The contemporary left’s hatred of Israel and indifference (or worse) toward the virulent anti-Semitism of radical Islamists come as a surprise to many. But, writes Robert Wistrich, socialists have a long history of underestimating, ignoring, and even encouraging anti-Semitism:
In 1893, the German labor leader August Bebel breezily dismissed anti-Semitism as the “socialism of fools.” From then to the present day, the Western left has been disturbingly complacent about Judeophobia. Communists and socialists of various stripes have persistently underestimated the impact, distinctiveness, and longevity of anti-Semitism. Even today, significant strains of the American and even the Israeli left are far less exercised about global anti-Semitism than about the supposed transgressions of the Jewish state. A review of the hard left’s various answers to the “Jewish Question” makes clear that equivocation on anti-Semitism and antipathy toward Israel are enduring, complementary elements in Marxism’s wrongheaded materialist interpretation of world affairs.
Read more on Commentary: http://www.commentarymagazine.com/articles/judeophobia-and-marxism/