Originally published in Tikkun Daily |

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 on 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.



The whole premise of the video is a lie. Hamze wasn't rejected from joining the Republican party. Hamze wanted to become a member of the Broward County GOP Executive Committee. That is vastly different. Hamas-tied CAIR wants onto the Republican Executive committee. Of course they would be rejected. The hatchet job done on Joe Kaufman, a great American and tireless fighter for freedom, is disgusting. I have known Joe for many years, and he is peerless. He is running against that train-wreck, Debbie Wasserman Schultz. Perhaps that is why Stewart went after him. Self-hating Jews protecting their flank.



Yes, Geller is a nut. (She was the central figure behind the 24/7 firestorm over the proposed mosque at Park51 near Ground Zero.) 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 on mainstream outlets, 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, a card she feels can be played because she herself is Jewish. 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.

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