Trump envoy Elan Carr: ‘I believe we can roll anti-Semitism back’

Trump’s anti-Semitism czar spoke in Tel Aviv on the rise of the world’s oldest hatred.

By David Isaac, World Israel News 

A day after visiting the JC Kosher Market in New Jersey, the site of an anti-Semitic shooting, Elan Carr, the Trump administration’s Special Envoy for Monitoring and Combating Anti-Semitism, spoke in Tel Aviv on Tuesday night on the rise of anti-Semitism worldwide and how to fight it.

“These are precarious times,” Carr said. A former U.S. soldier, Carr said of the New Jersey Kosher market that he hadn’t seen so many bullet holes since he served in Iraq.

He said that anti-Semitism must be met with “resolution and purpose.”

The Trump envoy identified three sources of anti-Semitism today: 1) the far-right 2) the far-left 3) radical Islam. Carr noted that all three should hate each other “but they’re united by their hatred of Jews.”

Of the three, he said radical Islam is the “chief source of violence against Jews today.” He described as shocking what children are taught in the Middle East, and likened the indoctrination to “child abuse.”

The radical left strain of anti-Semitism, which disguises itself as anti-Zionism, is also called the “new anti-Semitism,” Carr said. But, Carr noted, “There’s nothing new about it.” He said Israel has become the Jew among the nations, and that anti-Semitism has always adapted itself to the zeitgeist, so it’s not a surprise that it would morph into anti-Zionism.

Carr said that anti-Zionism is simply anti-Semitism and pointed to three aspects that it shares with classic anti-Semitism as evidence. First is the blood libel, he said. In Israel’s case, it’s accused of being genocidal, an apartheid state. Carr said that Israel has even been accused of infecting Arab children with a virus.

The second element is the boycott, and the BDS movement is a perfect example, Carr said, noting the similarity to Nazi boycotts of Jewish businesses.

Third, anti-Semitism always blamed the Jews for the irrational hatred against them, he said. In the case of the “new anti-Semitism,” Carr noted that Israel is always accused of some malfeasance to justify the hatred poured out on it.

“Anti-Semitism has nothing to do with the victim. It’s simply hatred. It’s nothing new,” he said.

Good news

Trump’s envoy said that despite the rise in anti-Semitism around the world, there is good news. The first, which he said should not be taken for granted, is the existence of the State of Israel. The Jews are “enfranchised,” he said, a regional military power.

Second, he said many world leaders understand the problem and are committed to fighting anti-Semitism. He gave several examples, noting that Germany’s Bundestag has equated BDS with anti-Semitism, that Hungary is revamping its curriculum, and the E.U. has worked with IT companies to remove flagged hate speech within 24 hours.

The third piece of good news is that the U.S. remains the most philo-Semitic country in the world, he said. And the Trump administration is committed to tackling anti-Semitism.

Carr pointed to President Donald Trump’s recent executive order targeting anti-Semitism on college campuses, describing it as a “game-changer.”

The order broadens the federal government’s definition of anti-Semitism and instructs it to be used in enforcing laws against discrimination on college campuses.

“I believe we can roll anti-Semitism back,” Carr said.

A key element to win is Jewish unity, he noted. On anti-Semitism “Jews can’t disagree,” regardless of what political direction it comes from, he said.