In an examination of the growing presence of anti-Semitic currents in American left-wing social and political movements, Sylvia Barack Fishman outlines the underlying problem:

Today, anti-Semitic tropes are repeatedly articulated by celebrity public figures. . . . And yet, in academic settings, despite the realities of the Holocaust in which Jews were massacred as an inferior “race,” anti-Semitism is not included in many definitions of “racial hatred,” because Jewish socioeconomic success—according to . . . academic theories—obliterates the position of Jews as a minority; [instead] they are portrayed as a mere subset of the privileged white majority.

Such assumptions then give free rein to a vocal anti-Israel movement that leaves many on the sidelines with the vague impression that the Jewish state is especially brutal or immoral. And often members of this movement ensure that their anti-Semitism is not mistaken for mere criticism of Israel. Take, for instance, Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), which Fishman calls one of the “most virulently anti-Semitic and destructive groups today.”

In addition to being extremely well-organized, SJP utilizes propaganda techniques that emphasize shock and emotion, rather than factual coherent dialogue. Some of SJP’s dramatic methods are described by a Jewish student at Rutgers University, who recalled, [referring to the seven-day orgy of anti-Israel propaganda that takes place on many campuses]: “During apartheid week the SJP club stood in front of the dining hall wearing white shirts with red ‘blood’ spatter [with] signs saying, ‘This is what the Jews did to us.’ . . . I saw complete hatred.”

Fishman also notes the variety of Jewish organizations that in one way or another give oxygen, and grant legitimacy, to the anti-Israel movement, ranging from the moderate and respected New Israel Fund to the fanatical Jewish Voice for Peace, which is neither peaceful nor especially Jewish. She notes the cumulative effects on a generation of young American Jews, many of whom are susceptible to the argument that Jews are “privileged” and that anti-Semitism is not “in the same category” as racism, sexism, and other ills:

A majority of younger Americans have no memory of Jews as a disadvantaged and persecuted minority. They have broad lacunae in their knowledge of world history in general and the evolution of modern Zionism in particular. They have no memory of a world without a strong Israel, and little sense of how tiny the worldwide population of Jews is compared to other ethnic and religious groups.

[Some] American Jews distance themselves from the sins of white privilege not only by declaring themselves to be “allies” of “minoritized” non-white populations but also by condemning other, less “woke” Jews. In its most extreme guises, it is as if Jews who wish to distance themselves are saying to anti-Semites: “Don’t hate me—I’m not that kind of a Jew.”

Yesterday, Israel’s Channel 12 reported that Israeli representatives have been involved in secret talks, brokered by the United Arab Emirates, with their Syrian counterparts about the potential establishment of diplomatic relations between their countries. Even more surprisingly, on Wednesday an Israeli reporter spoke with a senior official from Syria’s information ministry, Ali al-Rifai. The prospect of a member of the Syrian government, or even a private citizen, giving an on-the-record interview to an Israeli journalist was simply unthinkable under the old regime. What’s more, his message was that Damascus seeks peace with other countries in the region, Israel included.

These developments alone should make Israelis sanguine about Donald Trump’s overtures to Syria’s new rulers. Yet the interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa’s jihadist resumé, his connections with Turkey and Qatar, and brutal attacks on minorities by forces aligned with, or part of, his regime remain reasons for skepticism. While recognizing these concerns, Noah Rothman nonetheless makes the case for optimism:

The old Syrian regime was an incubator and exporter of terrorism, as well as an Iranian vassal state. The Assad regime trained, funded, and introduced terrorists into Iraq intent on killing American soldiers. It hosted Iranian terrorist proxies as well as the Russian military and its mercenary cutouts. It was contemptuous of U.S.-backed proscriptions on the use of chemical weapons on the battlefield, necessitating American military intervention—an unavoidable outcome, clearly, given Barack Obama’s desperate efforts to avoid it. It incubated Islamic State as a counterweight against the Western-oriented rebel groups vying to tear that regime down, going so far as to purchase its own oil from the nascent Islamist group.

The Assad regime was an enemy of the United States. The Sharaa regime could yet be a friend to America. . . . Insofar as geopolitics is a zero-sum game, taking Syria off the board for Russia and Iran and adding it to the collection of Western assets would be a triumph. At the very least, it’s worth a shot. Trump deserves credit for taking it.