Stopping Anti-Semitism Has Become an Excuse for White Supremacy

Right-wing leaders claim to fight anti-Semitism, but ignore real threats — using Jewish pain to attack diversity, silence dissent, and reassert white dominance across public institutions.

Damage to Congregation Beth Israel from an arson attack on October 31, 2021.

By Jeremi Suri

On October 31, 2021, a white supremacist set my synagogue on fire. He caused more than $100,000 of damage, and our temple still remains under repair. This is just one example of the countless acts of anti-Semitism that have increased in frequency across the United States in the last five years. On October 7, 2023, Hamas’ terrorist attack on Israel super-charged that terrible trend. I am one of many Americans who are startled by the flagrant displays of anti-Semitism in our country – from Charlottesville in 2017 and Pittsburgh in 2018 to Austin in 2021 and various college campuses after 2023.

The terrible rise of anti-Semitism does not justify attacks on free speech and diversity. Nor does the rise of anti-Semitism justify intimidation and cruelty toward people with dissenting views. Yet, that is now the common playbook for politicians who want to defund federal agencies, arts and science organizations, and, of course, universities. These organizations are accused of anti-Semitism to allow outside interference in their basic functions, often closing them down. They are condemned and punished before the alleged anti-Semitism is even investigated and analyzed.

This authoritarian behavior in the name of anti-Semitism fuels the hate and intolerance that trigger anti-Semitism in the first place. Many of the targets are vulnerable populations, just like the Jews targeted by haters throughout history. In recent months, right-wing politicians have weaponized claims about anti-Semitism to kidnap and deport people of color from their homes, without due process, and without any explanation for why they were singled out. As far as I know, none of the deportees accused of anti-Semitism were white men – most were individuals who looked Muslim and had Arabic names. A similar dynamic is at work with Hispanic-looking people who are deported, without due process, as alleged criminals and gang members. Vague claims of anti-Semitism and criminality enable the worst ethnic and racial profiling.

Let us return to the anti-Semitic attack on my synagogue in 2021 and how our government has behaved since then. The police in Austin and the leadership of the state of Texas showed little concern for the hateful violence against my Jewish community. Even after the attack, the police resisted providing protection to our synagogue. Our city councilperson had to make repeated demands, and officers came reluctantly and infrequently. The arsonist was identified and eventually arrested because of the work of the Fire Department's arson investigation unit. During this multi-week process, state leaders offered little support to our Jewish community.

Anti-Semitic incidents continued in Austin after the synagogue burning. Right-wing groups dropped threatening leaflets on home driveways in Jewish neighborhoods, and they pasted anti-Semitic stickers on public equipment in city parks. The police department in Austin refused to make any arrests, and they did little to stop the anti-Semitism. They didn’t seem to care. State leaders did not step in and help.

The behavior of local police and state leaders changed rapidly after October 7, 2023. When young people and minority populations around Austin began protesting against Israel, the police and the governor suddenly cared about anti-Semitism. They sent few resources to help our burned synagogue and threatened community, but they found hundreds of officers, horses, and handcuffs to confront black and brown students holding up signs with words they did not like. There were indeed anti-Semitic chants from some of the crowds, and there were instances of property damage, but the label of anti-Semitism applied to protesters was overly broad and used to dehumanize them. People who looked like those protesting Israel were assumed to be anti-Semitic. That justified closing their organizations and threatening them with arrest.

With malice, opponents of diversity, equity, and inclusion programs associated all diversity with anti-Semitism. They started to claim that diversity programs violated civil rights statutes because they were allegedly anti-Semitic. President Donald Trump signed an executive order along these lines. The state legislature in Texas is debating legislation as I write to seize more direct control over university curricula for the purpose of removing alleged anti-Semitism associated with subjects that conservative politicians don’t like: slavery, poverty, and social injustice. Purging anti-Semitism conveniently allows for more “patriotic” teaching about American society.

We need to see this for what it is: a racist exploitation of Jews, yet again, by powerful figures who want to whiten America. For current politicians, fighting anti-Semitism is really fighting multiculturalism, and its critiques of traditional American society. That is why the protesters are targeted as more threatening than the white kid who set our synagogue on fire. Republican politicians largely ignored him and other right-wing extremists who are responsible for most anti-Semitic violence in the United States. The violence against Jews is not the point; the challenge to white male authority is what brings the police to the scene.

The politicians leading the charge do not care about Jewish communities, most of which they ignored before, and many of which suffer deeply when universities and other public organizations are attacked. No institution in the United States has done more for Jewish mobility than modern American universities; defunding them in the name of combating anti-Semitism will hurt Jewish faculty, students, and staff who are highly represented in all of those roles.

Anti-Semitism is a serious and growing danger in our country, but the current actions of leading Republican politicians are making it worse. They are attacking diversity and encouraging hatred of vulnerable groups. Those are the precise ingredients of anti-Semitism. That is not a mistake.

The Republican campaign against anti-Semitism serves powerful groups who fear they are losing their power – in industry, culture, and universities – to talented, non-traditional people. Condemning non-traditional actors for alleged, misplaced crimes is an old story that Jews know well. It is a tried-and-true strategy for making more violence and hate, not less.

The necessary response to rising anti-Semitism is to create a more inclusive, open, and welcoming society. That involves embracing diversity, not resisting it, and investigating all groups that sponsor hate, including those favored on the right. The police should protect the vulnerable and prosecute violent perpetrators. They should focus on the real threats to synagogues, like mine, not the people whose words they do not like. A free society allows dissident language as it endeavors to protect all people from physical harm.

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Jeremi Suri - Korey Howell Photography

Jeremi Suri holds the Mack Brown Distinguished Chair for Leadership in Global Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin. He is a professor in the University's Department of History and the LBJ School of Public Affairs. Professor Suri is the author and editor of eleven books on politics and foreign policy, most recently: Civil War By Other Means: America’s Long and Unfinished Fight for Democracy. His other books include: The Impossible Presidency: The Rise and Fall of America’s Highest Office; Liberty’s Surest Guardian: American Nation-Building from the Founders to Obama; Henry Kissinger and the American Century; and Power and Protest: Global Revolution and the Rise of Détente. His writings appear in the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, CNN.com, Atlantic, Newsweek, Time, Wired, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, and other media. Professor Suri is a popular public lecturer and comments frequently on radio and television news. His writing and teaching have received numerous prizes, including the President’s Associates Teaching Excellence Award from the University of Texas and the Pro Bene Meritis Award for Contributions to the Liberal Arts. Professor Suri hosts a weekly podcast, “This is Democracy.”