An obscure academic organization called the American Studies Association not long ago voted to endorse a resolution calling for a boycott of Israeli universities. The self-appointed moralists were purportedly outraged over the Israeli<\/p>\n government\u2019s treatment of Palestinians.<\/p>\n Given academia\u2019s past obsessions with the Jewish state, the targeting of Israel is not new. Yet why do the professors focus on Israel and not Saudi Arabia, which denies women the right to drive and only recently granted them the right to vote? Why not Russia, which has been accused of suppressing free speech, or Nigeria, which has passed retrograde anti-homosexual legislation?<\/p>\n The hip poet Amiri Baraka (a.k.a. Everett LeRoi Jones) recently died. He was once poet laureate of New Jersey, held prestigious university posts, and was canonized with awards \u2014 despite being a hateful anti-Semite.<\/p>\n After 9\/11, Baraka wrote a poem that suggested Israel knew about the plan to attack the World Trade Center. One of his poems from the \u201960s included this unabashedly anti-Semitic passage: \u201cSmile, jew. Dance, jew. Tell me you love me, jew.\u00a0.\u00a0.\u00a0.\u00a0I got the extermination blues, jewboys. I got the hitler syndrome figured.\u201d Yet that did not preclude the\u00a0New York Times<\/em>\u00a0and NPR from praising him after his death.<\/p>\n Trendy multicultural French comedian Dieudonn\u00e9 M\u2019bala M\u2019bala is known for his anti-Semitic provocations and for making a gesture that has been described as an inverted Nazi salute. He recently quipped of a Jewish journalist: \u201cWhen I hear him talk, you see\u00a0.\u00a0.\u00a0.\u00a0I say to myself, gas chambers\u00a0.\u00a0.\u00a0.\u00a0a pity.\u201d Auschwitz is now a joke?<\/p>\n Loudmouth multimillionaire hip-hop artist Kanye West recently suggested in an interview that President Obama\u2019s approval ratings have waned because \u201cblack people don\u2019t have the same level of connections as Jewish people.\u201d In the mind of Mr. West, Obama\u2019s current unpopularity has nothing to do with the IRS, Benghazi, the Associated Press and NSA scandals, or with the Obamacare disaster.<\/p>\n In politics, Israel often finds itself at the wrong end of a troubling double standard.<\/p>\n Secretary of State John Kerry seems to be camped out in Israel these days. The Obama administration hopes to pressure Israeli leaders to offer concessions that will lead to an elusive Middle East peace. Yet even if Israel gave this administration what it wanted, how would the United States guarantee reciprocal commitments from the notoriously corrupt Palestinian Authority, which has no democratic legitimacy among those in the West Bank? Terrorist-affiliated Hamas wants no part of any such settlement.<\/p>\n It is hardly anti-Semitic to focus on problems between Israel and the Palestinians, or even to pressure the Israelis. But it becomes so when problems elsewhere are simply ignored\u00a0and Israel alone is singled out to be chastised.<\/p>\n Is the U.N. focused on the 13 million Germans who were ethnically cleansed from Eastern Europe about the same time that thousands of Palestinians left what became Israel? Would the American Studies Association boycott Chinese universities over the absorption of Tibet?<\/p>\n Is the world really troubled about divided capitals like Jerusalem? If so, why not an international conference on the Turkish occupation of a divided Nicosia?<\/p>\n Can Kerry not use shuttle diplomacy to settle who owns all those disputed rocky islands that have led China and Japan to the brink of war?<\/p>\n Nazis and racists used to spearhead Jewish hatred using ancient crackpot defamations that date back to the Jewish diaspora into Europe after the Roman destruction of Judea. But lately, anti-Semitism has become more a left-wing pathology. It is driven by the cheap multicultural trashing of the West. Jewish people here and abroad have become convenient targets for those angry with supposedly undeserved Western success and privilege.<\/p>\n Aside from the old envy, and racial and religious hatred, I think cowardice explains the new selective anti-Semitism. Kanye West would not dare slander radical Muslims, given the violence and threats against European cartoonists and filmmakers who have dared to create work perceived as insulting to Islam. The American Studies Association would not call for a boycott of Russia despite its endemic persecution of gays. After all, Russian president Vladimir Putin is as unpredictable as Israeli politicians are forbearing.<\/p>\n Kerry is not rushing into Damascus to stop the bloodletting that has claimed far more lives than all the Palestinians lost in 70 years of conflict with Israel. Syrian president Bashar Assad, Shiite terrorists, and al-Qaeda would not listen politely to Kerry\u2019s pontificating sermons.<\/p>\n The sort of anti-Semitism we see from buffoons like Dieudonn\u00e9 M\u2019bala M\u2019bala is appalling, but the double standard to which Israel is held in matters of foreign policy by those who should know better is in many ways even more galling.<\/p>\n Victor Davis Hanson is a classicist and historian at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University.<\/em>\u00a0His latest book is<\/em>\u00a0The Savior Generals<\/a><\/span><\/em>,\u00a0published this springby<\/em>\u00a0Bloomsbury Books.<\/em>\u00a0You can reach him by e-mailingauthor@victorhanson.com<\/a>. <\/em><\/p>\n \u00a9 2014 Tribune Media Services, Inc.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The prejudice against Israel in diplomatic matters is as troubling as more cruse bigotry agains Jews. by Victor Davis Hanson \/\/\u00a0National Review Online\u00a0 An obscure academic organization called the American Studies Association not long ago voted to endorse a resolution calling for a boycott of Israeli universities. The self-appointed moralists were purportedly outraged over the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[97,152],"tags":[366,12,348,141,1036,1046,920,1060],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p466Sb-1Ny","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":978,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/harvard-promotes-the-palestinians-slow-motion-final-solution\/","url_meta":{"origin":6916,"position":0},"title":"Harvard Promotes the Palestinians’ Slow-Motion ‘Final Solution’","author":"victorhanson","date":"February 12, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"by Bruce S. Thornton FrontPage Media There is no idea so hateful or useless that some university somewhere won\u2019t hold a conference on it. The latest example of this unfortunate truism is the recently announced \u201cIsrael\/Palestine and the One-State Conference\u201d scheduled for early March at the Harvard Kennedy School. Nineteen\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Israel"","block_context":{"text":"Israel","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/the-world\/the-middle-east\/israel\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":11849,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/strategika-issue-58-current-u-s-israel-relations\/","url_meta":{"origin":6916,"position":1},"title":"Strategika Issue 58: Current U.S.-Israel Relations","author":"victorhanson","date":"May 29, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Trump And Israel Please read a new essay by my colleague, Barry Strauss\u00a0in Strategika. The Trump Administration has changed course in various ways from its predecessor when it comes to relations with Israel. Among other things, the current American government has moved the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv,\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5023,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/flunking-with-flying-colors-failing-the-moral-test-of-our-times\/","url_meta":{"origin":6916,"position":2},"title":"Flunking With Flying Colors: Failing the Moral Test of Our Times","author":"victorhanson","date":"August 9, 2002","format":false,"excerpt":"by Victor Davis Hanson National Review Online The Middle East crisis offers the world an ethical litmus test for our generation in a variety of historic ways. Legitimate arguments can arise about the proper borders between Israel and the proposed independent state of Palestine \u2014 no doubt an eventual autonomous\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "August 2002"","block_context":{"text":"August 2002","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/archives\/2002\/august-2002\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7637,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/moral-equivalence-moral-idiocy\/","url_meta":{"origin":6916,"position":3},"title":"Moral Equivalence, Moral Idiocy","author":"victorhanson","date":"July 8, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"by Bruce Thornton \/\/ FrontPage Magazine Scenes all too familiar from the Arab conflict with Israel have followed the murder last Wednesday of a 16-year-old Palestinian, Mohammed Abu Khdeir. Mourners at his funeral\u00a0chanting the Muslim war-cry \u201cAllahu Akbar\u201d as they carry the boy\u2019s\u00a0open coffin, the crowd shouting slogans like \u201cIntifada\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "The Middle East"","block_context":{"text":"The Middle East","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/the-world\/the-middle-east\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/6b682571-56c4-4ad7-adc6-c762abf878af-620x372.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3052,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/corrupt-language-breeds-bad-history-and-bad-policy\/","url_meta":{"origin":6916,"position":4},"title":"Corrupt Language Breeds Bad History and Bad Policy","author":"victorhanson","date":"May 24, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"by Bruce S. Thornton Advancing a Free Society As the history of communism and fascism both illustrate, modern political tyranny has relied on fabricated history to legitimize its claims and actions, and such history in turn relies on the debasement of language. Nowhere is this axiom more evident than in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Israel"","block_context":{"text":"Israel","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/the-world\/the-middle-east\/israel\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3945,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/the-israel-enigma\/","url_meta":{"origin":6916,"position":5},"title":"The Israel Enigma","author":"victorhanson","date":"July 10, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"by Victor Davis Hanson Tribune Media Services What explains most of the world's dislike of\u00a0Israel\u00a0? Since Israeli settlers withdrew from\u00a0Gaza\u00a0in 2005, Palestinian terrorists have replied by consistently shooting homemade Qassam rockets at civilian targets inside\u00a0Israel\u00a0. Just recently, they've kidnapped a soldier and a hitchhiker (who has been killed) \u2014 and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "July 2006"","block_context":{"text":"July 2006","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/archives\/2006\/july-2006\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6916"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6916"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6916\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6919,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6916\/revisions\/6919"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6916"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6916"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6916"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"MathKnight](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/626px-Flag-of-Israel-002a.jpg?resize=300%2C287&ssl=1\")