politics of anti-Semitism – CounterVortex https://countervortex.org Resisting Humanity's Downward Spiral Sun, 24 May 2026 17:50:14 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 https://countervortex.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/newsflash_logo-1-300x300.png politics of anti-Semitism – CounterVortex https://countervortex.org 32 32 MAGA-fascism and anti-Semitic pseudo-anti-anti-Semitism III https://countervortex.org/blog/maga-fascism-and-anti-semitic-pseudo-anti-anti-semitism-iii/ https://countervortex.org/blog/maga-fascism-and-anti-semitic-pseudo-anti-anti-semitism-iii/#respond Sun, 24 May 2026 17:50:14 +0000 https://countervortex.org/?post_type=blog&p=25291 Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism" has announced a national propaganda tour—as the DoJ is explicitly targeting anti-fascists for prosecution. The tour also comes as the question of Israel has emerged as the critical issue in the split within MAGA—with elements of the breakaway populist wing virtually gloating that the Israel Lobby's support for the Trump-loyal pro-war wing will result in a backlash against Jews. Both wings of MAGA are equally reactionary, yet elements of the supposed "left" are already in a dangerous flirtation with the populist wing—and it is a Democratic congressional hopeful, Maureen Galindo of Texas, who is openly calling for mass detention of "Zionists" in repurposed ICE camps. An incipient Red-Brown alliance can be seen, fueled by the Trump regime's ultra-cynical anti-Semitic pseudo-anti-anti-Semitism. In Episode 330 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg takes an unsparing look. (Image via frgdr Blog. Hebrew lettering in background spells names of places in Europe where Jews were exterminated.)]]> The Justice Department “Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism” has announced a national propaganda tour—as the DoJ is explicitly targeting anti-fascists for prosecution. The tour also comes as the question of Israel has emerged as the critical issue in the split within MAGA—with elements of the breakaway populist wing virtually gloating that the Israel Lobby’s support for the Trump-loyal pro-war wing will result in a backlash against Jews. Both wings of MAGA are equally reactionary, yet elements of the supposed “left” are already in a dangerous flirtation with the populist wing—and it is a Democratic congressional hopeful, Maureen Galindo of Texas, who is openly calling for mass detention of “Zionists” in repurposed ICE camps. An incipient Red-Brown alliance can be seen, fueled by the Trump regime’s ultra-cynical anti-Semitic pseudo-anti-anti-Semitism. In Episode 329 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg takes an unsparing look at the current sinister juncture.

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Image via frgdr Blog. Hebrew lettering in background spells names of places in Europe where Jews were exterminated.

]]> https://countervortex.org/blog/maga-fascism-and-anti-semitic-pseudo-anti-anti-semitism-iii/feed/ 0 Podcast: is the Jewish homeland in outer space? https://countervortex.org/blog/podcast-is-the-jewish-homeland-in-outer-space/ https://countervortex.org/blog/podcast-is-the-jewish-homeland-in-outer-space/#respond Sun, 17 May 2026 22:13:44 +0000 https://countervortex.org/?post_type=blog&p=25275 real crimes of the "Jewish state" make the world a more precarious place for Jews—as recent events demonstrate all too clearly. The contradictions underlying Zionism make its promise of dignity and security for Jews illusory. Earlier efforts also proved to be empty dreams—such as the Jewish Autonomous Oblast of Birobidzhan in Soviet-era Siberia. A new book (facetiously or not) seeks a solution to the interminable "Jewish Question" in space colonization. In Episode 328 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg discusses The Luftmenschen of Planet Birobidzhan by Zvi Baranoff.]]> The escalating global crisis and the very real crimes of the “Jewish state” make the world a more precarious place for Jews—as recent events demonstrate all too clearly. The contradictions underlying Zionism make its promise of dignity and security for Jews illusory. Earlier efforts also proved to be empty dreams—such as the Jewish Autonomous Oblast of Birobidzhan in Soviet-era Siberia. A new book (facetiously or not) seeks a solution to the interminable “Jewish Question” in space colonization. In Episode 328 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg discusses The Luftmenschen of Planet Birobidzhan by Zvi Baranoff.

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]]> https://countervortex.org/blog/podcast-is-the-jewish-homeland-in-outer-space/feed/ 0 Podcast: MAGA-fascism and the struggle in Nigeria https://countervortex.org/blog/podcast-maga-fascism-and-the-struggle-in-nigeria/ https://countervortex.org/blog/podcast-maga-fascism-and-the-struggle-in-nigeria/#comments Sun, 28 Dec 2025 23:35:43 +0000 https://countervortex.org/?post_type=blog&p=24985 Christmas air-strikes on Nigeria, Trump is blundering into a conflict fundamentally driven by desertification related to the very climate change that he denies, and which now threatens democratic rule throughout the West African region. And while the Muslim-Christian sectarian strife that Trump hypes is a large element of the situation, the violence has gone both ways. Furthermore, making Christians the perceived beneficiaries of imperialist intervention is only likely to exacerbate the tensions and make Christians more of a target. In Episode 310 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg takes an in-depth and unsparing look. (Photo: AFRICOM via Long War Journal)]]> With his Christmas air-strikes on Nigeria, Trump is blundering into a conflict fundamentally driven by desertification related to the very climate change that he denies, and which now threatens democratic rule throughout the West African region. And while the Muslim-Christian sectarian strife that Trump hypes is a large element of the situation, the violence has gone both ways—and also targeted Muslim minorities such as Shi’ites, and even indigenous Jews. Furthermore, making Christians the perceived beneficiaries of imperialist intervention is only likely to exacerbate the tensions and make Christians more of a target. In Episode 310 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg takes an in-depth and unsparing look.

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Photo: AFRICOM via Long War Journal

]]> https://countervortex.org/blog/podcast-maga-fascism-and-the-struggle-in-nigeria/feed/ 1 NYC: did socialism really beat fascism? https://countervortex.org/blog/nyc-did-socialism-really-defeat-fascism/ https://countervortex.org/blog/nyc-did-socialism-really-defeat-fascism/#respond Sun, 21 Dec 2025 22:37:49 +0000 https://countervortex.org/?post_type=blog&p=24965 Zohran Mamdani's Oval Office lovefest with Donald Trump was a dangerous legitimization of fascism, and has won New York no respite—as the city was targeted for ICE raids mere days later. These were happily met with a strong street response by progressive New Yorkers, and Zohran has reiterated his stance of non-cooperation with the federal police state. Meanwhile, the massacre of Jews one week ago in Sydney increases the pressure on Mamdani to walk the fine line between remaining true to his anti-Zionist principles on one hand, and acquiescing in anti-Semitism on the other. And his support for bulldozing the Elizabeth Street Garden (even after a deal to save it has been accepted by the incumbent administration), while failing to protest displacement of tenants from public housing projects slated for privatization, points to an accommodation with the pro-"development" consensus of the city's permanent government. On the final countdown to Mamdani's inauguration, the contradictions he faces are sharpening. In Episode 309 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg breaks it down. (Photo: DSA)]]> Zohran Mamdani‘s Oval Office lovefest with Donald Trump was a dangerous legitimization of fascism, and has won New York no respite—as the city was targeted for ICE raids mere days later. These were happily met with a strong street response by progressive New Yorkers, and Zohran has reiterated his stance of non-cooperation with the federal police state. Meanwhile, the massacre of Jews one week ago in Sydney increases the pressure on Mamdani to walk the fine line between remaining true to his anti-Zionist principles on one hand, and acquiescing in anti-Semitism on the other. And his support for bulldozing the Elizabeth Street Garden (even after a deal to save it has been accepted by the incumbent administration), while failing to protest displacement of tenants from public housing projects slated for privatization, points to an accommodation with the pro-“development” consensus of the city’s permanent government. On the final countdown to Mamdani’s inauguration, the contradictions he faces are sharpening. In Episode 309 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg breaks it down.

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Photo: DSA

]]> https://countervortex.org/blog/nyc-did-socialism-really-defeat-fascism/feed/ 0 Podcast: NYC turns up the volume! https://countervortex.org/blog/podcast-nyc-turns-up-the-volume/ https://countervortex.org/blog/podcast-nyc-turns-up-the-volume/#respond Sun, 09 Nov 2025 21:09:26 +0000 https://countervortex.org/?post_type=blog&p=24851 anarchist critique of Zohran Mamdani's election in the New York City mayoral race reminds us that "socialist faces in high places" do not bring fundamental change, and Gotham has seen mayors before elected on populist platforms only to capitulate to the permanent government dominated by the real estate industry once in office. However, the MAGA backlash to Mamdani's rise may help keep him true to his populist program, as it is the working people of New York who will have his back when Trump strikes back against the city—not the real estate barons. This crisis could provide the impetus for the needed rupture between progressive-run localities and a federal apparatus controlled by the illegitimateTrump regime—vindicating Murray Bookchin's theories of radical municipalism. (Photo: DSA)]]> The anarchist critique of Zohran Mamdani‘s election in the New York City mayoral race reminds us that “socialist faces in high places” do not bring fundamental change, and Gotham has seen mayors before elected on populist platforms only to capitulate to the permanent government dominated by the real estate industry once in office. However, the MAGA backlash to Mamdani’s rise may help keep him true to his populist program, as it is the working people of New York who will have his back when Trump strikes back against the city—not the real estate barons. This crisis could provide the impetus for the needed rupture between progressive-run localities and a federal apparatus controlled by the illegitimate Trump regime—vindicating Murray Bookchin’s theories of radical municipalism.

In Episode 303 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg breaks it down.

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]]> https://countervortex.org/blog/podcast-nyc-turns-up-the-volume/feed/ 0 Podcast: Charlie Kirk = Horst Wessel https://countervortex.org/blog/podcast-charlie-kirk-horst-wessel/ https://countervortex.org/blog/podcast-charlie-kirk-horst-wessel/#respond Sun, 14 Sep 2025 22:52:40 +0000 https://countervortex.org/?post_type=blog&p=24721 white supremacist who denigrated the advances of the Civil Rights era and sought to impose patriarchical subjugation of all but white men. Yet he was opposed as insufficiently "pro-white" by the so-called "Groyper Army" of Nick Fuentes. This raises the possibility that the anti-fascist rhetoric of Kirk's accused shooter, Tyler Robinson, was actually fascist pseudo-anti-fascism. In any case, those who are making the analogy to the early martyr of the Nazi cause Horst Wessel are all too likely to be vindicated: Kirk's death could similarly be exploited to consolidate fascist rule in the United States. In Episode 295 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg breaks it down. (Image mash-up: CounterVortex)]]> Charlie Kirk was not just a “conservative” but a white supremacist who denigrated the advances of the Civil Rights era and sought to impose patriarchical subjugation of all but white men. Yet he was opposed as insufficiently “pro-white” by the so-called “Groyper Army” of Nick Fuentes. This raises the possibility that the anti-fascist rhetoric of Kirk’s accused shooter, Tyler Robinson, was actually fascist pseudo-anti-fascism. In any case, those who are making the analogy to the early martyr of the Nazi cause Horst Wessel are all too likely to be vindicated: Kirk’s death could similarly be exploited to consolidate fascist rule in the United States. In Episode 295 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg breaks it down.

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]]> https://countervortex.org/blog/podcast-charlie-kirk-horst-wessel/feed/ 0 Iran: post-conflict crackdown on civil opposition https://countervortex.org/blog/iran-post-conflict-crackdown-on-civil-opposition/ https://countervortex.org/blog/iran-post-conflict-crackdown-on-civil-opposition/#respond Mon, 08 Sep 2025 19:17:45 +0000 https://countervortex.org/?post_type=blog&p=24707 condemned the ongoing crackdown on civil opposition by the Iranian authorities following the conflict with Israel. Since the outbreak of hostilities in June, Iranian authorities have arrested over 20,000 people on such dubious charges as espionage for Israel, which may carry the death penalty. Minority ethnic and religious groups have been particularly targeted, with Kurdish, Baha'i, Christian and Jewish minorities under threat. Amnesty and HRW urged criminal accountability for unlawful arrests and executions. (Image: Grunge Love via Flickr)]]>

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Sept. 3 condemned the ongoing crackdown on civil opposition by the Iranian authorities following the conflict with Israel. According to the rights groups, the Iranian government is using national security as an excuse to target dissidents and minorities.

Sara Hashash, deputy regional director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International, said: “The authorities’ domestic machinery of repression remains unrelenting as they ratchet up already oppressive widespread surveillance, mass arrests and incitement to discrimination, hostility and violence against minorities.” Amnesty and HRW urged criminal accountability for unlawful arrests and executions.

Local news sources report that since the outbreak of hostilies on June 13, Iranian authorities have arrested over 20,000 people on such dubious charges as espionage for Israel. For these individuals, possible execution is a point of serious concern. Gholamhossein Mohseni Eje’i, the Head of the Judiciary, stated that those who cooperated with Israel would receive serious punishment, including the death penalty. In the first half of 2025, Iran executed 612 people, doubling the number of past years and prompting serious human rights concerns from UN bodies. Moreover, legislation has been proposed that would automatically designate espionage activities carried out for “hostile governments” as “corruption on earth,” which is punishable by execution. This bill is awaiting approval by the Guardian Council.

The International Covenant on Civil & Political Rights (ICCPR) protects the inherent right to life under Article 6. While this article does not prohibit the death penalty, the wording suggests its abolition is desirable. Under the Second Optional Protocol to the ICCPR, signatories agreed to abolish the death penalty. Iran has not signed this protocol.

The wave of unlawful arrests is also evidence of an attack against minorities in Iran. Michael Page, deputy Middle East and North Africa director at HRW, said: “Since June, the human rights situation in Iran has spiraled deeper into crisis with Iranian authorities scapegoating and targeting dissidents and minorities for a conflict they had nothing to do with.” For instance, at least 330 individuals from the Kurdish ethnic minority have been arrested since the start of the Israeli attacks. Religious minority groups also appear to be targeted, with Baha’i, Christian and Jewish minorities under threat.

Longstanding tensions between Iran and Israel exploded on June 13, when Israeli forces attacked several nuclear and military infrastructure sites across Iran. The conflict escalated further, leading to allegations of serious violations of international law, until a ceasefire agreement was reached on June 24.

From JURIST, Sept. 3. Used with permission. Internal links added.

See our last report on the crackdown in Iran.

Image: Grunge Love via Flickr

]]> https://countervortex.org/blog/iran-post-conflict-crackdown-on-civil-opposition/feed/ 0 Podcast: The Twenty-Fifth Hour revisited https://countervortex.org/blog/podcast-the-twenty-fifth-hour-revisited/ https://countervortex.org/blog/podcast-the-twenty-fifth-hour-revisited/#respond Sun, 07 Sep 2025 17:19:33 +0000 https://countervortex.org/?post_type=blog&p=24705 Kilmar Abrego García, shunted from detention in one country to another, with no end in sight, recalls the World War II-era classic of dystopian fiction The Twenty-Fifth Hour by Romanian writer C. Virgil Gheorghiu. The wartime transnational detention system, harrowingly depicted in the novel, was seen by Gheorghiu as an inevitable manifestation of our technocratic civilization that exalts the machine above humanity, ultimately resulting in the treatment of human beings as mere cogs in the state-industrial apparatus. This process is more advanced today with the current hypertrophy of the technosphere, which is related to the re-emergence of abuses approaching those of the fascist era, and ultimately bodes poorly for humanity's future. In Episode 294 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg takes an unsparing look at this grim juncture for the human race. (Image via Cocosse)]]> The case of Kilmar Abrego García, shunted from detention in one country to another, with no end in sight, recalls the World War II-era classic of dystopian fiction The Twenty-Fifth Hour by Romanian writer C. Virgil Gheorghiu. The wartime transnational detention system, harrowingly depicted in the novel, was seen by Gheorghiu as an inevitable manifestation of our technocratic civilization that exalts the machine above humanity, ultimately resulting in the treatment of human beings as mere cogs in the state-industrial apparatus. This process is more advanced today with the current hypertrophy of the technosphere, which is related to the re-emergence of abuses approaching those of the fascist era, and ultimately bodes poorly for humanity’s future. In Episode 294 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg takes an unsparing look at this grim juncture for the human race.

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Image via Cocosse

]]> https://countervortex.org/blog/podcast-the-twenty-fifth-hour-revisited/feed/ 0 MAGA-fascism and anti-Semitic pseudo-anti-anti-Semitism II https://countervortex.org/blog/maga-fascism-and-anti-semitic-pseudo-anti-anti-semitism-ii/ https://countervortex.org/blog/maga-fascism-and-anti-semitic-pseudo-anti-anti-semitism-ii/#respond Sun, 03 Aug 2025 17:38:10 +0000 https://countervortex.org/?post_type=blog&p=24627 Columbia and Brown University) is the Trump regime's Joint Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism. Purporting to act on behalf of Jewish students, the Trump regime simultaneously attacks policies to promote campus diversity. This replicates the historical function of anti-Semitism—setting up Jews to take the hit for for the oppressive policies of (overwhelmingly) non-Jewish rulers. The perverse fascist pseudo-anti-fascism of the Trump regime has now become anti-Semitic pseudo-anti-anti-Semitism. This cynical feigned opposition to anti-Semitism is especially dangerous when actual anti-Semitism is very much in evidence—not least by the Trump regime itself, over and over! Yet the ever-more egregious manifestations of Jew-hatred are increasingly weaponized by the political right—and ignored or even normalized by the ostensible "left." In Episode 289 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg takes some encouragement from the growing ranks of Jewish voices breaking with the pro-Israel consensus to protest the Gaza genocide—while being clear in drawing the line against anti-Semitism. (Image: APE)]]> The ideological enforcer of MAGA-fascism in American higher education (just met with craven capitulation by Columbia and Brown University) is the Trump regime’s Joint Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism. Purporting to act on behalf of Jewish students, the Trump regime simultaneously attacks policies to promote campus diversity. This replicates the historical function of anti-Semitism—setting up Jews to take the hit for for the oppressive policies of (overwhelmingly) non-Jewish rulers. The perverse fascist pseudo-anti-fascism of the Trump regime has now become anti-Semitic pseudo-anti-anti-Semitism. This cynical feigned opposition to anti-Semitism is especially dangerous when actual anti-Semitism is very much in evidence—not least by the Trump regime itself, over and over! Yet the ever-more egregious manifestations of Jew-hatred are increasingly weaponized by the political right—and ignored or even normalized by the ostensible “left.” In Episode 289 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg takes some encouragement from the growing ranks of Jewish voices breaking with the pro-Israel consensus to protest the Gaza genocide—while being clear in drawing the line against anti-Semitism.

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Image: APhilosophicalEnquiry

]]> https://countervortex.org/blog/maga-fascism-and-anti-semitic-pseudo-anti-anti-semitism-ii/feed/ 0 Zohran Mamdani and municipal resistance https://countervortex.org/blog/podcast-zohran-mamdani-and-municipal-resistance/ https://countervortex.org/blog/podcast-zohran-mamdani-and-municipal-resistance/#respond Mon, 07 Jul 2025 00:02:37 +0000 https://countervortex.org/?post_type=blog&p=24574 paranoid reaction from the MAGA right, Donald Trump is threatening to have Zohran Mamdani denaturalized and deported under the archaic Cold War-era Communist Control Act if he continues with New York's "sanctuary city" policy as mayor. A Justice Department memo has already set the machinery for "denaturalization" of citizens in motion. But the Islamophobic, xenophobic and old-school Red Scare backlash to Mamdani's political rise could provide the breaking point in which localities coast-to-coast refuse to cooperate with Trump's fascist agenda—vindicating Murray Bookchin's theories of radical municipalism. In Episode 285 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg argues that Mamdani's ascendance, whatever the limitations of his personal politics, heightens the contradictions in American society in a salubrious way, and may even open revolutionary possibilities. (Photo: Jim Naureckas/Flickr via The Jewish Angle)]]> Amid an amusingly paranoid reaction from the MAGA right, Donald Trump is threatening to have Zohran Mamdani denaturalized and deported under the archaic Cold War-era Communist Control Act if he continues with New York’s “sanctuary city” policy as mayor. A Justice Department memo has already set the machinery for “denaturalization” of citizens in motion. But the Islamophobic, xenophobic and old-school Red Scare backlash to Mamdani’s political rise could provide the breaking point in which localities coast-to-coast refuse to cooperate with Trump’s fascist agenda—vindicating Murray Bookchin‘s theories of radical municipalism. In Episode 285 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg argues that Mamdani’s ascendance, whatever the limitations of his personal politics, heightens the contradictions in American society in a salubrious way, and may even open revolutionary possibilities.

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Photo: Jim Naureckas/Flickr via The Jewish Angle

 

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