Jewish Group

At first I was shocked and angered by the number of people who immediately went after Israel in the days following October 7. There wasn't even a decent pause to acknowledge the atrocities before the piling on began, first against Israel, then quickly moving to "Zionists," and in no time, to all Jewish people.

Sure, I think there's been a lot of trollish disinformation and infiltration. It's obvious how the propaganda is aimed at depressing support for Biden. I hadn't realized that openly antisemitic speech had taken such a foothold among many university faculty and administrators. But still. The speed and depth to which people have thrown themselves into expressing hatred and contempt for Jewish people... it's shocking.

I think it comes down to the authoritarian bent we're seeing across the political spectrum. Instead of recognizing that human conditions are complex, and more than one thing is often true at the same time, people want certainty. They want absolutes.

They want dictators, apparently.

As the author says, his friendship was rejected for "... daring to see shades of gray in a world you insisted is black and white. The Israelis are oppressors, the Palestinians are oppressed, end of story."