Yale closes anti-Semitism institute

FRIENDS ,

Who has time to think about this when the world is in such chaos--typhoons, storms, towns wiped out, and those guys (Weiner, Strauss-Kahn, Schwarzenegger, et al.) behaving badly--taking our attention away from the business at hand, i.e., economic recovery? What is one to say, let alone think, about anti-Semitism in New Haven? (Oh, that again.)

I have several correspondents who are to the right of me. Sometimes I forward their communications, mostly not. Last week I received one about Yale University dropping its International Institute on Anti-Semitism, which it created five years ago. I read the report carefully and feel that Yale may, in fact, have caved in to political pressure from Arab sources. I googled the subject and noted that the only people exercised by Yale's decision are institutions like the ADL and a right-wing columnist, Caroline Glick. But this doesn't mean that they are wrong. [Read JTA's news report on this matter.]

Anti-Semitism is a problematic issue. It has existed for a very long time and in many places. And in its most recent reincarnation there has been much overlap between anti-Israel positions and drifting into the anti-Semitic camp. I struggled with this subject, thinking I didn't want to do a "shrai arai" (basically meaning, "woe is me, the world is against me") number. But I have been noting that the left-wing of the larger progressive camp (the latter of which I am part of) really goes out of its way to ignore the topic of anti-Semitism in Islamic countries.

Usually we get into a riff that goes like this: How can you speak of Arab anti-Semitism, first of all (semantically dodging the question) Arabs are also "Semites," secondly, it's not all Arabs, and moreover, Jews and Arabs lived together for hundreds of years in North Africa, not to mention the Ottoman Empire; then there is another riff: it is not anti-Jewish, it is anti-Israel and that is not anti-Semitism. But when I read an interview with an Israeli-Arab woman, a peace seeker, warning her fellow Israeli Arabs against anti-Semitic language, I am confirmed. Yes, there is a problem of anti-Semitism.

Anti-Semitism has often been used by political elites when it is convenient. Historically, when Jews are in visible positions, and the economy is in trouble, Jews are a good scapegoat. In the case of Yale University, let's see whether they attract big bucks after this institute closes its doors.