Abe Wonders Too Much

I really can’t stand hypersensitivity to antisemitism. Maybe it’s because I’m self-hating, maybe it’s because I’m not a Conservative rabbi, or maybe it’s because I’m not a fundraising whore like Abe Foxman. I really can’t be sure.

The ADL writes,

Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director, issued the following statement:

One can only wonder what motivated Judith Regan to make a Jewish issue out of her dispute with the News Corporation’s HarperCollins.

Yes, one could wonder. One could scratch one’s head in sorrow and sadness that bigotry continues to raise its ugly head even in the most prestigious and intellectual of industries, and see exactly why the ADL is so very important to the Jewish community and why this canard is proof that we need to redouble our efforts to teach tolerance in the hopes that one day such horrible incidents will finally cease to exist on such a frequent and troubling level. In the meantime, one can wonder. OR one can pause for a moment and note that the reason Ms. Regan pointed out the “Jewish issue� of her opponents was because the most powerful ones are, in fact, apparently Jews. That, juxtaposed with the fact that Regan is a nightmare bitch of the first order who would make her opponents red socks an issue (if that’s what she determined was at her disposal for hurling insults and abuse) might possibly make one wonder just a bit less.

Let us be clear. Regan is a bitch. Not an antisemite. And quite frankly, there should be a lot more defense agencies in the world against scary bitches like Regan. But this is simply not the mandate of the ADL as it is not an issue of antisemitism.

As Alana Newhouse wrote in the Forward,

The problem with this storyline is that, among the many charges that have been leveled against Regan — including but not limited to being a manipulator, a tormentor of employees and a legendary narcissist — antisemitism is the least supportable. Indeed, if observers and former employees are to be believed, it might be one of the few transgressions of which she is not guilty…If a brief scan of Regan’s greatest hits is any indication, her repertoire of verbal insults brims with stereotyping of all kinds, with nearly every group caught in the crosshairs of her equal-opportunity offending at one time or another. When viewed in the broader context of her personality, it seems obvious that these comments are driven not by authentic prejudice but by a need to provoke and offend.

Regan may be a witch. But her alleged comments are not grounds for a witch hunt.