OPINION: 'Anyone who links the behavior of Jews in Israel to Jews in the Diaspora holds deep-seated and racist views about Jews,' writes speechboy71
piece, wrote that the Kennedy School’s dean, Douglas Elmendorf, overruled officials at the Carr Center for Human Rights, who had proposed the fellowship . According to Massing, Elmendorf told a Harvard colleague, Kathryn Sikkink, that Roth has an “anti-Israel bias” and that “Roth’s tweets on Israel were of particular concern.”
But this is more than just a case of dubious journalism. Massing’s premise is grounded in a centuries-old antisemitic trope: that wealthy and powerful Jews secretly influence elite decision-makers. Massing publicly identified several prominent Jewish donors to the Kennedy School who are supportive of Israel and other Jewish causes. The inference is not hard to grasp—these wealthy Jewish benefactors used their influence to deny Roth a fellowship and protect Israel from scrutiny.
For the former head of a prominent human rights organization to suggest—without evidence—that powerful Jewish donors derailed his fellowship demonstrates an astonishing level of insensitivity to how his words activate long-standing antisemitic tropes.Moreover, while Massing’s argument is relatively circumspect, Roth comes right and out and says that the only “plausible explanation” for his appointment denial is a shadowy cabal of pro-Israel donors.
Truth be told, HRW’s criticisms of Israel are generally the norm in the human rights advocacy world—which has long maintained a disproportionate and, some would argue, one-sided focus on Israel. In and of itself, they are likely not a good enough reason for him to be denied a human rights fellowship.It’s not the first time that Roth has linked antisemitic violence in Europe to Israel’s conduct.
One would imagine, even hope, that after a spike in antisemitic attacks, the head of a human rights organization would be focused on how antisemites use the actions of their co-religionists and co-ethnic group members in Israel to rationalize and excuse their anti-Jewish hatred.
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