They are not quite conjoined twins, but it's often the case that where you find anti-Semitism, you will also find anti-Americanism.
Scholars who have studied these two forms of prejudice side by side have remarked on the common patterns of thought and belief. The distinguished sociologist and professor Paul Hollander (who sadly passed away last month) explained that "anti-Americanism" as a political phenomenon should not be confused with "being critical of specific aspects or attributes of American society, culture or American foreign policy." Instead, said Hollander, anti-Americanism should be seen as "a particular mindset, an attitude of distaste, aversion or intense hostility, the roots of which may be found in matters unrelated to the actual qualities or attributes of American society or the foreign policies of the United States." Much of the same observations can and have been made in relation to anti-Semitism.
Anti-Americanism also raises similar allegations against American society and culture as anti-Semitism does with Jews and Judaism. America is held up as a crass, materialistic society, where money rules politics and the most anarchic aspects of capitalism – a system disdained as essentially "Jewish" by many Europeans well into the last century – run riot. Look at the standard-bearers of anti-Americanism over the last century, among them Venezuela's dictator Nicolas Máduro, and you will see that they project a similar hostility to Jews, often couched in denunciations of "Zionism" or "Israeli crimes." Some of these people see power in the world as a Zionist knife in Uncle Sam's fist; others think it works the other way around.
Many supporters of the opposition Labour Party in Britain subscribe to this broad worldview. So it should not come as a shock then that party leader Jeremy Corbyn, a man who can credibly claim to be Europe's best-known anti-Semite, is leveraging his visceral anti-Americanism into his country's internal conflict over Brexit, its departure from the European Union.
Earlier this month, Corbyn delivered a speech in which he renamed the option of a "no-deal Brexit," whereby the United Kingdom would cease to be a member of the EU absent a deal setting out the divorce terms, a "Trump Brexit." This phrase is indeed catchy and plays well with those sections of British society on both the Left and Right that think the U.S. president, like all his predecessors, is itching for a pretext to launch a new world war.
Why a "Trump Brexit"? Corbyn, a supporter of Brexit at the helm of a party that favors remaining in the EU, needs to carve out a position that differentiates him from the Conservatives and those further to the Right, who are now seething over a "Brexit betrayal." This current of opinion wants to fulfill Brexit above all else, even if that means leaving the EU without a deal. That outcome, according to Corbyn, "would be a Donald Trump Brexit leaving us at the mercy of a reckless and bellicose U.S. administration."
Corbyn, whose political career stretches back to the Cold War, has said the same thing about every U.S. administration, whether Democratic or Republican. He has worn his anti-Americanism proudly, whether the incumbent in the White House was President Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush or Barack Obama. In his view, cemented by the pro-Soviet, third-worldly sensibilities of the Western anti-war movement, the U.S. is by its very nature "reckless and bellicose."
The difference now, of course, is that Corbyn is closer to power than ever before. The sword of Damocles that first dangled when he was elected Labour leader in 2015 could fall as early as this year, especially if Corbyn turns the Conservative-run fiasco over Brexit into a decisive advantage in the event of a general election.
In what will be the greatest test of his political abilities so far, Corbyn will pitch the British public a nightmare vision. He will warn of Britain becoming a sweatshop for predatory U.S. corporations, with minimal rights to protect workers, a dumping ground for cut-price, unhealthy, processed American food products and an extension of America's military empire, with a compliant government applauding U.S. imperialism from Venezuela to Iran. That, and more is what a "Trump Brexit" would herald.
While such a political message will certainly resound in the current febrile climate of British politics, Corbyn isn't necessarily the best placed to deliver it. Over the last six weeks, he has been engaged in a bizarre set of negotiations with the now lame-duck Prime Minister Theresa May aimed at securing a cross-party agreement on Brexit. Publicly at least, Corbyn appeared less enthused by the talks than May, despite her having cautioned late last year that giving Labour even a sniff of government would be a "national calamity" replete with "rising anti-Semitism" and "equivocation when the security of our country is threatened." And it was Corbyn, not May, who announced last Friday that the talks had broken down.
Yet none of this appears to have benefited Corbyn in the opinion polls. Projections for this week's European Parliament elections – elections that weren't supposed to take place – situate the populist Brexit Party as the clear front-runner. The only consolation for Labour is that its own dismal performance is predicted to be slightly less humiliating than that facing the Conservatives. In terms of public perception, Corbyn has been more damaged than assisted by the general view that the political class has shown gross incompetence over Brexit.
Beyond the European elections, however, Corbyn will have an opportunity to present himself as a unifier – a politician who understands that there are more important challenges than Brexit, like empowering labor unions, saving the environment and fortifying Britain's public health services.
Competing against a Conservative Party potentially led by a "no deal" Brexiteer, a host of smaller parties that favor staying in the EU and a grassroots pro-Brexit party on the populist Right, Corbyn's chances of winning are not guaranteed. But don't count Corbyn out yet. For a politician like him, a crisis is the mother of opportunity, even if he has failed to exploit that reality thus far.
This article is reprinted with permission from JNS.org.
