The Canary in the Coal Mine

Erick Erickson on Mar 21, 2025

Tens of thousands of pages related to the assassination of former President John F. Kennedy were released this week. Not to spoil it, but he dies in the end. In the process of reviewing the documents, it is apparent that the government kept a lot private because the names of CIA agents in the field, their sources and methods of collecting data, etc. were all in the documents. An unredacted release when those agents were alive could have jeopardized them. Perhaps not surprisingly, some commentators were convinced the documents were a coverup protecting supposed Jewish assassins.

Last week, Joe Rogan interviewed Ian Carroll, a conspiracy theorist who blames the Jews for 9/11, among other things. Previously, Rogan interviewed Darryl Cooper, who got national exposure on Tucker Carlson's podcast for claiming Churchill was the bad guy in World War II and Hitler was misunderstood. Cooper has a long history of engaging in holocaust revisionism.

Rightwing podcaster Candice Owens claimed Jews did not go to work in the World Trade Center on 9/11 because they had advanced notice of the attack. The rightwing Turning Point USA organization has had numerous employees who espoused serious antisemitism online and even some who downplayed the Oct. 7, 2023 terror attack by Hamas on Israel.

On the left, progressive activists are chasing Jews on American college campuses. Academic administrations are making excuses for the harassment. At Cooper Union in New York, Jewish students had to hide in a library as antisemitic progressives pounded on the door. At another institution, Jewish students were denied access to the library. Still, at another, they were told they could hide in an attic to avoid harassment from progressive students. The Anti-Defamation League just released a report on antisemitic Wikipedia editors doctoring articles to smear Jews.

Both the right and left have become, in part, infected with antisemitism. The antisemitic mind virus is the canary in the coal mine for civilizations. When the hatred of Jews rises, a host of other horrible things fester in society. Progressives who scream that President Donald Trump is a threat to democracy start burning down Tesla dealerships. Trump supporters storm into the Capitol rioting. Main Street gets burned down. Antisemitism is one of the first indicators that society has turned unhealthy.

Thousands of years ago, Jews were bringing law and order to civilization. They inhabited the land of Canaan and created the Kingdom of David. They were conquered, disbursed, returned home, conquered again, and then ultimately driven out by the Romans in A.D. 136 after a series of rebellions. The Romans changed Judea, which derived from the Kingdom of Judah, into Palestine. Now, disparate Arab tribes and antisemites use "Palestine" to lay claim to an area where both Biblical and historical archeological claims show that the Jewish people lived before the Romans forcibly dispersed them through the Roman Empire.

The Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne allowed Jewish settlement in Europe. Because Christians were not to lend money to each other, Jews were prodded into becoming the money lenders. Likewise, because entertainment was considered sinful, the Jews were enlisted. Shut out of professional and tradecraft guilds, Jews became skilled at finance and entertainment. It was not by choice, but by circumstance in a Christian Europe where antisemitism festered and people blamed Jews for killing Jesus, even though the Romans nailed him to the cross.

Now, due to historic circumstances, Jews are smeared for controlling banks and Hollywood. Yet, they are pushed into it and denied access to other tradecrafts. It is a historic catch-22. They became leaders at the trades they were forced into and now get blamed for being good at them. Jews were blamed for the plague. They were blamed for the Mongol invasion of Europe. They were blamed for the Islamic conquest of Jerusalem. They have been the historic scapegoat for others. The common tie is this: when antisemitism rises, it is a harbinger of bad things coming if left unchecked.

Across the political spectrum, the antisemites must be shunned for the sake of a healthy society. History shows us, again and again, an antisemitism that is left to fester ends badly for everyone -- not just the Jews.

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To find out more about Erick Erickson and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

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