There are people in this world who are consumed with the idea that Jews have “everything” and “total control.”

A few days ago, I traveled to Wellesley where I had the pleasure to hear Nidra Poller speak before the New England Chapter of the Republican Jewish Coalition (of which I am a member).  Poller is an American writer who has lived in France since 1972.  Over the past several years, Poller has become outspoken against the resurgent anti-Semitism in France caused by French Muslims, which has been largely ignored by the French government.  She has written a number of articles in conservative publications such as Commentary, National Review Online and Canada’s National Post.

After noshing on some edibles, Poller spoke about the rather unappetizing subject of French anti-Semitism.  She focused much of her attention on the case of Ilan Halimi.  For the benefit of those who do not know about Ilan Halimi here is a brief synopsis. 

In January of this year, Halimi, a 23-year old French Jewish Parisian, was lured to an apartment by a woman in a banlieue largely populated by African Muslims.  Instead of a romantic evening, he was ambushed by nearly two dozen African Muslims who tortured him for nearly three weeks.  Halimi was clinging to life when he was found tied to railway tracks near a subway station.  He had been stabbed multiple times with one of his ears and toes severed. Eighty percent of his body had been burned by acid.  Halimi died en route to the hospital.

A gang called Les Barbares (a.k.a. The Barbarians) kidnapped, tortured and killed Halimi.  They initially demanded a large ransom of 450,000 Euros (or roughly $580,000 U.S.) but then reduced their demand to 5,000 Euros (or just under $6,500 U.S.).  In telephone exchanges between Les Barbares and the Halimi family, his screams could be heard over readings from the Koran.  

More than a dozen people have since been arrested and charged in connection with Halimi’s murder, including the woman who lured him.  The mastermind of Les Barbares, Yousef Fofana, was arrested in the Ivory Coast and extradited back to France to face murder charges.

This was clearly not about a kidnapping for ransom but a kidnapping to torture and murder a Jew.  Yet the French authorities and media made a concerted effort to deny any anti-Semitism, contending that the motive of the crime was money.  One investigator told Liberation that if it were Martians who were rich they would have kidnapped Martians.  But why recite verses from the Koran to the family of a Martian?    For his part, Fofana confessed to his involvement in Halimi’s murder, but said it was money not religion that was the motive.  Yet the woman who lured Halimi said she had been instructed to lure Jewish men to Les Barbares.  There had also been several other attempts to lure other Jewish men to the apartment complex.  For his part Fofana stated, “The Jews have everything.”  Poller stated that this was a sentiment that was echoed by the African Muslims living in the banlieue.

French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy (a potential candidate for the French Presidency next year) finally connected the dots.  Sarkozy said, “The truth is that these crooks acted primarily for sordid and vile motives, to get money, but they were convinced that 'the Jews have money,' and if those they kidnapped didn’t have the money, their family and their community would come up with it.  That’s called anti-Semitism by amalgam.”  Fofana and others have since been charged with hate crimes.

I found myself struck by the notion the “Jews have everything,” yet there is no anti-Semitism.  Where had I heard that before?  Why, of course, from our favorite self-hating Jew, Noam Chomsky.

While addressing the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign in December 2002, Chomsky remarked:

By now Jews in the U.S. are the most privileged and influential part of the population.  You find occasional instances of anti-Semitism but they are marginal…Anti-Semitism is no longer a problem, fortunately.  It’s raised because privileged people want to make sure they have total control, not just 98% control.  That’s why anti-Semitism is becoming an issue.  Not because of the threat of anti-Semitism; they want to make sure there’s no critical look at the policies the U.S. (and they themselves) support in the Middle East.

Edward Alexander, in a FrontPageMagazine.com article titled “Noam Chomsky’s Hatreds,” observed, “As this charming remark indicates, the line between anti-Semitism denial and anti-Semitism (the thing itself) is a fine one.”  British blogger Oliver Kamm wrote in 2005, “The plain interpretation of these sentiments is that the Jews dominate America and raise the non-issue of anti-Semitism in order to obscure their aim of total control.”

Now one could certainly argue that anti-Semitism is less of a problem in the United States than it is in France, if not nearly every country in the world.  Yet Chomsky is arguing that American Jews are manufacturing anti-Semitism in an effort to avoid scrutiny of U.S. policy in the Middle East.  Of course, he does not offer any examples to back up his claim.  Nor does he offer evidence that Jews have total control or even 98% control.  Total control of what?

Of course, Chomsky is Jewish.  Does this mean he has “total control” or does he exempt himself from criticism?  It does not matter.  Chomsky does not have to let facts get in the way of an argument and he knows it.  He certainly knows his audience.  Regardless of the veracity of his statement, Chomsky knows that there are people who believe his claim that Jews have total control or 98% control.  Just as there are people who believe Yousef Fofana when he says that Jews have everything.  This despite the fact that Halimi came from a Sephardic Jewish family with a modest income.  There are people in this world who are consumed with the idea that Jews have “everything” and “total control” and that this state of affairs must be stopped be it through lawful or unlawful means.  

But what if Ilan Halimi did have everything?  Are these grounds for kidnapping a man and then stabbing, burning, torturing and ultimately killing him?   Is this to be the fate of a people who work hard and play by the rules?  Do Yousef Fofana and Noam Chomsky resent success that much?  More specifically, why do they resent the success of Jews?  One could speculate on that question ad nauseum but still get nowhere in a hurry.  Because to do is to assume Fofana and Chomsky are rational actors with rational perceptions.  Of course, they can function cleverly and manipulate others to their view of the world, be it white, upper middle class students at MIT or unemployed Muslim youth in the banlieue.  But their conclusions are grounded in conspiracy theory rather than sound reason.  The end result can be and has been tragic.

To be fair, Noam Chomsky is not accused of committing any crime – murder or otherwise.  As far as I know he is a law-abiding citizen of this country.  Yousef Fofana has confessed to participating in the murder of a person whatever his stated motive.  As heinous as Chomsky’s past apologies for the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, embrace of Holocaust deniers and justification of 9/11, I cannot fully equate him with a man who actually took a human life.

Nonetheless, Noam Chomsky and Yousef Fofana possess a great deal in common.  Sure, one might be a white, upper-middle class Jewish academic in Cambridge, Massachusetts and the other a black African Muslim criminal on the outskirts of Paris.  Yet despite their divergent backgrounds, both men possess a belief that Jews control everything.  Their beliefs have been manifested divergently but both have manifested on a foundation of hatred, contempt and misinformation.  These are the building blocks of anti-Semitism from which no one is immune.  These building blocks can only be dismantled when one recognizes anti-Semitism in whatever its form and dares to speak its name.  This is an obligation of all decent and fair minded people, not just the Nidra Pollers of this world.