Intolerance, bigotry, and violence against Jews in America was long thought by many to be a right-wing phenomenon, although it’s hard to discern much of a political philosophy in this ancient animosity.

In his latest Bastiat’s Window post, Robert Graboyes argues strongly that antisemitism is now very much a product of leftist ideology and is much more dangerous than the pockets of “right-wing” antisemitism ever were.

He begins:

To My Friends on the Left:

You’ve told me countless times over many years that antisemitism is almost exclusively a right-wing phenomenon, but events since October 7 indicate strongly that a far greater threat to the happiness, health, and safety of Jews comes from your left-wing allies. While Hamas was still live-streaming acts of rape, torture, mutilation, murder, kidnapping, and necrophilia on innocents; before Israel lifted a finger in response; throngs of your allies flooded streets, campuses, airwaves, and social media to rejoice. Still more of your friends hung their heads low to avoid offending the celebrants, who are vital components of your electoral base. A modest number of courageous souls on the left have sounded the alarm that when mobs cry out for the torment of Jews, the call is coming from inside the progressive house.

The dangerous center of leftist antisemitism today is on our university campuses, which seek to indoctrinate students with the belief that the world is divided between oppressor and oppressed groups, a problem that must be solved by concentrating power in the hands of government officials and college administrators who can transform our horrible society and bring about “social justice.” This set of notions did not start out to demonize Jews, but that’s how it has mutated over the decades, and we now have hordes of young Americans who know almost nothing about the history of the Middle East except that the Israelis are “settler-colonialists” and the people of Gaza are their victims who deserve liberation.

Graboyes points out that some leftist politicians and celebrities have spoken out against Hamas. That’s fine, but how many have fingered the source of the infection, namely the faculty and administrative personnel who ceaselessly push the diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) ideology?

In fact, this ugly, divisive ideology starts well before students get into college. Graboyes observes:

The California Department of Education drafted an ethnic studies high school curriculum that critics slammed as antisemitic. Jewish legislators wrote that the curriculum, “effectively erases the American Jewish experience … omits any meaningful discussion of antisemitism” and only mentions Jews “in a denigrating and discriminatory manner” including “a classic antisemitic trope about Jewish control of the media.”

My view is that hardly any of the DEI zealots care about Judaism (or any other religion), but they’ve been led to think that everything that supports Western civilization needs to be attacked and torn down. Harassment and violence against Jews is merely collateral damage in the great struggle.