When my old buddy Pete used to bewail the lamentable state of his life, he would opine that "it's not a conspiracy theory if everyone really is out to get you." I think of Pete whenever I have to deal with Israel haters. Superficially at least, it's easy to see why they get confused. Look at how the typical conversation generally goes:
Israel Hater: I just saw something on CNN that said that Israel...
Jew: CNN? You can't trust a word that network says. They spread horrible antisemitic propaganda.
Israel Hater (confused): Okay well on the BBC they also said...
Jew: The BBC? They're even worse. They’re basically an Arab mouthpiece.
Israel Hater (becoming frustrated): Fine, so what about that UN report that says that...
Jew: the UN is one of the most hateful and antisemitic entities in existence. They're pure antisemitism.
Israel Hater: How about the statement from Amnesty International?
Jew: They're just as bad. One blood libel after another.
Israel Hater (getting more and more irritated): UNICEF?
Jew: Terrible. Liars
Israel Hater (now losing patience): Whatever. So at least listen to what Mahatma Gandhi said about...
Jew. Why do I care what that Nazi-loving, antisemitic pervert had to say?
At this point our Israel hater is now convinced that the Jew is not only evil, they’re insane as well. That they're a certifiable tinfoil-hat-wearing lunatic. After an encounter like this, the Israel hater goes away thinking that Zionists are conspiracy-minded paranoids who are convinced that the entire world is united against Jews and out to get them.
It's crazy, it's paranoid and unfortunately, it's absolutely true.
Of course, convincing anyone of a conspiracy, any conspiracy let alone one of this magnitude is a challenge. Conspiracy theorists are after all not the most reliable lot. Most people who believe in conspiracy theories tend to suffer from a certain cognitive dissonance, as well as having a tendency to project their own personal biases without even realizing it. Knowing how they are likely to be portrayed, the poor Jew must then convince the world that this time the conspiracy is somehow real.
Fortunately, this is easily done. The difference between a conspiracy theory and an actual conspiracy is evidence. Once a theory can be proven beyond a doubt, it is no longer a theory but a fact. Most conspiracy theories are easily disprovable. The evidence is either not there or proves the contrary. Yet no conspiracies have more evidence to validate them than those against the Jewish state. The past few weeks have given the perfect examples of this.
1. There was the claim from the Gaza Health Ministry, a propaganda arm of Hamas, that 70% of fatalities in Gaza were women and children. The number of fatalities itself was also expanded to be cartoonishly large. It’s impressive that Hamas showed some self-control and didn’t try to claim that a “billion children were murdered.”
2. The UN wasn’t even able to show that much restraint when they put forth the wild claim that 14,000 children would die within 48 hours unless Israel allowed aid into Gaza.
3. There was also the accusation of a “mass casuality incident” wherein a family of nine children was murdered by the IDF.
4. Then there were the reports by countless credible media outlets that IDF opened fire on foreign diplomats.
5. Or the allegation that it was Israel, not Hamas terrorists who withheld food from Gazans, leading to mass starvation.
These claims all went viral. Then, when the damage was done, they were quietly retracted. But while the original claims produced mass outrage, the news that they were fabrications that led to incitement to violence against the global Jewish community produced less than a murmer. Righteous indignation, it seems, is only appropriate when it’s directed against the Jews.
This is to say nothing of the old staples that have in been in circulation since the war began. That Israel attacks schools and hospitals. That Israel was initially bombing refugee camps. That Israel murders aid workers. That Israel targets civilians, especially children.
All these and countless other modern-day blood libels are presented to the eager world as facts. When eventually it’s proven that they are not only false but are intentional lies, this information is quickly and quietly hushed. If the truth is even acknowledged, a rarity in and of itself, it is so downplayed that most people never even get wind of it.
It's all propaganda and lies. Macbeth might well have been describing antisemitism when he said that “It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”
At this point, the antisemites might try to find a way to excuse themselves. After all, they argue, how could they be held accountable for their beliefs when according to all the information they had, given to them by sources they thought they could trust, Israel is the villain? All the evidence seemed to point to that conclusion. Should they be blamed that they didn’t know that the evidence was a lie?
Yes, they can be blamed. Since the war began, bogus claims against Israel have come out on a daily basis. Then, almost immediately and without exception, these claims are disproven. Yes, the refutation is not given nearly as much coverage as the propaganda, but it is still there. At a certain point, to go on trusting these sources after knowing that they’ve been lied to so many times, means that the Israel haters are choosing to believe what they are told not because they know it to be true, but in spiteof their knowing it to be false.
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me a hundred times, I clearly want to be fooled.
And this is to say nothing of Israel-hatred and antisemitism in a historical context. The claims made today in Gaza are nothing new. They are the same blood libels that have been spread for millenniums. In Norwich in 1144, Jews were said to murder Christian children for their religious ceremonies. In Poland in the 1700s, it was that Jews sacrificed gentile children to desecrate the host and to bake their matza. In, Russia during the 1900's, pogroms resulted based on the libel that Jews were murdering children. Today, as is shown in the recent murder of two Israelis in Washington D.C., Jews are still being killed for the same horrible lie.
It's part of a larger trend of antisemitism being recycled into new forms throughout the ages. Israel haters claim they don’t hate Jews, just “Zionists,” A hundred years ago it was “globalists”. Before that it was “Talmudists.” And in every case, whatever the label, it was the Jews who were inevitably victimized.
The labels change. The libel doesn’t. Yet in every generation, there are those who are convinced not because of the evidence, but in spite of it.
To this day, the Israel haters claim that they are right in hating Jews based on what they claim is currently happening. Their entire argument amounts to “We’ve been wrong every single time for the past few thousand years, but this time we have a good reason to hate the Jews.”
At this point, the Israel hater should be expected to see the light and recognize that, outrageous as it may seem, all the sources they knew and trusted are lying. Not only wrong, but intentionally trying to deceive them. To the thinking person it becomes clear that yes, there is now, as there has always been, a clear conspiracy against the Jews. One that today takes its form in attacking Zionism. Logically then, antisemitism should become a thing of the past.
Yet most of these people are not convinced. This is because they are not really willing to think. They are people who choose not to think. Instead, they choose to believe. At a certain point, it has to be admitted that they are only able to maintain their views through willful ignorance.
Because of this, antisemitism is unique among all other conspiracies. In most conspiracies, the conspirators do everything in their power to disguise their plotting. The coverup is usually a major part of the conspiracy.
Israel haters know that they don't even need to bother. They are perfectly aware that the innate prejudice of their listeners means that they will be receptive to their message even when evidence and logic both point to the contrary. They do not even try to hide the fact that they are fabricating their entire story because they know that their audience won't bother to question, let alone to verify. That they don't care because on some level they want to believe it.
Consequently, it should not be surprising that so little effort is made to hide their clear intentions in conspiring against Israel. It's perfectly reasonable not to bother hiding or denying it. The conspirators know that they can rely on their listener's innate antisemitism to ensure that they never bother questioning what they're hearing.
Any normal conspiracy theory would find it impossible to sustain itself so long after being so thoroughly and repeatedly debunked. Yet for this real conspiracy, it is surprisingly easy. It works because the listeners partner with the conspirators not just in spreading the theory, but in suppressing the truth. To spread the same lie successfully over and over is impossible unless there is an agreement between the liar and those being lied to. Whether they know it or not, those being lied to want to believe it.
There actions are the best proof of the conspiracy involved in antisemitism. The taciturn agreement of so much of the world’s gentiles proves just how pervasive the hatred is.
Deciphering why those in power persist so relentlessly in vilifying the Jewish people is a theological, philosophical, psychological and sociological l question far above the paygrade of your humble author. Why so many choose to believe the libels consistently is a question for reflection and debate, an issue that most likely will never be fully understood.
But understanding that this collusion does exist is nevertheless important. We see the effects of it every day, in increasingly violent ways. Knowing the motivation does far more than offer a meaning into the events around us. It allows us to plot a course going forward.
Knowing that those who hate Israel and in reality, hate the Jewish people are driven not by unfortunate ignorance but by a deep-seated inner hatred means we as Jews can respond to them accordingly. So many Jews have suffered heartbreak in the past year and a half on learning that friends, neighbors, and even family, people they were close to and loved most, harbored a long-simmering hatred for them. These Jews are now waking up to the realization that this hatred is not the result of a regrettable misunderstanding or ignorance, it is a willful decision on the part of so many of our gentile fellow men.
Understanding why they hate us provides little solace to those who have lost their loved ones, but it might help them to move past it. There was nothing they could have done, no argument they could made, no action they could have taken. This is who these Jew-haters are because this is who they choose to be. And understanding this might offer the small comfort that in the end, we have not lost a real friend, we have uncovered a secret enemy. And it is always better to know where we stand.
Ilan Goodman is a museum collections professional and exhibition curator. He also serves as a rabbi and educator. He made Aliyah to Israel in 2011 and lives with his wife and children in Beit Shemesh.