(JEWISH GROUP) The antisemites are enjoying themselves

[Behind the Aegis]

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Things have changed in the years since Sanchez was fired. Rants about Jews have become more mainstream and, notably, those espousing these views are less likely to fulminate than they are to speak with a bemused irony or detachment.

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Casablancas spoke with none of Sanchez’s venom but rather presented himself as gleefully speaking truth to power. It struck me that, where American antisemitism used to be angry, as in the rant from Sanchez and similar tirades by celebrities like Mel Gibson and Kanye West, it has become almost fun for the agitators. Where Sanchez actually did lose his career over his comments, Casablancas can joke about the idea.

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It has never been more acceptable to criticize Israel or Zionism.

This is a huge victory for Israel’s critics who genuinely care about changing American foreign policy. But it simultaneously poses a conundrum for those who had used their criticism of Israel to signal they held verboten beliefs about our political order — beliefs that could range from a generic distrust in “the man” to conspiracy theories about Jewish cabals.

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As antisemitism makes its way into popular culture with a wink and a nod, I fear that more people are going to want to get in on the joke.

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