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Does Liberal Zionist “Double Standard” Justify Rightwing Anti-Zionist Stance?, by Robert Stark

23-3-2024 < UNZ 24 3437 words
 

While the mainstream Right is generally very pro-Israel, Alt-Right types have protested a Zionist double standard regarding how American nationalism and White identity issues are treated compared to Israel. This applied to old school White Nationalists as well as Paleoconservatives, with Pat Buchanan making these points back in the Bush era. It was also common among Ron Paul supporters, and then eventually with the rise of the Alt-Right. However, this went beyond pointing out double standards to a rightwing anti-Zionist ideology, that also adopted leftwing anti-Zionist talking points about Israel. Wilis Carto, in particular, was instrumental in fomenting this rightwing anti-Zionist ideology, as far back as the 1970s, and so was David Duke. This position is relatively fringe but has recently risen among the online right.



Jewish Paleoconservative, Paul Gottfried, who is moderately pro-Israel but also critical of establishment Zionism, wrote an article back in 2003, For Zionist, Time to Choose. Gottfried stated “I believe that American Zionists should be reconsidering their inconsistent positions, instead of ganging up on Judt (an anti-Zionist Jew). Abe Foxman and the Anti-Defamation League, for example, make themselves ridiculous and vulnerable when they denounce those who oppose the granting of drivers licenses in California to illegal immigrants as far-right anti-Semites—while they simultaneously defend Israel as a “Jewish state.”



Despite being pro-Israel, the mainstream Right is now just discovering this double standard narrative. Last Fall, Elon Musk was accused of fueling antisemitism for expressing sympathy to a post on Twitter/X about Jewish attitudes towards Whiteness. I think the post that Musk was responding to was a reasonable question and discussion that needs to be had, though perhaps it talked about Jews in too broad a sense and could have been worded better.



Source: @EladNehorai on X


Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens called out the hypocrisy of pro-Israel Ivy League donors on their stances towards anti-Whiteness, and Matt Walsh made a similar point. Tucker Carlson was accused of ‘just asking questions’ antisemitism for pointing out the double standard on Israel’s and America’s sovereignty and national identity. Charlie Kirk called out the ADL’s hypocrisy in treating anti-Whiteness differently from antisemitism and even called out Israel for plans to dump Palestinian refugees on the West. Much of Tucker Carlson’s, Candace Owens’, Matt Walsh’s, and Charlie Kirk’s rhetoric sounds close to the mid-2010s Alt-Right, even though Walsh and Kirk are extremely pro-Israel, and Carlson and Owens are perhaps tepidly pro-Israel.



Source: @charliekirk11 on X


Ben Shapiro has been gatekeeping other conservatives, like Candance Owens and Tucker Carlson, rather than focusing his ire on the anti-Israel Left. This is because they are pushing the Overton Window on the acceptability of critiquing Jewish identity politics. Ben Shapiro sort of pivoted, backing down on criticisms of Tucker but then tried to bring it back to a left vs right thing. However, Shapiro’s Daily Wire just severed ties with Candace Owens for alleged antisemitic rhetoric. Shapiro has been called out on his hypocrisy for saying that transfer is not a dirty word, regarding ethnically cleansing Palestinians, while also saying that he is ok with the browning of America.



Source: @MattWalshBlog on X38


While a lot of the Alt-Right is antisemitic, there are countless examples of hypocrisy from prominent Jewish individuals or organizations that back up their claims. For instance, Democratic Congressmen, Dan Goldman and Jared Moskowitz, supported a possible censure of fellow Democrat, Rashida Tlaib, over her anti-Israel rhetoric while they also called to censor Republican, Paul Gosar, over “White Nationalist” and “Great Replacement” rhetoric. Moscowitz even defended Israel’s planned invasion of Rafah to the ire of Progressives, though also said that Israel must be more careful about not targeting civilians. Another example is Blackrock’s, Larry Fink, who is responsible for pushing a lot of the woke agenda in corporate America and is also a staunch supporter of Israel. Not to mention the blatant hypocritical positions taken by the Anti-Defamation League on Israeli vs American and White issues, while pushing for censorship of both the anti-Israel Left and nationalist Right.




This critique goes beyond Jewish liberals in the diaspora, with a lot of Alt-Right types viewing Israel as a mortal enemy of those of White European descent. Arguments against Israel from an America First or Eurocentric standpoint include, Netanyahu trying to drag the US into war with Iran, and Israeli NGOs assisting refugees in Europe with further plans among Knesset members to foist Gaza refugees on Europe. Not to mention that Netanyahu condemned Trump’s Muslim Ban. While a lot of support for Israel comes from American Christians, Israel’s weaponry and support assisted Muslim Azerbaijan’s ethnic cleansing of Christian Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh, and Israel’s treatment of Palestinian Christians is not dramatically better than that of Muslims.



Source: @PrisonPlanet on X


If someone staunchly supports Israeli nationalism but is okay with White people being dispossessed in the West, it is understandable that they will get accused of being anti-Western and of having dual loyalties. I don’t deny Jews are significantly overrepresented in elite positions and have steered US foreign policy in a pro-Israel direction while simultaneously steering domestic policy in a more liberal direction.



Source: @KeithWoodsYT on X


Regardless, diaspora hypocrisy is not uniquely Jewish, with the Turkish diaspora in Germany backing Erdogan in Turkey while backing open borders politicians in Germany, or Hindus in America who back Modi and Hindutva in India while protesting the per-country caps on Indian immigrants. There is also Anglo hypocrisy, such as the British being the biggest imperialists yet sanctimonious about sanctioning Apartheid South Africa. There is similar hypocrisy from the pro-Palestinian cause, such as Cenk Uygur, who is a progressive from a Muslim background and very pro-Palestinian. Cenk thinks that Jews and Palestinians should be separated and have large walls between them, which is essentially an ethnonationalist position. However, the Israeli/Jewish lobby is the most powerful ethnic lobby, though not the most powerful lobby overall.


The Alt-Right trope about Jewish/Israeli double standards is probably somewhat overblown and neglects the diversity of Jewish opinions. For instance, the many staunch Jewish critics of Israel, as well as Stephen Miller, who is probably the top immigration hawk in America, or free speech advocate, Glenn Greenwald, who is critical of both the Israeli Lobby and the anti-White agenda. Not to mention that most of the White gentile elite are on board with policies, like mass immigration, and are quick to throw ordinary Whites under the bus. Liberalism has infected the educated class, and Jews tend to be well-educated. While Jewish Americans are on average more ethnocentric than White gentiles, they are probably not as ethnocentric as the Alt-Right assumes.



Source: @timjacobwise on X


Those who support Israel in America (not just Jews) are on average more anti-immigration, while Jewish Democrats are probably more to the left on Israel than White Republican Christians, especially Evangelicals. What the Alt-Right gets wrong is that Jewish people who supported BLM generally don’t care for Netanyahu, and range from pro-Palestinian to liberal Zionists who backed the opposition to Netanyahu. For instance, Kamala Harris’s stepdaughter, Ella Emhoff, who is from an elite Jewish background, was promoting a fundraiser for Gaza, which I think is the case for a lot of Jewish Zoomers from well off liberal backgrounds. The Alt-Right will use anti-racist activist, Tim Wise, as an example to show that Jews are anti-White. However, Wise is a staunch critic of Israel/Zionism, and called out anti-Black biases amongst Jews. Not to mention that Wise is only a quarter Jewish.



Source: @scottadamssays on X


While George Soros is often given as an example of a Jewish oligarch who funds the Great Replacement, it is important to point out that Soros also funds anti-Israel causes. The majority of NGOs that bring in migrants to Europe are probably European while Jews are often victims of Muslim immigration to Europe. Qatar is a slave state, and uses Al Jazeera as their propaganda arm to hide behind allegations of Islamophobia and push for Europeans to accept migrants while financing the Islamization of Europe. Qatar is also an adversary of Israel and backer of Hamas.


Sweden and Ireland, which both have hardly any Jews, have establishments that are pro-Palestinian while pursuing suicidal policies for their national demographic interests. Scotland’s Pakistani prime minister, Humza Yousaf, has strong ties to the Palestinian cause and is viciously anti-White. The ANC and EFF in South Africa, which are very pro-Palestinian, and outright pro-Hamas in the case of the EFF, are also genocidally anti-White.


There is a lot more nuance to the argument that Israel is the enemy of White European interests. For instance, Israel showed independence from the Western/American establishment on Apartheid South Africa, as well as defending Serbia on Kosovo and in their conflict with Bosnian Muslims. Today Netanyahu is friendly with Hungary’s Nationalist leader, Victor Orban, and Haaretz gave Likud flack for welcoming to Israel a Belgian-Flemish nationalist leader, who they consider antisemitic.


Polling shows that Israelis overall have a favorable view towards Europeans, as well as a very positive view of Americans. While Israel is much more nationalistic than the West, they have similar issues with liberal subversion. For instance, the comedian Sarah Silverman has a sister who is a leftwing Rabbi in Tel Aviv, who is a big advocate for welcoming African refuges into Israel. While “Open Borders for Israel” is an Alt-Right meme, a segment of leftwing Jews would go along with it.



Source: @bariweiss on X


From a Jewish perspective, being told you are a colonizer in the Middle East but also that you don’t fully belong in the West is going to create some neurosis. Ashkenazi Jews, at least, are fundamentally linked to the West. However, Israel and Jews in general are sort of a hybrid of European/Western and Near Eastern. I am of partial Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry, and my ancestor wrote a book in favor of Zionism in the 1890s, though I have nuanced feelings towards Israel.



Source: @woke8yearold on X


I predict that in the future, Israel will become more distant from the West, as Mizrahis and the ultra-Orthodox dominate demographically while the secular Ashkenazi demographic is diminished. Anti-Zionists virtue signal about Mizrahis as victims of Ashkenazi White supremacy when they are actually far more rightwing, while Ashkenazis are more likely to favor granting rights to Palestinians.


While Israel is a quasi-ethno-state, it also has Arab citizens and allows those who are a quarter Jewish to become citizens. In contrast, the pro-White rightwing is unhappy about half White people from Latin America migrating to the US. Also different paradigms work for different nations. Just like Israel is different from America, I would say that Denmark and Hungary should be ethnostates. However, I support multiculturalism for America, albeit a more ethnopluralist variant of multiculturalism.



Source: @SaladBarFan on X


A lot of the Woke Left hate Israel because they hate Whites and Israel epitomizes Whiteness and settler colonialism. Palestine has become the big woke cause with anti-White activist, Saira Rao, getting cancelled for her pro-Palestinian activism, while her anti-White seminars were celebrated. Palestine serves this role for non-White immigrants to assimilate into the brown victimhood Olympics.



Source: @EpektasisJohn on X


The perverse nature of left-wing anti-Zionism is that Whites are somehow responsible for Palestinian “genocide,” or should feel guilt at our “complicity.” The fundamental argument that Israel is bad because it is hyper-nationalist and stole land from brown people is the very same argument used to delegitimize European settler colonial societies like America, as well as to justify mass migration into Europe.



Source: @anahitkirakosia on X


When leftists say “From the River to the Sea,” they don’t mean outright genocide of Jews, but rather forcing Jews and Palestinians to share a binational state like post-Apartheid South Africa, which really didn’t turn out so great. However, many Jews are unwilling to come to terms with that the decolonization movement doesn’t in the slightest carve out an Israeli exception. When a large portion of young leftists openly sympathized with Hamas, double standard takes appear rather innocuous.



Source: @Partisangirl on X


There is likely going to be a major decline in US support for Israel and pro-Israel influence on US politics. This is because of Israel losing the PR war, declining Jewish victim status losing out to non-White grievances and Jews being perceived as White, changing demographics with a non-White America favoring the Palestinians, and anti-Israel and antisemitic views being normalized on social media.



Source: @ramzpaul on X


It is much more acceptable to harshly criticize and question the legitimacy of Israel today than just a decade ago. I am also surprised by how unsophisticated the pro-Israel side has been in their propaganda, given that they seem to be expecting a long conflict and will need a durable posture and sympathy. Perhaps the age of Zionist hypocrisy will eventually be a thing of the past, and they will become just another group of rightwing ethno-nationalists, willing to join other rightwing nationalists properly on the global stage.


The Right can exploit divisions between the pro-Palestinian Left and pro-Israel center-left. Basically weaken the anti-nationalist coalition, whose two core components are the pro-Israel, pro-Deep State neoliberals and the Third Wordlist, anti-White leftists. For the first time ever, the Right is in a position to dictate terms for the Israel Lobby. It looks like they will squander this opportunity, though the ADL seems to have made some concessions to Elon Musk, with Musk agreeing to crack down on pro-Palestinian activism while going softer on pro-White type stuff. Ideally, Trump should have pressured Israel to rein in the anti-Whiteness amongst diaspora organizations.



Source: @DarrenJBeattie on X


While a lot of White identitarians are both Islamophobic and antisemitic, the pro-Palestinian side is aligned with Islamists and Third Worldism, which includes opposition to Whiteness, while the pro-Israel side is allied with American imperialism plus anti-White organizations, like the ADL. For this reason, dissidents, populists, America Firsters, and European Identitarians are better off staying neutral or just non-interventionist.



Source: @RightWingWatch on X



Source: @VICENews on X


Analyzing different strategies from a Machiavellian standpoint, rightwing anti-Zionism could strengthen Third Worldism, but also getting one cancelled for antisemitism, while not effectively damaging Zionism the way that anti-Zionist leftism has. The main downside of embracing Israel and linking Israel to the West and antisemitism to anti-Whiteness, is that it will get Whites broadly and the Right blamed for Israel’s actions. The only benefit to this position is if major Zionists reciprocate and come out strongly against anti-Whiteness. For the most part, I advocate for neutrality, just letting the two political sides go at it while keeping the moral high ground on non-intervention.



Source: @FistedFoucault on X


Anti-Zionist White Nationalism is more tactical than a principled moral stance, with some outliners. The anti-Israel dissident right can be divided between antisemitic but pro-White, as well as those who actually are Third Wordlists, who identify with the Palestinians. A lot of dissidents are so alienated from Western institutions that they almost cease to be Westerners.



Source: @vulgarheidegger on X


There are legit criticisms of Israel, including humanitarian, but the problem with the dissident right adopting anti-Zionism, is that it operates under an anti-nationalist framework. I don’t even mean opposing the Gaza siege, but more the argument that Israel is illegitimate because it is an ethnostate and on stolen land. A lot of the pro-Palestinian dissident right are disingenuous and don’t really care about brown Muslims dying in Gaza, but just want the Jews and Israel to take an L. For instance, they would probably cheer on a hypothetical rightwing European regime, doing to Europe’s Muslims what Israel is doing in Gaza. Under the surface of this resentment, the dissident right has an element of admiration for Israel’s will to survive and to be ruthless to secure its long term demographic future, in contrast with European nations that pander to foreigners who show contempt in turn.



Calling out the hypocrisy of pro-Israel Jewish organizations and individuals is fine without going full Jew obsessed 14/88 nutjob. Because it has long been taboo to make nuanced criticisms of Jewish influence, many dissidents overcompensate by obsessively being anti-Israel, which also sort of applies to leftwing anti-Zionists. While Israel should be criticized on its own merits, liberal Jewish hypocrisy in the diaspora is a weak justification for taking a hardline anti-Israel stance. Anti-Zionist White Nationalists can be as hypocritical as the woke Zionists at the ADL, though they have no power. When it comes down to it, hypocrisy is just a sign of tribalism and the friend enemy distinction determines politics, not ideological principles or the various nuances to a situation.


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