Weiner actually is an anti-Arab racist and Islamophobe. He led a doxxing campaign against Dr. Rupa Marya, a physician and professor at UCSF, which cost her job, and got her death threats. He pushed through AB 715 which Gavin Newsom signed, that bars California schools from teaching Palestinian history, and brings down legal sanctions (such as firing teachers), all in the name of “antisemitism”. He’s targeted Arab-Americans and Muslim-Americans, silencing their objections, again on the grounds of “antisemitism”. If elected, he will likely be the House version of John Fetterman.
As for Gaza, he denied the genocide until the political cost was too much, and given his recent racist legislative record, there is good reason to believe that his acknowledgment of genocide is insincere. As for his being Jewish, it’s irrelevant.
Many American Jews, particularly of my generation, have integrated anti-Arab racism and Islamophobia into their identities, in the same way that many white Americans integrate anti-Blackness into their self conception. I suspect Weiner falls into this category but again it’s irrelevant. People do sometimes have a change in heart, but they do so on their own time and their own terms, not because someone else told them something that made them say “oh, yeah, I am being a racist fuckhead. Maybe I should stop.”
I’m a very white presenting Arab-American. I know when someone is Jewish within one minute of them opening their mouth - if something racist or Islamophobic comes out, I know instantly that the person is a Jew. I’m right 90% of the time. Non-Jews, even very racist, politically conservative, xenophobic, anti-immigrant persons do not have this specific and intense bloodlust hatred towards Palestinians, and Arab and Muslim peoples more broadly. That’s a cultural marker of American Jews. I see it in the media, I see it in politicians, and I’ve got to experience it up close and personal from friends and colleagues, which is so incredibly hurtful.
Scott Wiener is an anti-Palestinian racist troll. Our community has been aware of his antics for a long time (I’ve been aware for over a year, and I don’t live in California). You don’t address this because you ignored our community. Maybe it’s news to you, but it’s your failure.
I’m tired of the permission structure, from supposed “liberals” and “progressives” that willfully ignores racist behavior by Jews, whether it is Scott Wiener, or Laura Loomer, or Randy Fine, or even Anthony Blinken (who told Jim Zogby to his face that Palestinian lives don’t matter as much as Israeli lives) , but then condemns us as “antisemites” if we say something about it. I’m revoking that permission.
I did not see the video of this confrontation, but God my social media lit up about it, from all the “progressives” who can’t say a fucking word about a genocide, but are delicately sensitive to the hurt feelings of American Jewish racists. I deeply appreciate members of the trans community who called out Wiener. They demonstrated solidarity.
Your disciption of the racist attitudes of American Jews describes my kids' entire jewish side of our family. But they also expect every goy in their lives to accept and condone their racism and supremacy.
Here a jewish joke of my own:
Question: Whats the worst part of having a Jewish partner? Answer: Finding out you still have to pay retail.
Question: What's the second worst part of having a Jewish partner? Answer: Finding out she doesn't think that joke is funny.
Question: What's the third worst part of having a Jewish partner? Answer: Finding out after 10 years she, her family and her friends STILL don't find that joke funny.
Question: Whats really the worst part of having a Jewish partner? Answer: Finding out that they all think you should be willingly complicit with the Gaza genocide.
Peter, i love you AND I disagree so thoroughly with you on this. Weiner is not a regular person. He’s someone who holds massive political power and is likely to hold even more political power soon. the idea that those in power are not personally accountable (just doing their jobs) for their use of that power is dangerous and how we got here. love from SF
Wiener is unusual among San Francisco Jewish elected reps for being pro Israeli government. It is also important to note that there are prominent local San Francisco Jewish politicians (Dean Preston, Hilary Rosen, and Aaron Peskin) who sponsored a ceasefire resolution in Dec 2023. Wiener protested that ceasefire resolution with pro-Israeli govt groups outside our city hall. He repeatedly states that he opposes funding Israel “until Netanyahu is out of office” which is consistent with Wiener’s decision to meet with Israeli president Herzog with support in early 2024. Criticism of Wiener’s support for the Israeli government has grown now that he is seeking national office.
Despite the political context in San Francisco, if you listen to Wiener’s interviews he still seems completely unaware of any anti war Jewish people or values. “People in my community” he says “oppose my taking a stand on the need for Israel to stop the destruction in Gaza.” I am a Jewish constituent of Wiener’s and when I call his office I hear that there are many Jewish constituents asking him to stop persecuting people for support for Palestine. He is not open to hearing progressive or pro-peace Jewish voices and continues to deny our existence. Wiener describes our public schools, universities and hospitals as being antisemitic. This is not true and is incredibly dangerous as we fight Trump’s fascism. Wiener is not an individual Jewish man, he is a politician using his power to actively endanger Jews, Palestinians, and free speech in San Francisco and California.
And also I don’t think yelling at him was respectful or effective. Certainly the Wiener political campaign is successfully using this incident to smear San Francisco and the trans march in the national media.
The likes of Scott Wiener is not the rule among Jewish politicians in the s.f. bay area. But it's also not the exception.
My supervisor district in San Francisco which Wiener use to represent and includes the Castro, has become an assembly line of queer jewish zionist politicians. It's now represented by the queer jewish zionist Raphael Mandleman who is termed out. If the local zionist democrat machine gets its way Mandleman will be replaced by the queer jewish zionist Manny Yekutiel.
Thankfully some queers stood up to Wiener’s demonic misrepresentation of their community. If only more Jews in San Francisco would do so also.
Wiener represents a smug shallowness that has become prevalent in the s.f. bay area, particularly among liberal zionist Jews. This may be common among liberals across the nation as I hear it in the news coverage from organizations such as NPR. But since I live in S.F. its most noticeable to me here. It's a smug shallowness that becomes immediately indignant anytime that they are challenged on their supposed progressive values. But it's this smug shallowness with a veneer of progressive values to overlay a deeper support for the capitalist/imperialist status quo that may actually get Wiener elected to replace Nancy Pelosi.
After Russia invade Ukraine in 2022 Wiener attacked a member of the s.f. teachers union for daring to say that U.S. imperialism was partially at fault for sparking the war. (U.S. continued to poke the bear; Ukraine got mauled). My kids great aunt declared the Zelenskyy as the new Mordecai, another relative that he was the new Moses. In answer to my question why, because he is supposedly of Jewish descent, ie Jew good/goy bad, I was met with silence.
After she was censored by her colleagues for daring to say all children's lives matter, I had t-shirts made that read "From River to the Sea, Rashida Tlaib Speaks for Me" I had a few printed in grey in accordance to my kids' school dress code. After my kids wore them to school, a public school that declares it values of justice, equity and equality, I got a call from the school principal. Some anonymous parents complained to him about the shirts. First I asked him why was he calling me, did the shirts violate the school dress code, a dress code that they don't actually enforce. He said no, but was hoping we could resolve the issue among ourselves. I told him to talk with me kids. So he pulled them out of class to do so. After my kids, second and fourth graders at the time, told him that they thought those values they were told applied to all people, even Palestinians, he text me back to say we're fine.
This past school year my 4th grade daughter had California history. When I asked her what she was taught about California native communities she said that prior to the arrival of the Spanish there were a bunch of tribes, but most of the natives died off from diseases brought by the Spanish. I found this kind of interesting as I had recommend to her teacher at the beginning of the year reading "American Genocide" by Benjamin Madley about the intentional state sponsored genocide of native California communities during and directly after the gold rush. But it doesn't take Sherlock Holmes to realize that few teachers are going to discuss a genocide (except of course the holocaust) with a legislation like AB715 being made law.
There are of course many local members of the Jewish community that have truly progressive universal human values and act accordingly, even when its against the status quo. It's why I have been a member of our local JVP branch for over 5 years. And it's why I attended a protest against Netanyahu's visit to the s.f bay area in September of 2023. I invited my supposed anti-Netanyahu liberal zionist relatives to join me, but they all declined. As did all the local politicians like Wiener that claim to the abhor Netanyahu. Predictably we were yelled at by other Jews and called a kapos and a self-hating Jew. When I told my kids they said, "Daddy, you're not even Jewish." I replied that if I was that is how I would want the zionist to see me.
Like so many others in the bay area my kids' liberal zionist relatives drive around in their Teslas with bumper stickers that read "Bought before Elon was crazy" (but after he had broken numerous labor laws and heath codes). A few of them still have BLM signs in their windows. And they slyly ask my son to take of his "Free Palestine" sweatshirt and my daughter to take off her worn and faded watermelon hat which she refuses to replace because as she says "it's hanging in there like Gaza". In a few weeks my kids are being sent off to a two week Jewish overnight camp, which their zionist mother signed them up for without discussing with me or them. Because it you failed in making your kids good little zionist Jews maybe a camp can do it for you.
Meanwhile I will be participating again in Middle East Children's Alliance (MECA) Ride for Palestine. And I will be remember the words of it's late/great co-founder Barbara Lubin “I think what carries me on is my anger at injustice. I know a lot of people say it’s not good to be angry, but in reality, it’s the anger at the unfairness in this world that just spurs me on. When I think something is really wrong, I’m not going to be quiet. I get up and I fight and I try and change it.”
Jessamyn: "Wiener is unusual among San Francisco Jewish elected reps for being pro Israeli government."
Wiener is running for the seat now held by Nancy Pelosi, who was, you know, the most powerful Democrat in the House for almost 2 decades recently. At the Israeli-American Council national conference in 2018, shortly before her second stint as House Speaker, she said:
"I have said to people, when they asked me, if this capitol crumbled to the ground, the one thing that would remain is our commitment to our aid, and I don't even call it aid, our cooperation with Israel. That's fundamental to who we, fundamental to who we are." (Crowd applauds.)
Scott Wiener is a straight up jewish supremist who has used his gay and jewish identity to silence and smear all critics of Israel as well as his own policies like pro-Palestinian censorship bill AB715 for years. Gay folk are literally sick of him and fellow gay zionist like s.f. supervisors Raphael Mandleman and Matt Dorsey pink washing a genocide. Like Jews in groups such as JVP gay folk are saying loud and clear "NOT IN OUR NAME!"
But since you're calling for more decorum, Peter, maybe you should show more respect for Tucker Carlson. He has done more to change people's attitudes on our government's horrific support for the ongoing slaughter being committed by your fellow Jews across the Middle East than you'll ever do.
As a non Jew I have been following events in Israel and West Asia more broadly since I visited in the early '70's and I have become increasingly enraged with everything about the country as time has passed and really the report on the killing of children has been the last straw. Israel regards children as future fighters who will violently oppose it and that is how they justify these actions.
Labeling defenders of Palestinians as “assholes” is totally off the mark. We are 2+ years into the current genocide and rage is not an unreasonable response. Weiner being “far too late” to recognizing genocide is a gross understatement. Two years into the current genocide, Weiner was still not willing to say Israel was guilty of war crimes. Expecting protestors to act like they belong to the Junior League is complete nonsense.
"Weiner being “far too late” to recognizing genocide is a gross understatement."
This has meaning in conversation or ranting between friends or making bitter polemics, but doesn't really rise to the level of political analysis and strategy.
Maybe the persons who screamed at Wiener can't do anything but scream at Wiener, but a movement also needs different people who can refrain from screaming and who can play the role of pushing people in the right direction. This means identifying the different sectors in the milieu and identifying individuals and orgs or parts of orgs who can play that role of keeping it moving in a direction that engages more directly with the facts of what's happening in the West Bank and Gaza.
IOW, some people can only scream, okay, but there needs to be people who can talk to the recently converted and get them to help convert their associates.
I think it's completely possible to share the rage and have empathy for the rage of the screamers and simultaneously think that screaming in the face of someone who appears to be moving (admittedly slowly) in the right direction is assholish.
It's also not politically effective. Are you actively supporting the campaign of Connie Chan with donations, endorsements, canvassing, and voter mobilization? It's hard work and can actually be cathartic in a positive way because you have the opportunity to meet voters.
It should be remembered the Pride marches began as protests against the establishment. But they have been co-opted to support the status quo. You can now by proudly gay and work at companies in the s.f. bay area that manufactures the tools of genocide and oppression like Oracle or Palantir.
Time for polite conversation and decorum with anyone who continues to support that sadistic genocidal Jewish supremist abomination among the nations is long past. People need to express their anger. We need more confrontations with zionist politicians like those with Wiener. As with the White Night riots after Dan White was given a slap on the wrist for killing Mayor Moscone and Harvey Milk we need to express our anger at the genocide supporting establishment in any way possible. Let it burn.
Scott Weiner’s discomfort is unimportant while Israel is a genocidal fascist torture state. And all these people so worried about antisemitism are fine when Israel’s defenders act like assholes in support of genocide. It’s inverted morality and very disturbed. We are living through an iteration of Nazism and shame shame on everyone who isn’t against it.
Speaking as one who does understand where that rage is coming from, and acknowledging that too often antisemitism is weaponized by those who support Israel, I nonetheless will assert that this harassment of Wiener because he is a Jewish politician is antisemitic. It is implied that as Jews, we share responsibility for the crimes of the Israeli government. And I agree that it is clearly counterproductive to the aims of those who support Palestinian rights.
If I criticize/yell at state Senator Mike McGuire, who, like Wiener, is a Zionist and helped push AB715 through the legislature, that's not antisemitism because he's not Jewish. But if I do/say the same things to Wiener it IS antisemitism because he's Jewish? No. Why should his religion give him a pass?
As Basil wrote above in his first paragraph, Wiener is himself an asshole. He "shares responsibility" for proclaiming support for Gazans is "antisemitic." He "shares responsibility" for doxxing and getting a WOC medical professor at the University of California San Francisco fired for saying a genocide was happening. He "shares responsibility" for calling all detractors antisemites.
As a San Francisco supervisor who's running for Congress, he is a legitimate target of people who don't like his policies. And as for your claim that it was "clearly counterproductive to the aims of those who support Palestinian rights," it makes you sound like the white moderates MLK warned us about.
Fully agree with this and have to ask, would any of the people who confronted Weiner act that way if they bumped into Trump, Rubio, Hegseth, Mike Huckabee, or even Jared Kushner? Of course not, both because they'd be afraid but more importantly because they just don't have the same rage toward people on the right. It's part of the broader mindset where only liberals (especially Jewish ones) have agency; everyone else is just involuntarily reactng. So yes, there is mass denial of what Israeli crimes among American Jews and it's tragic and exhausting. But let's not pretend that abusing a Jewish politician who's never even been in Congress to vote one way or the other about Israel is some pure expression of moral outrage at what's in the UN report or any other source; they harrassed a Jew and got off on it.
Oh, poor little victim Scott Wiener is treated so unfairly because he's Jewish. Boo hoo. What a crock of horse shit.
Quoting Basil's post up above, "Weiner actually is an anti-Arab racist and Islamophobe. He led a doxxing campaign against Dr. Rupa Marya, a physician and professor at UCSF, which cost her job, and got her death threats. He pushed through AB 715 which Gavin Newsom signed, that bars California schools from teaching Palestinian history, and brings down legal sanctions (such as firing teachers), all in the name of “antisemitism”. He’s targeted Arab-Americans and Muslim-Americans, silencing their objections, again on the grounds of “antisemitism”. If elected, he will likely be the House version of John Fetterman."
Wiener has shown no problem stepping on our 1A rights in order shut down criticism of Israel. AB715 provides for Jews something the state has NEVER provided for POC, and I dare say, anti-Black racism in this country is infinitely worse than antisemitism has ever been. California now gives extra money to poor Holocaust survivors and has established a fund to help families reclaim art stolen during WWII. WTF? California had nothing to do with the Holocaust and Germany pays out reparations to survivors and their descendants, so why do we taxpayers have to pay out more? Oh, my goodness. There I go with my antisemitism again, right? How dare I deny Holocaust survivors anything. But not to worry, I send a scathing letter and an equally scathing phone call to my non-Jewish state senator and assembly member.
Everything is antisemitic, which ends up meaning nothing is.
Legislative counsel's digest of it includes: "The bill would also require the Office of Civil Rights to employ the Antisemitism Prevention Coordinator to be appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Senate. The bill would require the Antisemitism Prevention Coordinator to, among other things, develop, consult, and provide antisemitism education to school personnel to identify and proactively prevent antisemitism and to make recommendations, in coordination with the executive director of the state board, to the Legislature on legislation necessary for the prevention of antisemitism in educational settings."
I don't understand how a Jewish legislator can look his 90%+ non-Jewish constituents in the eyes and tell them that he thinks that having an "Antisemitism Prevention Coordinator" is something that they should support. And why, in his judgment, it should be done *before* appointing Coordinators to prevent bigotry against Blacks or Arabs or Muslims or any other group.
But even the concept of some state official having the job of *preventing* antisemitism in the schools is ridiculous. As if they can control how children feel? Perhaps when Scott Wiener was in school, there were kids who were mean to him (on whatever grounds); then if his school announced it was hiring someone with the job title of "Anti-Scott-Wienerism Prevention Coordinator", would anyone think that would be a good way to *reduce* anti-Scott-Wienerism?
"It's part of the broader mindset where only liberals (especially Jewish ones) have agency; everyone else is just involuntarily reactng."
Rob, I don't think the disparate treatment is conceived as being about liberals having "agency" vs. everyone else "just involuntarily reacting." Rather, it's about having higher expectations of the former, who are thought to be enlightened, than of the latter, who are thought to be too far gone and not persuadable by reason. Or maybe that's what you meant by "just involuntarily reacting.'
Wiener is an anti-Palestinian racist troll with a long record of accomplishments targeting Palestinians. He doxxed Dr. Rupa Marya, getting her fired for suggesting that it’s wrong for Israel to bomb hospitals in Gaza, and getting her death threats. He passed, into law, a bill criminalizing the teaching of Palestinian history in California schools as “antisemitism”. You ignore his record, because you share at least of those same racist beliefs. That’s on you to examine those beliefs. Based on a lifetime of experience with Jewish Americans, I’m not holding my breath.
Unfortunately far too many (probably still a majority) of American Jews believe that they have a license to be bigoted towards Palestinians, and Arabs and Muslims more broadly. I see it reflected in the comments here, and in my other social media, and I see it in the endless harassment and incitement from Jewish politicians and media figures like Laura Loomer, Ben Shapiro, Chuck Schumer, Randy Fine, and … Scott Wiener. As an Arab-American I’m revoking the license. Scream antisemitism all you want, people who are public racists deserve to be confronted.
I do not know the trans activists that confronted the racist troll that Scott Wiener, though I appreciate their courage and their solidarity. As an Arab-American it is extraordinarily rare to see anyone standing in solidarity with us as we face continuous racist attacks. I don’t know what the trans activists wanted to imply, if anything, about Jewish responsibility for the crimes of Israel. I believe that the American Jewish community is responsible for the genocide in Gaza in direct proportion to their support of the Israeli state, which is the community has expressed through hundreds of millions raised in the community for campaign contributions (our charming system of legalized bribery) to ensure obedience of American politicians to Zionist goals. It’s also expressed by Jewish political and media figures like Jonathan Greenblatt, Bari Weiss, Jeffrey Goldberg, and many others, who vigorously suppress any opposition to Israeli apartheid and genocide. People can and should be judged by the company they choose to keep and the actions that result from that.
As a leftist elder Jew by choice (who is somewhere in the vicinity of post- or counter-Zionism [see Shaul Magid])I experienced the Wiener incident as antisemitic. It really got to me. As Jessica Brown points out the attack is incredibly counter-productive politically, but it also — and I don’t feel this generally— makes me wonder how many well-intentioned Jewish people and allies are now going to stay home and out of the struggle, because they’re scared of being harassed. I get that this is nothing compared to what Palestinian people are enduring. Still, I feel more afraid than I did a few days ago.
I agree that the screamers are assholes. I doubt it is antisemitism for all of them or the majority, though of course you never know and sometimes it is. The fact is there is a subset of the population on all parts of the political spectrum that enjoys feeling supposedly righteous rage and given a legitimate cause they take advantage of it. But it is harmful and frankly disgusting. We had a local incident of this type near me a few months ago, aimed at the beloved owner of a local pizza place. In that case it was antisemitic— there was no reason to yell at this guy at all. He wasn’t a politician. He was Jewish. The community rallied around him and I don’t think it was because they were Israel supporters, They were just decent people.
I don’t think the pro Israeli types, both Christian and Jewish, who assume all anger at Israel is antisemitic are simply “ bewildered”. It is nothing as innocent as that. I have ( or had) a Christian Zionist Trumpian friend and as Orwell wrote in “ Notes on Nationalism”, he had this amazing capacity to be completely unaware of any strong evidence against his various far right positions. He actively and deliberately sought out only those sources of facts and factoids and lies that justified his far right views.
He was an Israel supporter too and on this issue he was just like the diehard Jewish Israel supporters, for example still echoing the ludicrous claim that the Palestinians in 1948 all left voluntarily. There is nothing innocent about this type of ignorance.
Well framed and agree with you. Behavior matters but it doesn’t always make the whole person. However there seems to be an avoidance from those who can’t simply see the beginning of the Nakba as THE starting point of the hell the Palestinians have had to endure under “the greater Isr project”. Being exterminated was wrong under the Nazis. It’s wrong under this occupation now. Period. Humanity has lost all meaning
Peter, do you believe that left wing anti-semitism exists and is being manifest? I'm much more scared of right wing anti semitism than left wing because they have guns, but as someone who completely opposes Israel's actions towards the Palestinians and has for decades, the kind of behavior towards Weiner really really concerns me because I think it is antisemitism that has found a justification, and not just righteous rage about Israel's policies
Point one fucking thing said to that genocide supporting pig fucker Wiener that is antisemtic?! Zionist are the biggest fucking Karens on the planet. Fuck all of them.
Really interesting question Jared. I'd say there could be some truth to this. I've noticed a lot more comments lately on pro-Palestine content advocating for a reverse of the violence instead of a lasting peace, justice and equality for all. Some of it will just be the madness of online crowds but it wouldn't surprise me if some is also left wing anti-semitism.
I think much of that is the same as people justifying the behavior of the Vietnamese communists in that war or the FLN in Algeria. The French had lived in Algeria for a century and were ultimately expelled. This wasn’t anti- French bigotry— it is more the kind of attitude you first see at the birth of the left in the French Revolution. It is a belief in revenge disguised as a belief in justice. It is a subset of the left that is like this, but they exist on the fringes.
With all due respect I think there is some double standards going on here. People like Wiener are judged by their history and actions not their identities
Such a sad dynamic we are caught in. The other day an Israeli woman on Facebook who had lost family and friends on Oct 7, spoke about how hated and alone she feels in the world. I felt so much compassion for her, while at the same time I wanted to shake her and shout, can’t you see it’s not the same as back then! We’re no innocent victims here, at least not only. But I can see also in my Israeli family that they are unable and unwilling to face our own darkness. They too, feel unfairly treated by the world, hated for ‘no reason,’ which immediately hooks that deep collective wound. I understand it, I feel for that position. Because if you see yourself as innocent, then yes, it echoes throughout the ages. I also understand the rage of activists especially in the face of this level of denial. That’s why it all feels so painful. Because as long as we hide behind the veil of innocence there’ll be this fury coming at us. Which then affirms the danger we’re in. It’s hard to take responsibility for our own violence but it’s the only way I believe to restore our soul and it’s the moral way. The asshole approach (as much as I understand the rage) only makes it harder for that kind of self reflection to happen. Most people don’t soul search into their shadow by being violated. Thank you for being an ethical voice in this complex journey of shifting our sense of identity as Jews.
One can love the Jewish people and hate what the fascist genocidal regime of Israel is doing.
Both can be true at the same time. The problem is Israel is a theocracy which very naturally merges the culture and religious beliefs of Judaism with the political state. And that becomes a real problem for the American Jewish diaspora.
The political decision to cut defense funding and support for the Jewish state and condemning the atrocities done by the political state are not antisemitic. These are humane actions shunning an arrogant fascist government. The Zionist movement only fuels the controversy of antisemitism.
Weiner actually is an anti-Arab racist and Islamophobe. He led a doxxing campaign against Dr. Rupa Marya, a physician and professor at UCSF, which cost her job, and got her death threats. He pushed through AB 715 which Gavin Newsom signed, that bars California schools from teaching Palestinian history, and brings down legal sanctions (such as firing teachers), all in the name of “antisemitism”. He’s targeted Arab-Americans and Muslim-Americans, silencing their objections, again on the grounds of “antisemitism”. If elected, he will likely be the House version of John Fetterman.
As for Gaza, he denied the genocide until the political cost was too much, and given his recent racist legislative record, there is good reason to believe that his acknowledgment of genocide is insincere. As for his being Jewish, it’s irrelevant.
Many American Jews, particularly of my generation, have integrated anti-Arab racism and Islamophobia into their identities, in the same way that many white Americans integrate anti-Blackness into their self conception. I suspect Weiner falls into this category but again it’s irrelevant. People do sometimes have a change in heart, but they do so on their own time and their own terms, not because someone else told them something that made them say “oh, yeah, I am being a racist fuckhead. Maybe I should stop.”
I’m a very white presenting Arab-American. I know when someone is Jewish within one minute of them opening their mouth - if something racist or Islamophobic comes out, I know instantly that the person is a Jew. I’m right 90% of the time. Non-Jews, even very racist, politically conservative, xenophobic, anti-immigrant persons do not have this specific and intense bloodlust hatred towards Palestinians, and Arab and Muslim peoples more broadly. That’s a cultural marker of American Jews. I see it in the media, I see it in politicians, and I’ve got to experience it up close and personal from friends and colleagues, which is so incredibly hurtful.
Scott Wiener is an anti-Palestinian racist troll. Our community has been aware of his antics for a long time (I’ve been aware for over a year, and I don’t live in California). You don’t address this because you ignored our community. Maybe it’s news to you, but it’s your failure.
I’m tired of the permission structure, from supposed “liberals” and “progressives” that willfully ignores racist behavior by Jews, whether it is Scott Wiener, or Laura Loomer, or Randy Fine, or even Anthony Blinken (who told Jim Zogby to his face that Palestinian lives don’t matter as much as Israeli lives) , but then condemns us as “antisemites” if we say something about it. I’m revoking that permission.
I did not see the video of this confrontation, but God my social media lit up about it, from all the “progressives” who can’t say a fucking word about a genocide, but are delicately sensitive to the hurt feelings of American Jewish racists. I deeply appreciate members of the trans community who called out Wiener. They demonstrated solidarity.
Your disciption of the racist attitudes of American Jews describes my kids' entire jewish side of our family. But they also expect every goy in their lives to accept and condone their racism and supremacy.
Here a jewish joke of my own:
Question: Whats the worst part of having a Jewish partner? Answer: Finding out you still have to pay retail.
Question: What's the second worst part of having a Jewish partner? Answer: Finding out she doesn't think that joke is funny.
Question: What's the third worst part of having a Jewish partner? Answer: Finding out after 10 years she, her family and her friends STILL don't find that joke funny.
Question: Whats really the worst part of having a Jewish partner? Answer: Finding out that they all think you should be willingly complicit with the Gaza genocide.
Israel delenda est.
Peter, i love you AND I disagree so thoroughly with you on this. Weiner is not a regular person. He’s someone who holds massive political power and is likely to hold even more political power soon. the idea that those in power are not personally accountable (just doing their jobs) for their use of that power is dangerous and how we got here. love from SF
Wiener is unusual among San Francisco Jewish elected reps for being pro Israeli government. It is also important to note that there are prominent local San Francisco Jewish politicians (Dean Preston, Hilary Rosen, and Aaron Peskin) who sponsored a ceasefire resolution in Dec 2023. Wiener protested that ceasefire resolution with pro-Israeli govt groups outside our city hall. He repeatedly states that he opposes funding Israel “until Netanyahu is out of office” which is consistent with Wiener’s decision to meet with Israeli president Herzog with support in early 2024. Criticism of Wiener’s support for the Israeli government has grown now that he is seeking national office.
Despite the political context in San Francisco, if you listen to Wiener’s interviews he still seems completely unaware of any anti war Jewish people or values. “People in my community” he says “oppose my taking a stand on the need for Israel to stop the destruction in Gaza.” I am a Jewish constituent of Wiener’s and when I call his office I hear that there are many Jewish constituents asking him to stop persecuting people for support for Palestine. He is not open to hearing progressive or pro-peace Jewish voices and continues to deny our existence. Wiener describes our public schools, universities and hospitals as being antisemitic. This is not true and is incredibly dangerous as we fight Trump’s fascism. Wiener is not an individual Jewish man, he is a politician using his power to actively endanger Jews, Palestinians, and free speech in San Francisco and California.
And also I don’t think yelling at him was respectful or effective. Certainly the Wiener political campaign is successfully using this incident to smear San Francisco and the trans march in the national media.
The likes of Scott Wiener is not the rule among Jewish politicians in the s.f. bay area. But it's also not the exception.
My supervisor district in San Francisco which Wiener use to represent and includes the Castro, has become an assembly line of queer jewish zionist politicians. It's now represented by the queer jewish zionist Raphael Mandleman who is termed out. If the local zionist democrat machine gets its way Mandleman will be replaced by the queer jewish zionist Manny Yekutiel.
Thankfully some queers stood up to Wiener’s demonic misrepresentation of their community. If only more Jews in San Francisco would do so also.
Israel delenda est.
True.
Wiener represents a smug shallowness that has become prevalent in the s.f. bay area, particularly among liberal zionist Jews. This may be common among liberals across the nation as I hear it in the news coverage from organizations such as NPR. But since I live in S.F. its most noticeable to me here. It's a smug shallowness that becomes immediately indignant anytime that they are challenged on their supposed progressive values. But it's this smug shallowness with a veneer of progressive values to overlay a deeper support for the capitalist/imperialist status quo that may actually get Wiener elected to replace Nancy Pelosi.
After Russia invade Ukraine in 2022 Wiener attacked a member of the s.f. teachers union for daring to say that U.S. imperialism was partially at fault for sparking the war. (U.S. continued to poke the bear; Ukraine got mauled). My kids great aunt declared the Zelenskyy as the new Mordecai, another relative that he was the new Moses. In answer to my question why, because he is supposedly of Jewish descent, ie Jew good/goy bad, I was met with silence.
After she was censored by her colleagues for daring to say all children's lives matter, I had t-shirts made that read "From River to the Sea, Rashida Tlaib Speaks for Me" I had a few printed in grey in accordance to my kids' school dress code. After my kids wore them to school, a public school that declares it values of justice, equity and equality, I got a call from the school principal. Some anonymous parents complained to him about the shirts. First I asked him why was he calling me, did the shirts violate the school dress code, a dress code that they don't actually enforce. He said no, but was hoping we could resolve the issue among ourselves. I told him to talk with me kids. So he pulled them out of class to do so. After my kids, second and fourth graders at the time, told him that they thought those values they were told applied to all people, even Palestinians, he text me back to say we're fine.
This past school year my 4th grade daughter had California history. When I asked her what she was taught about California native communities she said that prior to the arrival of the Spanish there were a bunch of tribes, but most of the natives died off from diseases brought by the Spanish. I found this kind of interesting as I had recommend to her teacher at the beginning of the year reading "American Genocide" by Benjamin Madley about the intentional state sponsored genocide of native California communities during and directly after the gold rush. But it doesn't take Sherlock Holmes to realize that few teachers are going to discuss a genocide (except of course the holocaust) with a legislation like AB715 being made law.
There are of course many local members of the Jewish community that have truly progressive universal human values and act accordingly, even when its against the status quo. It's why I have been a member of our local JVP branch for over 5 years. And it's why I attended a protest against Netanyahu's visit to the s.f bay area in September of 2023. I invited my supposed anti-Netanyahu liberal zionist relatives to join me, but they all declined. As did all the local politicians like Wiener that claim to the abhor Netanyahu. Predictably we were yelled at by other Jews and called a kapos and a self-hating Jew. When I told my kids they said, "Daddy, you're not even Jewish." I replied that if I was that is how I would want the zionist to see me.
Like so many others in the bay area my kids' liberal zionist relatives drive around in their Teslas with bumper stickers that read "Bought before Elon was crazy" (but after he had broken numerous labor laws and heath codes). A few of them still have BLM signs in their windows. And they slyly ask my son to take of his "Free Palestine" sweatshirt and my daughter to take off her worn and faded watermelon hat which she refuses to replace because as she says "it's hanging in there like Gaza". In a few weeks my kids are being sent off to a two week Jewish overnight camp, which their zionist mother signed them up for without discussing with me or them. Because it you failed in making your kids good little zionist Jews maybe a camp can do it for you.
Meanwhile I will be participating again in Middle East Children's Alliance (MECA) Ride for Palestine. And I will be remember the words of it's late/great co-founder Barbara Lubin “I think what carries me on is my anger at injustice. I know a lot of people say it’s not good to be angry, but in reality, it’s the anger at the unfairness in this world that just spurs me on. When I think something is really wrong, I’m not going to be quiet. I get up and I fight and I try and change it.”
Israel delenda est.
Jessamyn: "Wiener is unusual among San Francisco Jewish elected reps for being pro Israeli government."
Wiener is running for the seat now held by Nancy Pelosi, who was, you know, the most powerful Democrat in the House for almost 2 decades recently. At the Israeli-American Council national conference in 2018, shortly before her second stint as House Speaker, she said:
"I have said to people, when they asked me, if this capitol crumbled to the ground, the one thing that would remain is our commitment to our aid, and I don't even call it aid, our cooperation with Israel. That's fundamental to who we, fundamental to who we are." (Crowd applauds.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvi3O9NkhQI&t=456s
It's pathetic that in 2026 we need to educate people that killing thousands of children is wrong, but we must. Thanks, Peter.
Scott Wiener is a straight up jewish supremist who has used his gay and jewish identity to silence and smear all critics of Israel as well as his own policies like pro-Palestinian censorship bill AB715 for years. Gay folk are literally sick of him and fellow gay zionist like s.f. supervisors Raphael Mandleman and Matt Dorsey pink washing a genocide. Like Jews in groups such as JVP gay folk are saying loud and clear "NOT IN OUR NAME!"
But since you're calling for more decorum, Peter, maybe you should show more respect for Tucker Carlson. He has done more to change people's attitudes on our government's horrific support for the ongoing slaughter being committed by your fellow Jews across the Middle East than you'll ever do.
Israel delenda est.
As a non Jew I have been following events in Israel and West Asia more broadly since I visited in the early '70's and I have become increasingly enraged with everything about the country as time has passed and really the report on the killing of children has been the last straw. Israel regards children as future fighters who will violently oppose it and that is how they justify these actions.
Labeling defenders of Palestinians as “assholes” is totally off the mark. We are 2+ years into the current genocide and rage is not an unreasonable response. Weiner being “far too late” to recognizing genocide is a gross understatement. Two years into the current genocide, Weiner was still not willing to say Israel was guilty of war crimes. Expecting protestors to act like they belong to the Junior League is complete nonsense.
"Weiner being “far too late” to recognizing genocide is a gross understatement."
This has meaning in conversation or ranting between friends or making bitter polemics, but doesn't really rise to the level of political analysis and strategy.
Maybe the persons who screamed at Wiener can't do anything but scream at Wiener, but a movement also needs different people who can refrain from screaming and who can play the role of pushing people in the right direction. This means identifying the different sectors in the milieu and identifying individuals and orgs or parts of orgs who can play that role of keeping it moving in a direction that engages more directly with the facts of what's happening in the West Bank and Gaza.
IOW, some people can only scream, okay, but there needs to be people who can talk to the recently converted and get them to help convert their associates.
I think it's completely possible to share the rage and have empathy for the rage of the screamers and simultaneously think that screaming in the face of someone who appears to be moving (admittedly slowly) in the right direction is assholish.
It's also not politically effective. Are you actively supporting the campaign of Connie Chan with donations, endorsements, canvassing, and voter mobilization? It's hard work and can actually be cathartic in a positive way because you have the opportunity to meet voters.
It should be remembered the Pride marches began as protests against the establishment. But they have been co-opted to support the status quo. You can now by proudly gay and work at companies in the s.f. bay area that manufactures the tools of genocide and oppression like Oracle or Palantir.
Time for polite conversation and decorum with anyone who continues to support that sadistic genocidal Jewish supremist abomination among the nations is long past. People need to express their anger. We need more confrontations with zionist politicians like those with Wiener. As with the White Night riots after Dan White was given a slap on the wrist for killing Mayor Moscone and Harvey Milk we need to express our anger at the genocide supporting establishment in any way possible. Let it burn.
Israel delenda est.
And worse, ADL's Greenblatt this morning said "Democrats have an anti-Semitism problem and that problem is the DSA. And NO ONE contested that claim.
Scott Weiner’s discomfort is unimportant while Israel is a genocidal fascist torture state. And all these people so worried about antisemitism are fine when Israel’s defenders act like assholes in support of genocide. It’s inverted morality and very disturbed. We are living through an iteration of Nazism and shame shame on everyone who isn’t against it.
Speaking as one who does understand where that rage is coming from, and acknowledging that too often antisemitism is weaponized by those who support Israel, I nonetheless will assert that this harassment of Wiener because he is a Jewish politician is antisemitic. It is implied that as Jews, we share responsibility for the crimes of the Israeli government. And I agree that it is clearly counterproductive to the aims of those who support Palestinian rights.
If I criticize/yell at state Senator Mike McGuire, who, like Wiener, is a Zionist and helped push AB715 through the legislature, that's not antisemitism because he's not Jewish. But if I do/say the same things to Wiener it IS antisemitism because he's Jewish? No. Why should his religion give him a pass?
As Basil wrote above in his first paragraph, Wiener is himself an asshole. He "shares responsibility" for proclaiming support for Gazans is "antisemitic." He "shares responsibility" for doxxing and getting a WOC medical professor at the University of California San Francisco fired for saying a genocide was happening. He "shares responsibility" for calling all detractors antisemites.
As a San Francisco supervisor who's running for Congress, he is a legitimate target of people who don't like his policies. And as for your claim that it was "clearly counterproductive to the aims of those who support Palestinian rights," it makes you sound like the white moderates MLK warned us about.
Fully agree with this and have to ask, would any of the people who confronted Weiner act that way if they bumped into Trump, Rubio, Hegseth, Mike Huckabee, or even Jared Kushner? Of course not, both because they'd be afraid but more importantly because they just don't have the same rage toward people on the right. It's part of the broader mindset where only liberals (especially Jewish ones) have agency; everyone else is just involuntarily reactng. So yes, there is mass denial of what Israeli crimes among American Jews and it's tragic and exhausting. But let's not pretend that abusing a Jewish politician who's never even been in Congress to vote one way or the other about Israel is some pure expression of moral outrage at what's in the UN report or any other source; they harrassed a Jew and got off on it.
Oh, poor little victim Scott Wiener is treated so unfairly because he's Jewish. Boo hoo. What a crock of horse shit.
Quoting Basil's post up above, "Weiner actually is an anti-Arab racist and Islamophobe. He led a doxxing campaign against Dr. Rupa Marya, a physician and professor at UCSF, which cost her job, and got her death threats. He pushed through AB 715 which Gavin Newsom signed, that bars California schools from teaching Palestinian history, and brings down legal sanctions (such as firing teachers), all in the name of “antisemitism”. He’s targeted Arab-Americans and Muslim-Americans, silencing their objections, again on the grounds of “antisemitism”. If elected, he will likely be the House version of John Fetterman."
Wiener has shown no problem stepping on our 1A rights in order shut down criticism of Israel. AB715 provides for Jews something the state has NEVER provided for POC, and I dare say, anti-Black racism in this country is infinitely worse than antisemitism has ever been. California now gives extra money to poor Holocaust survivors and has established a fund to help families reclaim art stolen during WWII. WTF? California had nothing to do with the Holocaust and Germany pays out reparations to survivors and their descendants, so why do we taxpayers have to pay out more? Oh, my goodness. There I go with my antisemitism again, right? How dare I deny Holocaust survivors anything. But not to worry, I send a scathing letter and an equally scathing phone call to my non-Jewish state senator and assembly member.
Everything is antisemitic, which ends up meaning nothing is.
Wiener was the main champion of Assembly Bill 715 in the California senate.
Here's the full legislation:
https://legiscan.com/CA/text/AB715/id/3272387
Legislative counsel's digest of it includes: "The bill would also require the Office of Civil Rights to employ the Antisemitism Prevention Coordinator to be appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Senate. The bill would require the Antisemitism Prevention Coordinator to, among other things, develop, consult, and provide antisemitism education to school personnel to identify and proactively prevent antisemitism and to make recommendations, in coordination with the executive director of the state board, to the Legislature on legislation necessary for the prevention of antisemitism in educational settings."
I don't understand how a Jewish legislator can look his 90%+ non-Jewish constituents in the eyes and tell them that he thinks that having an "Antisemitism Prevention Coordinator" is something that they should support. And why, in his judgment, it should be done *before* appointing Coordinators to prevent bigotry against Blacks or Arabs or Muslims or any other group.
But even the concept of some state official having the job of *preventing* antisemitism in the schools is ridiculous. As if they can control how children feel? Perhaps when Scott Wiener was in school, there were kids who were mean to him (on whatever grounds); then if his school announced it was hiring someone with the job title of "Anti-Scott-Wienerism Prevention Coordinator", would anyone think that would be a good way to *reduce* anti-Scott-Wienerism?
"It's part of the broader mindset where only liberals (especially Jewish ones) have agency; everyone else is just involuntarily reactng."
Rob, I don't think the disparate treatment is conceived as being about liberals having "agency" vs. everyone else "just involuntarily reacting." Rather, it's about having higher expectations of the former, who are thought to be enlightened, than of the latter, who are thought to be too far gone and not persuadable by reason. Or maybe that's what you meant by "just involuntarily reacting.'
Wiener is an anti-Palestinian racist troll with a long record of accomplishments targeting Palestinians. He doxxed Dr. Rupa Marya, getting her fired for suggesting that it’s wrong for Israel to bomb hospitals in Gaza, and getting her death threats. He passed, into law, a bill criminalizing the teaching of Palestinian history in California schools as “antisemitism”. You ignore his record, because you share at least of those same racist beliefs. That’s on you to examine those beliefs. Based on a lifetime of experience with Jewish Americans, I’m not holding my breath.
Unfortunately far too many (probably still a majority) of American Jews believe that they have a license to be bigoted towards Palestinians, and Arabs and Muslims more broadly. I see it reflected in the comments here, and in my other social media, and I see it in the endless harassment and incitement from Jewish politicians and media figures like Laura Loomer, Ben Shapiro, Chuck Schumer, Randy Fine, and … Scott Wiener. As an Arab-American I’m revoking the license. Scream antisemitism all you want, people who are public racists deserve to be confronted.
I do not know the trans activists that confronted the racist troll that Scott Wiener, though I appreciate their courage and their solidarity. As an Arab-American it is extraordinarily rare to see anyone standing in solidarity with us as we face continuous racist attacks. I don’t know what the trans activists wanted to imply, if anything, about Jewish responsibility for the crimes of Israel. I believe that the American Jewish community is responsible for the genocide in Gaza in direct proportion to their support of the Israeli state, which is the community has expressed through hundreds of millions raised in the community for campaign contributions (our charming system of legalized bribery) to ensure obedience of American politicians to Zionist goals. It’s also expressed by Jewish political and media figures like Jonathan Greenblatt, Bari Weiss, Jeffrey Goldberg, and many others, who vigorously suppress any opposition to Israeli apartheid and genocide. People can and should be judged by the company they choose to keep and the actions that result from that.
As a leftist elder Jew by choice (who is somewhere in the vicinity of post- or counter-Zionism [see Shaul Magid])I experienced the Wiener incident as antisemitic. It really got to me. As Jessica Brown points out the attack is incredibly counter-productive politically, but it also — and I don’t feel this generally— makes me wonder how many well-intentioned Jewish people and allies are now going to stay home and out of the struggle, because they’re scared of being harassed. I get that this is nothing compared to what Palestinian people are enduring. Still, I feel more afraid than I did a few days ago.
I agree that the screamers are assholes. I doubt it is antisemitism for all of them or the majority, though of course you never know and sometimes it is. The fact is there is a subset of the population on all parts of the political spectrum that enjoys feeling supposedly righteous rage and given a legitimate cause they take advantage of it. But it is harmful and frankly disgusting. We had a local incident of this type near me a few months ago, aimed at the beloved owner of a local pizza place. In that case it was antisemitic— there was no reason to yell at this guy at all. He wasn’t a politician. He was Jewish. The community rallied around him and I don’t think it was because they were Israel supporters, They were just decent people.
I don’t think the pro Israeli types, both Christian and Jewish, who assume all anger at Israel is antisemitic are simply “ bewildered”. It is nothing as innocent as that. I have ( or had) a Christian Zionist Trumpian friend and as Orwell wrote in “ Notes on Nationalism”, he had this amazing capacity to be completely unaware of any strong evidence against his various far right positions. He actively and deliberately sought out only those sources of facts and factoids and lies that justified his far right views.
He was an Israel supporter too and on this issue he was just like the diehard Jewish Israel supporters, for example still echoing the ludicrous claim that the Palestinians in 1948 all left voluntarily. There is nothing innocent about this type of ignorance.
Well framed and agree with you. Behavior matters but it doesn’t always make the whole person. However there seems to be an avoidance from those who can’t simply see the beginning of the Nakba as THE starting point of the hell the Palestinians have had to endure under “the greater Isr project”. Being exterminated was wrong under the Nazis. It’s wrong under this occupation now. Period. Humanity has lost all meaning
Peter, do you believe that left wing anti-semitism exists and is being manifest? I'm much more scared of right wing anti semitism than left wing because they have guns, but as someone who completely opposes Israel's actions towards the Palestinians and has for decades, the kind of behavior towards Weiner really really concerns me because I think it is antisemitism that has found a justification, and not just righteous rage about Israel's policies
Point one fucking thing said to that genocide supporting pig fucker Wiener that is antisemtic?! Zionist are the biggest fucking Karens on the planet. Fuck all of them.
Israel delenda est!
Really interesting question Jared. I'd say there could be some truth to this. I've noticed a lot more comments lately on pro-Palestine content advocating for a reverse of the violence instead of a lasting peace, justice and equality for all. Some of it will just be the madness of online crowds but it wouldn't surprise me if some is also left wing anti-semitism.
I think much of that is the same as people justifying the behavior of the Vietnamese communists in that war or the FLN in Algeria. The French had lived in Algeria for a century and were ultimately expelled. This wasn’t anti- French bigotry— it is more the kind of attitude you first see at the birth of the left in the French Revolution. It is a belief in revenge disguised as a belief in justice. It is a subset of the left that is like this, but they exist on the fringes.
With all due respect I think there is some double standards going on here. People like Wiener are judged by their history and actions not their identities
Such a sad dynamic we are caught in. The other day an Israeli woman on Facebook who had lost family and friends on Oct 7, spoke about how hated and alone she feels in the world. I felt so much compassion for her, while at the same time I wanted to shake her and shout, can’t you see it’s not the same as back then! We’re no innocent victims here, at least not only. But I can see also in my Israeli family that they are unable and unwilling to face our own darkness. They too, feel unfairly treated by the world, hated for ‘no reason,’ which immediately hooks that deep collective wound. I understand it, I feel for that position. Because if you see yourself as innocent, then yes, it echoes throughout the ages. I also understand the rage of activists especially in the face of this level of denial. That’s why it all feels so painful. Because as long as we hide behind the veil of innocence there’ll be this fury coming at us. Which then affirms the danger we’re in. It’s hard to take responsibility for our own violence but it’s the only way I believe to restore our soul and it’s the moral way. The asshole approach (as much as I understand the rage) only makes it harder for that kind of self reflection to happen. Most people don’t soul search into their shadow by being violated. Thank you for being an ethical voice in this complex journey of shifting our sense of identity as Jews.
Kosher Karen is outraged about being pushed out but oblivious to Palestinian children being snuffed out.
One can love the Jewish people and hate what the fascist genocidal regime of Israel is doing.
Both can be true at the same time. The problem is Israel is a theocracy which very naturally merges the culture and religious beliefs of Judaism with the political state. And that becomes a real problem for the American Jewish diaspora.
The political decision to cut defense funding and support for the Jewish state and condemning the atrocities done by the political state are not antisemitic. These are humane actions shunning an arrogant fascist government. The Zionist movement only fuels the controversy of antisemitism.