Political Violence and its Enablers

What a political assassination means for liberal democracy, and what it portends for American Jewish safety.

The appalling murder of Charlie Kirk represents the furtherance of a profound threat to the safety of American Jews. As the latest violent assault against politicians and public figures - some of whom were themselves Jewish - it demonstrates the collapsing of the norms of liberal democracy in which ideas and people are meant to nonviolently clash in the public square with trust in their collectively safety as both precondition and result. It demonstrates how rising authoritarianism threatens individual liberty. It shows us how political polarization can translate quickly into dangerous absolutism. It reminds us of the risk all of us face in this society where guns and conspiracy theories are growth industries. And it further proves that Jewish safety in America has relied upon the infrastructure and norms of liberal democracy and its institutions, all of which are eroding.

The murder also exposes a second, correlated threat to the safety in American Jews, in the horrifying and self-defeating response by some Jewish leaders on the right and from the government of the State of Israel, who are treating this murder not as evidence of an underlying cultural and political problem but are instead lionizing Kirk himself, as - in the words of the online publication Jewish Insider - a "bulwark" against antisemitism. In Jewish Insider's fawning eulogy, they talk about his stalwart support for Israel but ignore his endorsement of the Great Replacement Theory which blames Jews for facilitating immigration to America, a theory that has led directly to the killing of Jews (and others); they make no mention of his hardline views on LGBTQ individuals (which include Jews), which are threatening their lives; and they make no acknowledgement of his growing attachment to Christian nationalism and his opposition to the separation of church and state, both of which constitute direct threats to Jews and our way of life. I remind you that Kirk had a right to say these things and should not have been gunned down in cold blood for saying them; but they are bad ideas, terrible ones, and Jews should not be giving them a pass, and it is deeply consequential when they do.

They do this - and Netanyahu showers Kirk with a praise, and a town in Israel names a traffic circle after him - because they are not interested in fighting antisemitism unless it lines up exactly with their own politics. They are doing this because they are making the most basic blunders in understanding and fighting antisemitism: that antisemitism can be forgiven, or at least be explained away, when the person in question has some good Jewish friends (usually people who agree with him or her), like Ben Shapiro or Josh Hammer who 'vouch' for them. And of course, the government of the State of Israel does this because it has a single theory of what keeps Jews safe - the state itself, and military power, and - as a right-wing government - fighting the global left.

This is all maddening, and exhausting, and it is extremely dangerous. Toxic polarization, and dehumanizing rhetoric, and obedience to authoritarianism, aligning yourself with radical ideas that threaten some "other" Jews - or other humans - but think you will be immune from, and the soft-pedaling of antisemitic rhetoric from people you otherwise agree with -- all of these expand the sphere of permissibility for antisemitism in our society. These attitudes and behaviors destroy our collective capacity to mobilize against the hatred directed towards our people. I have given up on the government of Israel, who claim to be the brand holder of Jewish peoplehood but don't really understand it, but I hope Israelis are paying attention; I am giving up on the side of the Jewish community that tolerates the administration's authoritarianism because they think it serves them, and because "pro-Israel," but I desperately hope they wake up. American Jews need a healthier liberal democracy; we need allies on all sides, which include relationships where we hold people accountable rather than cherish being on their team; we need to start listening to each others' fears; we need to build some shared muscle to be resilient against the threats found in all forms of extremism. All of this, and fast.