Kerby Anderson
We need to confront antisemitism. Noah Rothman writes, “Your Turn, Democrats.” He explains that mainstream Republicans have confronted right-wing antisemitism, but the left has not done so. It is time for Democratic politicians and liberal thought leaders to do the same.
Yesterday, I talked about the divide in America between those who were shocked at the brutality of Hamas terrorism and others who marched in the streets to support Hamas and oppose Israel. Add to that the increasing number of antisemitic statements and violent actions against Jewish citizens in this country. It is time for leaders to speak up.
Noah Rothman says that “these are times that call for plain language” and reminds us of “the Republican Party’s leading lights and household names” who spoke out years ago against the “antisemitic sentiments on display in America’s streets” and criticized those who paraded through the University of Virginia’s campus. He concludes, “In 2017, it was incumbent on Republicans of conscience to anathematize the noxious elements orbiting their periphery. Democrats are now confronted with the same challenge.”
While it is true that the president and administration give no comfort to the toxic rhetoric from the streets, Noah Rothman says more needs to be done. “It won’t be done though inference, by declining to name names . . . Democrats had the opportunity to throttle the rising antisemitic sentiments in their coalition in their infancy” but now the problem is growing and Democrats will find it harder to speak out.
The lesson for us to learn from this is to confront evil and error when it first appears. When we give it a pass, it becomes more difficult later when the rhetoric and actions ratchet up.

Kerby Anderson
I think we all know that America is divided politically, but the greatest divide is between old and young. This was illustrated when young people took to the streets to support Hamas after the October 7 attack on Israel.
A Harvard/Harris survey conducted in the wake of the Hamas attack on Israel illustrated this demographic divide. Older Americans believed the US was justified in branding Hamas as a “terrorist group” and believed the attack was “genocidal.” Younger Americans (18-24) disagreed with their elders.
The explanation for the difference in attitudes can be found on university campuses. Students are likely to be exposed to an intersectional framework. Intersectionality is a concept that discourages looking at unique individuals but instead focuses on groups as stereotypical images with certain traits.
Modern Jews, for example, enjoy financial stability and even political power. Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and the Palestinian Authority are seen as weak. According to this mindset, the powerful should be condemned while the weak should be supported.
Noah Rothman explains, “Once you subscribe to this philosophy, you just internalized the plain-old antisemitism. Through this framework, people are reduced to statistics.” These young people view the world in a way similar to Marxists. In other words, they view the world through the prism of class and other distinctions and thereby justify all sorts of evil and violence.
That is how these young people in the streets could turn a blind eye to the murder and mayhem of Hamas terrorists and place all the blame on Israel. This demographic divide shows the power of ideology and worldview to ignore evil.