“Judenrat Jon” Stewart
Posted Jan 11, 2012

“Judenrat Jon” Stewart

by David Harris-Gershon

When Jon Stewart is called a “smug, self-loathing Jew”  by a right-wing Jewish personality (who is often called upon by   conservative pundits to wax political), it’s tempting to dismiss the   comment as a disgusting tribal dig.

When Jon Stewart is called a Judenrat who “would have been first on line to turn over his fellow Jews in Poland and Germany”  by this same hawkish voice, it’s tempting – even though this voice has a visible platform – to just ignore the comment as the product of the   Republican, FOX-inspired echo chamber.

However, ignoring these comments wouldn’t just be dangerous,  it would be to allow a growing brand of hatred coursing through   America’s veins – produced on the fringes – to continue infecting our   public discourse (and public opinion) on matters both foreign and   domestic.

It’s a hate-filled islamophobia that masquerades as patriotic, as   anti-terrorism, as proudly American and Zionist (as though the two are   synonymous). It’s a brand of hatred that the current GOP seeks, a hatred it feels it needs, a hatred it foments for perceived political gain at great cost to civil society. And, as   much as it pains me as a progressive Jewish American to say, it’s a   hatred right-wing American Jews are often solicited to be spokespeople for venues like Fox News, with claims of anti-Semitism at the ready should they be critiqued by people such as, well, Jon Stewart.

So, wait – what happened to Jon Stewart, exactly? – you ask. Here is the context:

Jason Jones and The Daily Show crew produced this rather brilliant segment on how Broward County republicans orchestrated a campaign to block membership of a Muslim republican to   the Broward Republican Party’s executive committee. This was done with the help of the Muslim-hating group ironically called Americans Against Hate (headed by Joe Kaufman,  who is running against Debbie Wasserman Schultz for Congress).

The segment elicited this disgusting display from Pamela Geller:

This is not the first time that The Daily Show made fun of, ridiculed, and smeared proud Americans and passionate zionists.  What’s he doing? And why? Does he know how much CAIR raised for their home office, Hamas, whose stated goal is to destroy the Jewish homeland, through the Holy Land Foundation? Stewart missed his calling. He would have been first on line to turn over his fellow Jews in Poland and Germany. Smug self-loathing Jew.

Yes, Geller is a nut. And yes, this particular display has been   limited – so far – to her personal site. But Geller, just one of many   fringe figures who inexplicably get airtime aplenty, knows what she’s   doing. She knows the game: play the anti-Semitism card.

And not just any anti-Semitism card –  the self-hating-Jew card. And she plays it against one of our country’s most important media critics and defenders of reason. Why? Because he represents exactly what she and her right-wing minions loathe: someone willing to call out islamophobia for what it is, even when promoted by American Jews.

While it would be easy to dismiss all this due to the messenger, does   Jon Stewart shy away from railing against hatred and bigotry when it is perpetrated by the unhinged?

Nope.

And neither should we.

—–§—–

Follow the author – David Harris-Gershon – on Twitter @David_EHG.

To read more pieces like this, sign up for Tikkun Daily’s free newsletter, sign up for Tikkun Magazine emails or visit us online. You can also like Tikkun on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. Cross-posted from Tikkun Daily.