At face value, a series of events in the last few years brought good news to the Jewish community:

A member of the House of Representatives, in a discussion of a congressional resolution about forms of hatred, declares “I strongly oppose antisemitism.”

Another House member, during a similar discussion of hate, declares, “Antisemitism is real … I oppose antisemitism… [I have] always been and will always be opposed to antisemitism.”

A member of the US Senate denounces “antisemitism, racism, fanaticism and demagoguery.”

Another House representative, following the October 7 Hamas terrorist attacks on southern Israel, states that “I oppose antisemitism, [and] support the Jewish community.”

A candidate for the Senate pledges to “fight the fight against antisemitism. My commitment to Jewish safety is the same as my commitment to the safety of my own kids.”

A prominent public intellectual declares that “Antisemitism is something that exists throughout society, just like misogyny.”

A prominent mayor increases funding for his city’s hate-crime prevention efforts, and pledges that “This is an administration that will root out antisemitism” across his city.

Actually, not so good news.

None of the people above, some Jews among them, are our friends. None of them (respectively Rep. Rashida Tlaib, Rep. Ilhan Omar, Sen. Bernie Sanders, former Rep. Cori Bush, senatorial candidate Abdul el-Sayed, left-wing author-filmmaker Naomi Klein, and New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani) have the interests of Jews at heart. Mostly liberal politicians and academicians, they wield their words against antisemitism as shields against accusations that their behavior may mark them as antisemitic.

(On an international level, this phenomenon is paralleled by countries – notably France, England, Canada and Brazil – that have taken strong positions against antisemitism, while strongly criticizing Israel’s actions in Gaza.)

These US men and women, many Arabs and Muslims among them – and, sadly, prominent Jews like Sanders and Klein – are outspoken in their attacks on Israel, on Zionism, and on people who support the Jewish state. As elected officials, they typically back the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) anti-Israel movement, accuse Israel of committing genocide, and vote against financial/military aid to Israel. But speaking out against antisemitism is protection …

A public stand against antisemitism is their beard.

In the slang of contemporary culture, a “beard” is a heterosexual man or woman dating or married to a closeted homosexual who is unwilling to publicly reveal his or her gay identity. The beard, whose “straight” relationship with the other person is well-known, establishes the closeted gay person’s “normative” sexuality; this was particularly necessary until the last few decades, which have witnessed greater public acceptance of........

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