non-Jews and anti-Israel groups, and ignores antisemitism from the many other sources besides who they label “extremists” or “white supremacists.” It has been widely condemned among Jewish organizations that were sidelined in the negotiations.

Times of London columnist Melanie Phillips writes that “instead of standing up against antisemitism, the Biden administration is helping empower antisemites.”

People calling Elon Musk antisemitic are misrepresenting the actual fight against antisemitism for their own partisan purposes. First, the name callers get Judaism backwards -- Judaism stands for respecting opposing views, it cannot be used as a basis to censor ideas and expression. Second, no Jews were actually offended by attacks on George Soros. Third, They could not even explain why Musk’s comments ran afoul of the IHRA’s strong definition of antisemitism (because it didn’t). 

Jews who know anything about George Soros tend to agree with Elon Musk. An attack on Musk’s right to free speech is an attack on yours and mine, as well, if you agree with Musk. Perhaps that was the point of the name calling.