This is an interesting story but not, I think, solely for the reasons Vice thinks it’s an interesting story. Apparently, neo-Nazi groups have been trying to capitalize on the increasing unpopularity of Israel, especially with the young people and college kids who have been holding big pro-Palestinian protests recently.

Around 40 people affiliated with the National Justice Party, a white nationalist and antisemitic group, gathered in front of the White House to protest Israel last weekend. The group was led by Mike Peinovich, a long-time white nationalist personality who previously used the alias “Mike Enoch,” and was one of the architects of the deadly 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville.

Israel “is a pure genocidal state, make no mistake,” Peinovich told rally attendees over a PA system. “We Americans have been snookered into supporting [Israel] by Jewish control of our banks, our media, and our politicians, but we have to say enough and rise up as a people.”

Their small demonstration was dwarfed by the hundreds-strong protest that flooded the streets of Washington D.C. But Peinovich’s rhetoric is an example of how far-right antisemites are trying to use the pro-Palestine movement, hijack some of its language criticizing the Israeli government’s actions in Gaza, and then use that as a vehicle to push anti-Jewish conspiracy theories and tropes into the mainstream.

Here’s a video included in the story.

Looks like the Nazis from the National Justice Party are trying to hijack the pro-Palestinian rally at the White House right now. The rally since moved to BLM Plaza and the boneheads are smart enough to keep their distance, but they are still there. pic.twitter.com/dmBxcvIYRu

— Daryle Lamont Jenkins (@DLamontJenkins) October 28, 2023

As I look at those signs, most of them would fit right in at a pro-Palestinian rally. “Make Israel Palestine Again” is just a MAGA spin on “From the River to the Sea…” but it amounts to exactly the same thing.

And that’s really the first point I wanted to make about this. Vice is trying to suggest there is a world of difference between anti-Israel protests which only appear pro-Palestinian and genuine pro-Palestinian protests which only appear anti-Israel. A GWU extremism professor told Vice, “They’re not pro-Palestine, they just hate Jews, and they see this moment as an opportunity to get attention, get coverage, put their banners, their images, their ideas, into reporting patterns.”

I’m not convinced the difference is quite so vast. Oh but these neo-Nazis just want to kill the Jews because they hate them. So what about all the college students and professors defending Hamas? Hamas exists to kill the Jews because they hate them and for no other reason. And still you have plenty of college undergrads claiming that this is what decolonization looks like. Students at GWU referred to Hamas terrorists as “martyrs.” Students at Harvard said Israel was “entirely responsible” for the 10/7 attack. A professor at Yale wrote that “Israel is a murderous, genocidal settler state and Palestinians have every right to resist through armed struggle.” That was posted on X the day of the attack. What about this guy? Is he Pro-Palestinian or anti-Semitic?

Students confront a masked guy ripping down hostage posters at Harvard Square.

“They should be all exterminated, every single one of them and their kids, their mothers, their children, everybody just like Hitler did.” pic.twitter.com/6swqemOFNO

— Kassy Dillon (@KassyDillon) October 30, 2023

The whole idea that the neo-Nazis are haters while the pro-Palestinian protesters are not just doesn’t fly. To be clear, I’m not suggesting the neo-Nazis aren’t anti-Semitic creeps. They clearly are. I’m just pointing out that many of the left-wing protesters don’t seem all that different. The distinction Vice is trying to make strikes me as a pretty fine one in some cases.

And that’s the second point worth making here. How many times have we seen a tiny group of neo-Nazis show up at a large protest and inevitably the left seizes on that as proof the whole thing is racist. There was a lot of this back when Obama was trying to push through Obamacare. One extremist sign was enough to tar an entire event. But here you have the same dynamic and Vice leaps in to argue these folks are completely distinct from the main protest. Credit to JK Rowling who made this point quite well:

Hang on. When far-right groups eager for publicity/violence agitate near women's rallies, that makes all the women sticking up for their rights fascists. However, when Nazis join a protest YOU agree with, they're opportunists who mustn't be allowed to besmirch a righteous cause. https://t.co/Rmi6W5hrhJ

— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) November 2, 2023

That’s about the size of it. Vice doesn’t want to see the pro-Palestinian cause besmirched. The problem is, even if you leave the neo-Nazis out of it, the pro-Palestinian cause has been besmirched aplenty in the past three weeks by their own bona fide members. Ed posted this clip in the headlines earlier. I think this sort of sums up what I’m saying. There’s plenty of anti-Jewish hate at these left-wing rallies.

A Jew goes undercover at a pro-Hamas protest.

It goes exactly as you would expect it to. pic.twitter.com/RcYHdrriU3

— Greg Price (@greg_price11) November 2, 2023