Where have I seen this intolerance before?
The Left has become just as intolerant as the Right.
My social media feeds are now officially full of people declaring how simple it is to deal with what is unfolding between Israel and Palestinians. I’ve grown accustomed to the oversimplifications on the Right that we hear about this conflict. What I have not had enough time to digest, however, is the simple syrup that too many on the Left are now dishing out. Listening to them, the resounding message I hear is that all we have to do is get in our time machine and travel past history and circumstance so that we can arrive at a fantastical destination tailored to their liking.
What we’re hearing from the Left today actually reminds me of what we’ve heard from the Right for years. For Israeli settlers and evangelical Christians, pointing to history books and philosophizing is pointless. They’ve said this is a simple war between good and evil; life and death; between civilization and barbarism. It’s these people who tell us the solution is to turn Gaza into a parking lot.
The Left is now threatening to take us over the opposite edge. Now they, along with the Right, Democratic Socialists and ethnic studies professors wave away context and reality in favor of a war between their own version of good vs. evil. For them this is simple. Colonizing Westerners vs. indigenous peoples. Liberation vs. occupation. With a snap of ideological fingers, an entire identity and story is erased. It’s these people who tell us from their comfy perches that Zionism is just colonialism and whether Israel likes it or not, it’s time for it to dismantle itself.
For years, I’ve heard many of these same left wing activists preach their mantra about how we use words with each other: “You can’t separate intention from impact!”
Well, today, if I follow this mantra, I can only assume that these very same activists’ intention is erase me and my cousins in Israel off the map. Instead, I try, perhaps foolishly, to understand what the intention of these words are.
I get that there are political movements that are looking at the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and see elements of their own historic experience or current circumstances. It makes sense that they see the intolerance that has crept into Israeli life and how it subjugates Palestinians and detest it. Many Jews, including myself, feel that way, even as we feel a strong love for Israel. I however, also see what these people refuse to see — the deep intolerance of the “resistance” they are now worshiping. Do they need to be reminded there are no trigger warnings or pronouns at Hamas meetings? Did they not see the 30+ weeks of mass protest against the Netanyahu government that took place just before Oct. 7th?
I welcome protest. Say the way that Israel is waging this war against Hamas is horrific. Say the way Israel has cheapened the lives of Palestinians to ensure its own security is unacceptable. But to go so far as to say that that Israel — a nation of 9 million people should not exist? That is something far, far beyond the pale of reason and humanity.
When I see this kind of radical rhetoric spreading over social media, I see projected fantasies that say more about the person spreading it than anything else. Is that what they wish for where they live? Is that what they think the solutions to all of our challenges are?
Maybe it was always there and I never saw it for what it truly was, but what has developed on the Left in reaction to Oct. 7th and Israel’s response to that horrific attack, it is now the mirror opposite of what exists on the Right. In both camps, we see radical illiberalism — throwing people of islands, demonizing expertise and nuance, and making whole groups of people feel less tolerated and less secure.
And so, today, just like before Oct. 7th, I continue to be on hyper-alert for these hallmarks of illiberalism. The only difference is that my radar screen is so much wider. I see with clear eyes that intolerance, absolutism, and discrimination exist on both sides of our political divide. The wisest thing any of us can do is to avoid both forms of this contagion because whenever and wherever it is in charge, more death and misery will surely follow.