Duality of Antisemitism

Much of the hateful discourse in the media (mainstream and social) during the hot war with Iran has been about the relationship between Trump/USA and Netanyahu/Israel.

The general thrust of the poison was (and is) to the effect that Trump does what Netanyahu wants, that the war was Israel’s, and that the USA had no option but do what its Zionist overlords ordered. In other words, The Jews controlled America.

This, of course, is hateful nonsense.

As Sartre said:

Never believe that anti-Semites are completely unaware of the absurdity of their replies.  They know that their remarks are frivolous, open to challenge.  But they are amusing themselves, for it is their adversary who is obliged to use words responsibly, since he believes in words…

The anti-Semites…like to play with discourse for, by giving ridiculous reasons, they discredit the seriousness of their interlocutors.  They delight in acting in bad faith, since they seek not to persuade by sound argument but to intimidate and disconcert.  If you press them too closely, they will abruptly fall silent, loftily indicating by some phrase that the time for argument is past.

Source: Anti-Semite and Jew by Jean-Paul Sartre, 1944

With that in mind, let’s turn to an article in today’s Times of Israel:

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warns that the US-Iran memorandum of understanding obligates US President Donald Trump to “muzzle” Israel and prevent it from militarily threatening Iran, in response to remarks by Defense Minister Israel Katz.

“The terms of the Islamabad MoU are crystal clear and public for all to see. POTUS has committed the US to muzzling its pets in Tel Aviv. If they ignore their master, Iran will school them. Any threat against our People and Leadership will receive Immediate Powerful Response,” Araghchi warns in a post on X.

Yes, you read that correctly. Apparently, the story has changed: now it’s America that controls Israel.

Truly, to be an antisemite is to be especially blessed: you have the capacity, if not the requirement, to hold two conflicting racist tropes in your mind at the same time. Such is the duality of antisemitism.