A description of a course beginning this week at Oberlin College, my alma mater, reads: “Popular conceptions of the relationship between Jews and power tend either to adopt (in the case of sympathetic accounts) a view of Jews as perennial victims or (in the case of hostile/antisemitic accounts) a view of Jews as overly or preternaturally powerful. This course attempts to complicate that bipolar framework by exploring a more diverse range of encounters between Jews and power from antiquity to the present.”

There’s nothing problematic about a take-down of the view that Jews are “overly or preternaturally powerful,” a trope popularized by the antisemitic forgery The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. The problem is with the other half of the course, which purports to “complicate” the “sympathetic account” of Jews “as perennial victims.”

It’s sadly become a generally accepted fact that antisemitism in the US has been making troubling inroads on both the left and the right of the political spectrum. On the right, antisemites are, at least, open, honest, unabashed — or even, at times — proud. This type of antisemitism is easy to spot and to diagnose.

The antisemitism encroaching from the left is more clever. It hides in plain sight, disguising itself frequently as pro-Palestinian or human rights activism. Other times, left-wing antisemitism poses virtuously as opposition to the antisemites of the right.

For example, the film Israelism complains, “American Jewish organizations have spent the last decade pouring millions of dollars into smearing and marginalizing human rights advocates … trying to brand Palestinian protest as antisemitic when there were neo-Nazis trying to kill us in our synagogues!” according to a review from StandWithUs. (Notably, the film was screened at Oberlin in November 2023, just a month and a half after the October 7 attack in which 1,200 Israelis were killed by Hamas.)

This attempt to promote the left-wing brand of antisemitism, even while using a critique of a different form of antisemitism as a shield, is what we see in the course.

The assertion that Jews, or those who “sympathize” with Jews, claim perennial victimhood in order to further malevolent ends forms the basis of a great deal of antisemitism; the “victimhood” canard is a straw man set up to demonize Jews. (For one example, see here.) Yet that is the very same assertion that is being made in the course description itself.

The Oberlin administration claims the course is designed to oppose antisemitism. That is partially correct, but it also serves to operate as a smokescreen. To understand this requires an acknowledgement that antisemitism can take different forms, and that antisemites of different stripes can at times come together (as when David Duke called Ilhan Omar “the most important Member of the US Congress”), and can at other times operate in opposition to each other, depending on what best suits their needs.

The pretense of opposing antisemitism, but only opposing antisemitism from the right, can serve to bolster the credentials of those who themselves promulgate a different flavor of antisemitism.

Even as the course, according to its description, knocks down one antisemitic trope, it promotes a different one: that Jews fallaciously claim victimhood for political gain.

Since the time when Oberlin made news because of a professor who, among other things, blamed Israel for the September 11 attack on the US, the new Oberlin administration, led by President Carmen Twillie Ambar, seemed to have made strides in combating antisemitism.

With a few of worst actors having departed the campus under various circumstances, President Ambar issued a decent statement regarding the October 7 attack on Israel, and recently blocked a terror-supporting speaker that a student group had attempted to bring to the campus. In the Spring of 2024, when antisemitic campus protests rocked the country, the protests at Oberlin were, in comparison, mild, and Oberlin stayed out of the news. But now, the Oberlin administration’s vision seems once again to be occluded when it comes to left-wing antisemitism, and this latest course offering threatens to bring the school back to an earlier era.

Karen Bekker is the Assistant Director in the Media Response Team at CAMERA, the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis.

The post Oberlin College Course Uses Antisemitism as Sword and Shield first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

JNS.org — Global reaction came swiftly on Wednesday to US President Donald Trump’s call for Gazans to be relocated out of the Strip, which he described as a “demolition site” — with most, if not all, countries panning the idea.

Trump proposed that ownership of the Strip be transferred to the United States, which would rebuild it.

“This was not a decision made lightly,” he said. “Everybody I’ve spoken to loves the idea of the United States owning that piece of land, developing and creating thousands of jobs with something that will be magnificent in a really magnificent area that nobody would know.”

Palestinians could be located to various locales. “It could be numerous sites or it could be one large site, but the people will be able to live in comfort and peace,” Trump said. “We’ll make sure something really spectacular is done.”

Most countries, which have embraced a two-state solution whereby a Palestinian state would be established adjoining the Jewish state in territories liberated by Israel in the 1967 Six Day War, expressed a mixture of incredulity and indignation.

“They [Palestinians] must be allowed home, they must be allowed to rebuild, and we should be with them in that rebuild on the way to a two-state solution,” said British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

Germany’s Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock released a statement insisting that a negotiated two-state solution is the only path forward, not only rejecting Trump’s relocation plan but calling for Israel’s capital to be divided.

“It is clear that Gaza — like the West Bank and East Jerusalem — belongs to the Palestinians. They form the starting point for a future state of Palestine,” Baerbock said.

“The expulsion of the Palestinian civilian population from Gaza would not only be unacceptable and contrary to international law. It would also lead to new suffering and new hatred,” she added.

France also rejected the proposal, with Foreign Ministry spokesman Christophe Lemoine saying, “France reiterates its opposition to any forced displacement of the Palestinian population of Gaza, which would constitute a serious violation of international law, an attack on the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinians, but also a major obstacle to the two-state solution and a major destabilizing factor for our close partners Egypt and Jordan as well as for the entire region.”

Spain, which recognized a State of Palestine together with Norway and Ireland on May 28, 2024, also criticized the plan.

Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares said, “I want to be very clear on this: Gaza is the land of Gazan Palestinians and they must stay in Gaza. Gaza is part of the future Palestinian state Spain supports and has to coexist guaranteeing the Israeli state’s prosperity and safety.”

Ireland, whose leadership’s allegedly antisemitic “actions and rhetoric” recently led Israel to close its Dublin embassy, also panned the idea.

Irish Foreign Minister Simon Harris said, “It’s very clear the direction of travel here: We need a two-state solution, and the people of Palestine and the people of Israel both have a right to live in states safely side by side, and that’s where the focus has to be.”

“Any idea of displacing the people of Gaza anywhere else would be in clear contradiction with UN Security Council resolutions,” he added.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said, “Australia’s position is the same as it was this morning, as it was last year. The Australian government supports on a bipartisan basis a two-state solution.”

Russia, which greeted a Hamas delegation in Moscow as recently as Monday, said a settlement is only possible in the framework of the two-state solution.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, “This is the thesis that is enshrined in the relevant UN Security Council resolution. This is the thesis that is shared by the overwhelming majority of countries involved in this problem. We proceed from it. We support it and believe that this is the only possible option.”

Beijing’s Foreign Ministry said, “China hopes all parties will take ceasefire and post-conflict governance as an opportunity to bring the Palestinian issue back on the right track of political settlement based on the two-state solution.”

Do what is necessary

During his 40-minute press conference on Tuesday night with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump said, “We’ll own it [Gaza] and be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous, unexploded bombs and other weapons on the site, level the site and get rid of the destroyed buildings.”

The US takeover of Gaza could involve the deployment of American troops, according to Trump. “We’ll do what is necessary,” he said. “If it’s necessary, we’ll do that.”

Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and the Palestinian Authority wrote to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Monday to reject the idea of resettling Palestinians outside of the Strip. But Trump said on Tuesday that “neighboring countries of great wealth” could pay for the relocation of Gazans.

Trump suggested that under US ownership and development, Palestinians could return to Gaza but that it would become an international zone.

“This is not for Israel,” Trump said. “This is for everybody in the Middle East — Arabs, Muslims, this is for everybody.

“I think you’ll make that into an international, unbelievable place,” he said. “Palestinians will live there. Many people will live there.”

Elements of what Trump described were redolent of the so-called “Trump Mideast peace plan” that he unveiled in 2020, which included developing Gaza’s waterfront into a tourism destination.

“I don’t want to be cute. I don’t want to be a wise guy, but the Riviera of the Middle East,” the hotel magnate and president said Tuesday. “This could be so magnificent.”

Trump said that his Gaza development plan did not rule out a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“It doesn’t mean anything about a two-state or one-state or any other state,” he said. “It means that we want to give people a chance at life. They have never had a chance at life because the Gaza Strip has been a hell hole.”

He added that he intends to visit the enclave, which Hamas has controlled, as part of a regional tour.

“I’ll visit Gaza,” the American leader said. “I’ll visit Saudi Arabia, and I’ll visit other places all over the Middle East. The Middle East is an incredible place.”

Netanyahu said Trump’s vision is in line with his war goal of ensuring that Gaza can never pose a threat to Israel again.

“President Trump is taking it to a much higher level,” Netanyahu said. “I think it’s worth paying attention to this. We’re talking about it. He’s exploring it with his people, with his staff. I think it’s something that could change history, and it’s worthwhile, really pursuing this avenue.”

Trump said that he had not yet made a decision about the United States recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank, but that there will “probably” be a decision on the question “over the next four weeks.”

Netanyahu called Trump the “greatest friend Israel has ever had in the White House.”

“Ladies and gentlemen, all this in just two weeks,” Netanyahu said of Trump’s executive actions since the start of his second term. “Can we imagine where we’ll be in four years? I can.”

The post World Largely Rejects Trump’s Relocation Plan for Gaza, Demands Two-State Solution first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

Saudi Arabia said it would not establish ties with Israel without the creation of a Palestinian state, contradicting President Donald Trump‘s claim that Riyadh was not demanding a Palestinian homeland when he said the US wants to take over the Gaza Strip.

In a shocking announcement, Trump said on Tuesday the United States would take over the war-ravaged enclave after Palestinians are resettled elsewhere and develop it economically. He was speaking at a joint press conference with visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Saudi Arabia rejects any attempts to displace the Palestinians from their land, Saudi Arabia‘s foreign ministry said in a statement on Wednesday, adding that its stance towards the Palestinians is not negotiable.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has affirmed the kingdom’s position in “a clear and explicit manner” that does not allow for any interpretation under any circumstances, the statement said.

When it comes to Saudi policy in the Middle East, the stakes are high for both Trump and Israel.

The United States had led months of diplomacy to get Saudi Arabia, one of the most powerful and influential Arab states, to normalize ties with Israel and recognize the country. But the Gaza war, which began in October 2023, led Riyadh to shelve the matter in the face of Arab anger over Israel‘s offensive.

Trump would like Saudi Arabia to follow in the footsteps of countries like the United Arab Emirates, a Middle East trade and business hub, and Bahrain which signed the so-called Abraham Accords in 2020 and normalized ties with Israel.

In doing so, they became the first Arab states in a quarter century to break a longstanding taboo.

Establishing ties with Saudi Arabia would be a grand prize for Israel because the kingdom has vast influence in the Middle East, the wider Muslim world, and it is the world’s biggest oil exporter.

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