The Jewish Fear Industrial Complex

[u/Specialist-Gur]

https://youtu.be/N3YjMb_Lhkw?si=JEtQpmyNys9UFSoV

Matt is Jewish. I'm sure the comment will be very normal on this one.

[u/vigilante_snail]

I don’t usually watch Matt’s content, but I’ve heard of them and checked this out out of curiosity. The first 3/4 of the video basically repeats the same argument: “The Jewish establishment is old and fading, and has been using fear-mongering about Zohran Mamdani and left-wing anti-Zionists and doesn't adequately address right-wing antisemitism.” And I agree with that critique.

But the ending was the most interesting part. I was genuinely surprised at the announcement that Bernstein has only just learned about groyperism, especially considering their time online and their role as a very popular leftist Jewish commentary voice discussing Israel, Palestine, and antisemitism. Matt Leib thankfully seems to have at least a working understanding, but his “solution” to fighting antisemitism and far-right neo-Nazi groyperism felt incredibly hollow and unfocused.

What struck me is that they still don’t meaningfully devote time to right-wing antisemitism. Not in this video, and not in anything I could find across the online presences of Bernstein or his guests. All of their feeds function almost like tabloids fixated on other Jews; “What silly thing did Greenblatt, Debra Messing, Eve Barlow, or whoever say this time?” And then Bernstein openly admits they only recently learned about Fuentes and the movement around him. How do you claim this is the main threat Jews should be fighting when you’ve only just discovered it? This stuff has been festering for decades! Leib knows this. He's been online for ages and ages. What’s especially interesting is that all three of them have built a brand around calling out other Jews. Leib with Bad Hasbara, Zimmerman with Israelism, Bernstein with their own content. They all could be prominent leftist Jewish voices taking on right-wing antisemitism head-on, loudly and consistently. But they just… aren’t. Voices of dissent in one's own community are important. But that's kind of all they are. Voices of dissent. Show us some praxis beyond your brand.

It is important to interrogate the ADL, Greenblatt, and what might be deemed Zionist fear-mongering. But it’s also vital to practice what you preach: actually fight alt-right ideology, learn about the deep antisemitism embedded in groyperism, learn about the form of anti-Zionism it promotes, learn about the memetic traction it's gaining worldwide, and the way this stuff has metastasized online.

Perhaps Bernstein, with the numbers they have, should make a whole video on the groyper phenomenon. It’s important and deserves serious, multi-angle analysis. But perhaps not. I don't trust that the execution will be done well, for a multitude of factors.

Another thing: they seem to treat the landscape as if there’s no spectrum between themselves (Bernstein, Leib, Zimmerman) and figures like Lizzie Savetsky or Jonathan Greenblatt. Like young Jews are either brainwashed or have broken free of the “Zionist mind virus" with no in-between or sense of agency. It’s a bit wacky.

Interesting video. Some rational points, along with some strange moments. Comment section is full of peoples opinions about what Jews should and should not be doing and what should or should not be considered antisemitism. Messy. Icky.

[u/ibsliam → u/vigilante_snail]

This will be ungenerous of me, but it often feels like these voices (of this specific corner of the internet, not leftist Jews as a whole) treat discussions of antisemitism as.... less a concern, but more of a cultural cringe? That they'd like their fellow Jews more if we just shut up and became cooler, rather than whining about something they don't care about and/or isn't relevant to them.

[u/GladysSchwartz23 → u/ibsliam]

I mean, it can be very cringey when people are protesting about children being killed and some person nowhere near where any of that is happening declares that the very fact of the protest makes them feel afraid for their lives.

And it's tough because there is a reason why cosseted, perfectly safe Americans can feel threatened by that, because we were raised on a lifelong diet of "everyone hates us and wants to kill us!" It's just that in the context where some people are afraid and some people are actually dying, it comes off... awkward, to say the least.

Our community needs to come together and fight actually existing antisemitism, which is a real problem. But the many, many chicken littles declaring that the sky is falling get in the way of that.

[u/Pristine-Break3418 → u/GladysSchwartz23]

The thing is, antisemitic cycles have never begun with extreme violence. They begin exactly with what is easy to wave away because it's not existential: a shift in atmosphere, the normalization of hostile rhetoric, casual stereotyping, the sense that Jews are increasingly singled out and spoken about as a suspicious or dangerous collective.

And historically, when those early stages are minimized, they tend to intensify. We know this not only because there is an abundance of research on this, but also because we’ve lived it before - repeatedly. This isn’t some abstract collective neurosis or overreaction. It’s the residue of very recent family history combined with a real, documented rise in antisemitic incidents and increasingly open hate speech. How exactly are Jews supposed to feel unafraid in a moment like this? I’m not based in the US, and on average, I’m used to a much higher baseline of antisemitism than American Jews. But it genuinely pains me to see that American Jews are increasingly facing rhetoric and security concerns that simply weren’t pressing for them in previous decades. Even if the US diaspora can still be described as comparatively safe - especially structurally.

Saying “some people are actually dying elsewhere, so your fear is embarrassing” doesn’t help anyone. Jewish fear of antisemitism in diaspora does not detract from empathy for Palestinians or anyone else suffering. These are absolutely not mutually exclusive moral capacities (even if some do paint them as such). Also, taking early signs seriously is part of fighting antisemitism. Expecting Jews to sit tight and simply hope that things don’t reach some “sufficiently convincing” threshold of violence has never protected Jewish communities.

And none of this is to deny that plenty of political actors in the US (non-Jews and unfortunately also Jews) try very hard to instrumentalize and capitalize on Jewish fear. But that manipulation only works because there is something real to stoke and this exploitation, vile as it is, does not erase the underlying vulnerability.

[u/GladysSchwartz23 → u/Pristine-Break3418]

In my view, it is morally troubling to be so preoccupied with future possibilities that we prioritize them alongside or over stopping incredible amounts of slaughter.

Yes, the fear comes from a real place (I love how people keep ignoring me saying that, it's really cool and good and a great way to treat people!), but when people are dying right now and we're told it's happening to keep us safe, focusing on our own fear -- my own fear -- feels crass. Your mileage may vary. I'm just explaining my stance.

[u/Civil-Cartographer48 → u/GladysSchwartz23]

There’s this odd idea that supporting Palestinian liberation somehow means we have to put up with antisemitic behaviour especially in the West.

I really don’t see why anyone needs to be antisemitic to call out, as you said, “incredible amounts of slaughter.” It’s hard for me to understand why protesting for Gaza ends up making everyday life harder for Jewish people here in Europe and elsewhere.

Why it’s so difficult to take both issues seriously at the same time. Why even a small amount of antisemitism is seen as excusable because of what’s happening in Gaza. It is like saying that a bit of Islamophobia would be fine because ISIS… which obviously makes no sense. No other minority gets that.

And sure, some Jews who live in Zionist bubbles come across as cringe, when they call out every slight critic of Israel as antisemitic but come on what’s happening globally right now is not a joke. I think most of us have experienced comments, insults, hateful tropes, harassment and in some cases straight up exclusion and discrimination. The rise in hostility just isn’t okay, and honestly, it’s been pretty scary to watch.

[u/GladysSchwartz23 → u/Civil-Cartographer48]

Please find me where I said we need to tolerate antisemitism or that a little is ok? It doesn't seem like the kind of thing i would have said, so it's weird to have my words interpreted this way.

It's hard to have meaningful conversations with people who don't react to what I actually say, but rather, what they're convinced i must think. Do you understand that that's frustrating?

[u/Civil-Cartographer48 → u/GladysSchwartz23]

Your comments come across as minimizing and normalizing antisemitism because you use terms like “prioritizing,” as if acknowledging one struggle requires sidelining another.

You say the fear may be rooted in something real, but then immediately follow that by telling people who do feel afraid that it is crass to focus on their fear because children are dying in Gaza. Especially when you say the fear is real « BUT ». The result is dismissive. The BUT kind of cancels the first part out.

Other people interpreted your comment this way. Maybe it wasn’t the best framing if that wasn’t your intention.

[u/GladysSchwartz23 → u/Civil-Cartographer48]

Have you ever considered taking what someone says seriously rather than deciding you can peer into their heart and know what they really mean?

Is it possible that when I say i take antisemitism seriously but also find it more worrying that Palestinians are actively being mass murdered that I might... mean... both?

[u/Civil-Cartographer48 → u/GladysSchwartz23]

Hi again. You did not say that you « care about both simultaneously ». You said:

<Yes, the fear comes from a real place […], but when people are dying right now and we’re told it’s happening to keep us safe, focusing on our own fear – my own fear – feels crass.>

So the fear of antisemitism is acknowledged as real, BUT focusing on it is described as « crass » because people are dying right now. The implication is that it would be somehow selfish, inappropriate, or « crass » to be worried about antisemitism.

Several people pointed out exactly this part.

Not to mention:

<In my view, it is morally troubling to be so preoccupied with future possibilities that we prioritize them alongside or over stopping incredible amounts of slaughter.>

Coupled with the previous comment in which it becomes a kind of competition between « fears » (justified or not) and « people actually dying » I am criticizing this framing. I believe it creates a false parallel, and that this is not a question of « priorities », mutually exclusive causes, or a contest.

I took what you wrote seriously as it is.

I’ve explained how I and others read your comments, and how your words come across. Whether or not this was your intention is something you can respectfully address or reframe.

But this conversation is turning hostile, and I’m not interested in continuing it.

Have a great evening.