Jason Kimelman-Block

Opinion contributor

For too many Shabbats in recent weeks, I've had conversations about anti-Semitism. At my synagogue, most of them have turned to the two shootings at synagogues in Poway and Pittsburgh, and how we can keep our community safe without closing our holy spaces off from the world; how we explain to our children that there are people who hate us.

I’m sure that similar conversations took place at thousands of synagogues across the country in the past months. It’s the new normal for being an American Jew in these times.

Imagine a world where this sober topic would drive a national conversation where leaders across the political spectrum examine the increase in anti-Semitic incidents; where we investigate why violence targeting Jewish people, Muslim people, people of color, and immigrants is spreading in this country; where we collectively resolve to confront hate-fueled terror and all who enable it.

Instead, this month we saw a different conversation unfold in the media and among elected leaders — one with which we are now all too familiar — with Twitter-fueled accusations of anti-Semitism targeting yet another progressive leader disliked by conservatives. This time the target was Rep. Rashida Tlaib and the absurd misrepresentation of comments she made in an interview.

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The pattern is by now quite clear. A Muslim member of Congress makes remarks about Israel. A conservative media outlet cherry picks a phrase, a couple of words, spinning opinion into news. Republican members of Congress — like Liz Cheney, Lee Zeldin, and Steve Scalise — launch disingenuous attacks on Twitter or in press releases. Conservative media —like Breitbart and The Federalist — pile on with front-page articles amplifying their blatantly false claims of anti-Semitism.

Then mainstream media outlets get in on the act, with more traditional platforms reporting on on the false accusations, lending them undue legitimacy. Even seemingly neutral headlines further the idea that the member of Congress has sparked a controversy, or is suddenly embattled, while allowing conservative voices to speak on behalf of the Jewish community. All that is before President Donald Trump jumps in with a tweet, continuing his offensive effort to push Jewish Americans to abandon the Democratic Party with fear-mongering and divisive rhetoric.

Faux outrage machine is new normal

In a few days, the conservative faux outrage machine will move on. There will be someone else who is smeared and misrepresented, and chances are good they will be a progressive leader of color. Headlines will be generated, reputations and careers tarnished. Our country’s ability to take the threat of anti-Semitism and the rise of violent white nationalism seriously will be further impaired, even as the threat of violence remains.

This strategy of misrepresentation, lies and attacks has become routine. The same playbook has been employed repeatedly against other Muslim members of Congress for years. The ‘outrage’ begins with statements from members of Congress decrying their Muslim counterparts’ remarks, followed by the comments being elevated by the conservative media echo chamber until they bleed into the mainstream.

Here’s how the distraction works: when the waters are muddied, we can no longer see clearly. When threats are everywhere, they are nowhere, and fear can be sown about anyone. Fingers will often point to Muslim or Black leaders, people who have long been scapegoated as a source of danger in our society, and who are thus easy targets for people’s fear. In this way our attention can be shifted from the people responsible for unleashing a wave of white supremacist violence targeting our communities. That’s why within 24 hours of the shooting at Chabad of Poway there were members of Congress and conservative pundits who obscured the shooter’s white nationalist manifesto by directing blame on a Muslim member of Congress and a cartoon in the New York Times International Edition.

Don't be fooled by fake anti-Semitism

The public shouldn’t be so easily fooled. Anti-Semitism is not a joke or a game, and we deserve elected officials who understand that. Politicians who weaponize anti-Semitism for political gain must be denounced for their destructive actions and driven from office. Media outlets who, even unintentionally, allow such smear campaigns to spread must hold themselves to a higher standard.

Ultimately, all the faux outrage and manufactured smears have real life consequences: they reduce the time, attention, and resources devoted to tackling the real sources of anti-Semitism that are actively putting my community and others at greater and greater risk.

The best way to respond is to keep the focus where it belongs, on the radical ideology of white nationalism and its normalization in our politics, and to reject efforts to divide our communities from each other. That means re-dedicating ourselves to strengthening solidarity within our Jewish community and with our allies by organizing against the policies and politicians that threaten our lives. Only through a united movement can we ensure a future where we are all safe in our synagogues, temples, mosques, and churches; where our democracy protects the rights of every single one of us to live without fear.

Rabbi Jason Kimelman-Block is the Washington director of Bend the Arc: Jewish Action, a movement of progressive Jews. He previously served as the director of the PANIM Institute for Jewish Leadership and Values. Follow him on Twitter: @rjasonkb