Comparisons between Jeremy Corbyn and Bernie Sanders are not new. As far as the topic of antisemitism goes, and the extent to which the two leaders have allowed it to spread within their respective support bases, the main difference would seem to be that Sanders, of course, is Jewish. In fact he seems recently to be making more of his Jewish heritage. Why might that be? James Kirchick:
Four years later and running for the White House again, Sanders has embraced public discussion of his Jewishness, apparently on the grounds that it is a useful way to deflect changes of anti-Semitism. Asked at the J Street conference how he would respond to critics who say the Democratic Party has become hostile toward Israel, Sanders cited his identity as a tactical plus. “Being Jewish may be helpful in that regard,” he answered. “It’s going to be very hard for anybody to call me, whose father’s family was wiped out by Hitler, who spent time in Israel, an anti-Semite.” [...]
The problem with Bernie Sanders isn’t Bernie Sanders. It’s the way that the 78-year-old socialist, who has already suffered one heart attack on the campaign trail, is being used by an assortment of anti-Semitic frauds and weirdos who have glommed onto his campaign, using Uncle Bernie like an ATM that dispenses free passes for anti-Semitic bigotry (and campaign cash).
It’s all of a piece with what 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton recently referred to as “the culture around” Sanders. “It’s his leadership team. It’s his prominent supporters. It’s his online Bernie Bros and their relentless attacks on lots of his competitors, particularly the women,” she told the Hollywood Reporter. With Sanders being the most high-profile Jewish politician in the country and the most successful Jewish presidential candidate in American history, that his campaign has become a vessel for such ugliness is a phenomenon worth exploring.
Let’s take a spin through the carnival of bigots surrounding the senator. Reprising her role as a Sanders surrogate is Linda Sarsour, a woman who espouses Saudi Arabia as a model for American feminists, cheered the clitoridectomy of Ayaan Hirsi Ali, and has fawned over Louis Farrakhan.
Sanders surrogate Amer Zahr has written of a “Jewish jihad” against Palestinians and defended Zahra Billoo, who was forced to resign from the Women’s March board over her support for Hamas.
Progressive internet grifter and Sanders surrogate Shaun King—whose representation of his own identity has come under scrutiny—praised Sanders for “speak[ing] out against apartheid-like conditions in Palestine even though it’s not popular” in a video that the Sanders campaign posted on its website. [...]
One wants to believe that Bernie Sanders isn’t aware of the insidious role his campaign is playing as a vector for anti-Semitism to spread on the American left. Perhaps, under the influence of younger advisers, he is being used as a prop. Whatever the story, one thing is clear: Either Uncle Bernie is being taken to the dry cleaners by a bunch of anti-Semitic bigots on the left–or, even worse, he is the dry cleaner.