PAUL VALLAS: Extremist Politics Fuel Rise Of Antisemitism

Antisemitism is unique in human history for its persistence, adaptability, and ability to reinvent itself across millennia. Today, it has evolved into a coordinated political instrument aimed at undermining the moral and institutional foundations of Western civilization.

Whether it originates from the “accelerationist” far right or the “deconstructionist” far left, both use the Jewish people as a proxy for their larger assault on liberal democracy.

In the ancient worlds, its roots were primarily theological. During the Middle Ages, economic restrictions fueled false narratives of “Jewish greed.” By the 19th and 20th centuries, the focus shifted from what Jews believed to who they were. Antisemitism became racialized, culminating in the Holocaust, where the goal was no longer conversion but extermination. (RELATED: Robert Kraft’s Antisemitism Super Bowl Ad Is Pissing Off Everyone)

In the modern era, the far right condemns Jews as “globalist agitators” seeking to dilute national identity, while the radical left vilifies them as the ultimate “capitalist oppressors.” It morphs to fit whichever fear dominates society, finding justification whether cloaked in the language of nationalism or the rhetoric of anti-imperialism – and it’s worked.

Approximately 46% of the world’s adult population now harbors “elevated” antisemitic beliefs – a staggering jump from 26% in 2014. This represents roughly 2.2 billion people globally who agree with harmful stereotypes.

The United States saw the Anti-Defamation League record  9,354 incidents of harassment, vandalism, and assault in 2024 – the highest number in its 46-year history. This marks an 893% increase over the past decade.

College campuses experienced an 84% rise in incidents in a single year, now accounting for nearly one in five of all reported antisemitic acts. A survey found 42% of Jewish college students have personally experienced antisemitism, leading 34% to hide their Jewish identity for safety.

In cities like Chicago, the narrative has been inverted: Black and Latino criminals, illegal immigrants, and Islamic terrorists are portrayed as habitual victims, while the U.S. government, the police, and Israel are cast as the callous oppressors.

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson declined to condemn displays of bigotry and refused to denounce elected leaders for their roles in anti-Israel and anti-Jewish protests. He remained silent as his former employer and principal backer, the Chicago Teachers Union, hosted pro-Hamas demonstrations, ratified a Gaza cease-fire resolution, and orchestrated a “student-led” walkout to protest the war.

The contemporary radical left has largely abandoned traditional class struggle for a rigid moral binary of “oppressor vs. oppressed.” In this framework, Western culture is painted as an inherently oppressive structure to be dismantled. A key weapon in this campaign is the exploitation of latent antisemitism by equating Zionism with “white European colonialism.”

By casting Israel as a “white settler project,” activists conveniently ignore that over  50% of Israel’s Jewish population consists of refugees or descendants of those expelled from Middle Eastern and North African countries.

Modern antisemitism has created a “functional alignment” between two seemingly incompatible movements: the secular radical left and radical Islamists. While their end goals differ, their immediate objectives are identical – to weaken Western institutional trust and ultimately dismantle Western democracy. Each uses moral rhetoric as a Trojan horse for domination – one secular, the other religious.

Adversaries exploit the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to sow discord and undermine U.S. and Western institutions. The so-called “Red-Green Alliance” – a convergence of anti-capitalist and Islamist movements – uses anti-Zionism to mask antisemitism, portraying Israel as an illegitimate colonial outpost. Demonizing Israel, the symbol and ally of liberal democracy, becomes a proxy for attacking the West itself. Treating all Jews as agents of the Israeli state normalizes antisemitism and erodes moral resistance to it in mainstream discourse.

The far left’s accommodation of Islamist extremism within its “oppressed” coalition is perhaps the most striking moral contradiction of our time. Violent fundamentalists are rebranded as victims of Western imperialism, even as they persecute women, criminalize homosexuality, and preach hatred. The Oct. 7 Hamas massacre of Israeli civilians was excused as a “response to colonialism.”

The Iranian regime’s brutal suppression of women and protesters, or the slaughter of Christians across Africa and the Middle East, draws little protest from Western progressives. Progressive activists have gone as far as to decry the assassination of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as an act of “western colonialism” from Israel and the U.S. even after his oppressive regime acknowledged the recent killings of nearly 4,000 protesters, with the actual estimate ranging from 22,000 – 30,000 murders.

Antisemitism is more than hatred of Jews; it’s a tool used by the radical left, nationalist right, and  Islamist extremists to undermine Western institutions. It is a warning sign of a society losing its moral footing. When it is excused, repackaged or politicized, the damage extends far beyond the Jewish community. If we fail to confront it plainly and without double standards, we risk weakening the very institutions and freedoms that protect us all.

Paul Vallas is a policy advisor to the Illinois Policy Institute and was the first CEO of Chicago Public Schools.

 The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller News Foundation.

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