David Harsanyi recently sounded the alarm in the New York Post that “Gen Z’s casual anti-Semitism is growing.” His warning has some merit, but it also reveals blind spots about the political context he prefers not to acknowledge.
Harsanyi isn’t wrong that ugly anti-Zionist and anti-Semitic rhetoric has surfaced in parts of the populist right. Plenty of very online commentators have insinuated — and in some instances insisted — that Charlie Kirk’s assassination was tied to Israel. Conspiracy theory claims circulate online that Jewish billionaires control conservative media, bribing or blackmailing Republicans into supporting Benjamin Netanyahu in Gaza no matter the cost.
Gen Z has broken old taboos. That’s healthy. But if Zoomers want to be taken seriously, they must separate legitimate criticism of US policy from adolescent conspiracy theories.
This is an “ugly turn,” but it didn’t appear out of thin air. Once the neoconservative gatekeepers lost their grip, a wider debate on the right was inevitable.
For decades, particular outlets and movement foundations policed what conservatives were allowed to say. That censorship has collapsed in the internet era, for better and worse.
I welcome the broader discussion on the right. It was overdue. But the opening comes with a price: young voices saying stupid and reckless things. Then again, establishment conservatives have spent years saying reckless things of their own. My own anthology of commentaries catalogs four decades of such elite nonsense — much of which never saw daylight in “respectable” venues such as National Review, Commentary, or the Wall Street Journal.
Why? Because I was “unreliable on Israel.” Never mind that I never attacked the Jewish state. My real offense was questioning whether American conservatives should be compelled to parrot Likud talking points. Harsanyi may not see it this way, but the reality is obvious: Conservatives should be free to criticize Israeli policy without fearing cancellation from their own establishment.
That establishment has demanded iron discipline on Israel, sometimes even backing Democrats AIPAC preferred over those judged insufficiently loyal to Jerusalem. Yet the same institutions shy away from clear stands on basic civilizational issues like marriage. The imbalance speaks for itself.
And Charlie Kirk himself, before his death, reportedly raised doubts about Netanyahu’s ongoing Gaza campaign — only to spark frantic denials from conservative influencers who insisted he hadn’t meant it. Harsanyi frets about Gen Z’s “abnormal fixation” on Jews and Israel. He should also notice the establishment’s fixation, which is every bit as abnormal.
The movement Harsanyi defends is a relic. I’m old enough to remember its birth in the 1980s, and I remember how eagerly it purged dissenters. (Full disclosure: I was one of them.) Forgive me if I feel some schadenfreude watching Gen Z give that same establishment fits, even if I wince at the crudity of their attacks.
RELATED: Netanyahu takes aim at the so-called 'woke right,' Tucker Carlson
What really troubles me is the lack of reflection among Gen Z’s loudest voices. Nick Fuentes, for example, is a sharp communicator, but he throws away credibility by ranting about international Jewish conspiracies. That style is unserious, self-defeating, and easily exploited by enemies.
Even on substance, the Gen Z case collapses under scrutiny. They cite the Adelsons, but that’s one family. They point to Bill Ackman, a hedge-fund billionaire, but ignore his politics: Ackman is firmly on the left at home, even if he backs Israel abroad. Meanwhile, non-Jewish moguls like the Murdochs wield far more influence over conservative institutions and their loyalty to Israel.
And one final irony: As a Jewish dissenter on the right, expelled long ago, I know from experience that many of my opponents were not Jewish at all. More often than not, they were well-heeled gentiles writing checks.
Gen Z has broken the old taboos and raised questions the establishment tried to bury. That’s healthy. But if Zoomers want to be taken seriously, they must separate legitimate criticism of U.S. policy toward Israel from adolescent conspiracy theories. Otherwise, the real lessons will be lost in the noise.
In 1994, 17 Senate Republicans — including Mitch McConnell — lined up behind the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act. They thought they were cutting a clever deal: In exchange for criminalizing anti-abortion protesters outside clinics, the law would also apply to anyone blocking access to churches.
Like every “bipartisan compromise,” the results were anything but balanced. For decades, pro-life activists — grandmothers singing hymns, young people praying on sidewalks — faced years in prison for nonviolent protest. Meanwhile, not a single violent leftist or Islamist was prosecuted under the FACE Act for harassing or assaulting people of faith.
Mitch McConnell and company signed on to the FACE Act thinking they were being clever and instead saddled conservatives with decades of one-sided prosecutions.
Until last week.
The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, under Harmeet Dhillon, filed civil charges against two radical groups — the Party for Socialism and Liberation and American Muslims for Palestine — along with six individuals. Their crime: violently blocking Jewish worshippers from entering Congregation Ohr Torah in West Orange, New Jersey.
In November 2024, about 50 agitators linked arms outside the synagogue, blasting bullhorns and physically charging congregants. Several Jews were attacked.
New Jersey authorities, true to form, looked the other way. In fact, the Essex County prosecutor charged two congregants — including one who fought to defend a 65-year-old man being choked unconscious — with aggravated assault and bias intimidation. Not one of the attackers was indicted.
The message was clear: When radical Islamists or communists attack Jews, the state shrugs. Imagine the reverse — 50 Christians or Jews storming a mosque. Washington would have treated it like January 6 all over again.
This time, the Justice Department did not look away. The government’s civil complaint details how defendant Altaf Sharif broke through a police line, blocked worshippers, and used a vuvuzela as a weapon, blasting it into a man’s ear to cause permanent hearing loss. He then grabbed another congregant by the throat, placed him in a chokehold, and tackled him down a hill — all while screaming anti-Semitic slurs.
The kicker: The congregant who intervened to save the victim was indicted by local prosecutors, while Sharif skated free. That’s blue-state Jim Crow in favor of Islamic radicals.
American Muslims for Palestine, one of the groups charged, is no harmless civic association. It is the successor to the Holy Land Foundation, Hamas’ old fundraising arm in the United States. When the Holy Land Foundation was forced to pay $156 million to a terror victim’s family, AMP was born in its place.
As the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals noted in 2021, AMP inherited its leadership, its conferences, and its mission. In other words, Hamas simply changed its letterhead.
This case exposes a dangerous reality: Radical Islamists and communists are not just funding terror abroad; they are carrying it out here at home. That is why President Trump must follow through on his pledge to formally designate both the Muslim Brotherhood and Antifa as terrorist organizations.
RELATED: 'Hypocrisy is palpable': Former Trump lawyer blows up liberals' gaslighting about Antifa crackdown
And it is why state attorneys general should continue investigating the “charitable” and “civic” groups that serve as their domestic cover. Just two weeks ago, a Virginia judge found AMP in contempt for failing to comply with an order from Attorney General Jason Miyares requiring the group to hand over documents related to terror finance.
The FACE Act remains a terrible law. It was written to criminalize prayer and hymn-singing, not protect churches. It should be repealed.
But if old ladies can face 10 years in prison for praying outside Planned Parenthood, then yes — the law must be used against mobs who choke Jews outside synagogues. For once, the Justice Department is pointing the weapon in the right direction.
And let’s be clear: Republicans built this weapon and handed it to the left. McConnell and company signed on to the FACE Act thinking they were being clever and instead saddled conservatives with decades of one-sided prosecutions. If they want to show their repentance, they should join the fight now to repeal the law — or at the very least, stop pretending that “bipartisanship” ever serves our side.
Just one day after the two-year anniversary of the horrific October 7 attack by Hamas, it was announced that Israel and Hamas accepted the terms of President Donald Trump’s plan to end the war. It was a feat that then-President Joe Biden could not accomplish. In fact, it was a feat that no other world […]
www.theblaze.com
thefederalist.com