Does Anybody Care About Jews?

I have lately been reading the book Jews Don’t Count by David Baddiel (2021; Dublin, TLS Books; US Edition by HarperCollins, https://www.harpercollins.com/products/jews-dont-count-david-baddiel?variant=39721100705826). I also have read the book People Love Dead Jews by Dara Horn (2021; New York, WW Norton & Co, (https://wwnorton.com/books/9781324035947).

Baddiel, whose politics point well to the left, writes about how anti-Semitism turns up in even politically progressive spaces; people who fight vigorously against racism, sexism, transphobia and homophobia can be quiet if Jews are slandered and attacked. There is the idea that Jew-hatred is not as bad a prejudice against LGBTQ+ people or people of color; Jews are seen as “white” ( not realizing there are Jews of Color all over the globe), and Judaism as only a “Religion,” therefore any discrimination or assaults against Jews aren’t taken seriously.

But it is serious; ever since the terrorist raid on Israel by Hamas on October 7, 2023, and Israel’s response to the attack (as every sovereign nation has the right and duty to do), raving mobs of fools have terrorized and bullied Jewish students on college campuses, and sent threatening notes on their message boards; and Jewish institutions and restaurants have been vandalized and raided (like the stampede on the Jewish hospital in Toronto. These are assaults on innocent people trying to get an education, eat a dinner peaceably, and just do their jobs (like the doctors and other personnel in the hospital.

We don’t have to take this. We mustn’t. We must rock our Jewishness, loud and proud, for the world to see. Let them know we’re not ashamed of who are what we are—THAT’S our fightback!

Digital art gif. Two smiling wine glasses full of red wine, clink together, bold white bubble letters zooming in shadowed by a trail of pink, reading, "L'chaim."