Journalists are contributing to the rise of anti-Semitism in the West, according to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
“I want to talk about why anti-Semitism is on the rise,” he said at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s annual conference in Washington, D.C. “I have a few thoughts on the reasons.
“First, Western civilizations – and our youth, in particular – are losing first-hand experience with the Holocaust and its survivors as the postwar generation dies out. I saw that clearly and thought about it on my most recent trip to Israel, when I visited Yad Vashem.
“Second, professors teach our children that Israel is the epitome of imperialism.
“Third, journalists, who help drive our public debate, don’t always take the time to consider facts or think critically. And I’m being polite.”
Pompeo’s sharpest barb was reserved for some politicians – an apparent allusion to Democrats like Rep. Ilhan Omar and Rep. Rashida Talib who are strenuously anti-Israel and have been accused of anti-Semitism. “But frankly, worst of all, some politicians think anti-Semitism can actually win them votes,” Pompeo said.
He described anti-Semitism as “a cancer metastasizing in the Middle East, in Europe, and indeed, sadly, here in the United States as well.”
Pompeo said: “In Britain, the Labour Party’s tolerance of anti-Semitism in its ranks is a national disgrace. And France’s Jews are under attack. The incidence of anti-Semitic attacks in Germany is also on the rise.”
He added: “Anti-Zionism is anti-Semitism. Israel should be admired not attacked, embraced not vilified, and emulated not ostracized.”
