The antisemitic, pro-Hamas movement looks a lot like the KKK of the 1920s.

Watching enormous crowds of Americans shouting blatantly racist chants  in support of an agenda that is unapologetically genocidal, and backed by internationally recognized terrorist organizations – met with at best indifference and at worst the active support of our elite institutions of government, news media, education, and entertainment — I can’t help but  think, this is what it must have been like in the 1920s when 30,000 members of the Ku Klux Klan proudly marched through Washington and everyone was like, okay!

Yes, Covid masks and keffiyehs have replaced pointy white hoods and robes as the face-hiding fashion signal of the day, and this generation of disruptive bigots is primarily out to get the Jews, not African Americans (so I guess in that sense more akin to Nazis than Klansmen), but the psychology behind their statements are pretty much the same.

They say they just want peace, but… yeah… no. If they really wanted peace, they wouldn’t just be calling for Israel to cease fire, but also for Hamas to cease fire, maybe return the 130 remaining hostages they took in their October 7 massacre (or at least the ones they haven’t murdered yet), stop using Gaza as a launch pad for sending missiles into Tel Aviv, and how about recognizing Israeli Jews’ right to, you know, exist.

They say they support the Palestinian people and their right to self-determination, but… yeah… no. If that’s really what they cared about they would be cheering on Israel’s efforts to eradicate Hamas – the terrorist organization that was elected to rule Gaza in 2005, has refused to hold another democratic election since, and absconded with billions in foreign aid, leaving the Palestinian people living in poverty and oppression under an anti-women’s- rights, anti-gay-rights, openly racist, violent, theocratic tyranny.

They say they they’re horrified by war crimes against civilians taking place, but… yeah… no. Targeting civilians for murder by rape like Hamas did; that’s an actual war crime. Using civilians as human shields as Hamas does; that’s an actual war crime. Conducting military operations out of hospitals and schools as Hamas does; also an actual war crime. Shooting your own people when they try to heed advanced warnings by Israel to evacuate targeted areas; not 100% sure on this one, but probably an actual war crime.

They say they’re opposed genocide, but… yeah… no. If you’re chanting “from the river to the sea…” and sporting a “final solution” sign (see photo below from DC, credit New York Post), you’re advocating FOR genocide. Actual genocide. Nazi-style, kill-all-the-Jews genocide. Not the tragic collateral damage inevitable in war, but as-defined-by-the-UN “acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group” genocide.

You students setting up tents at Middlebury and UVM are not on the right side of history. You’re on the same side of history as the folks the world executed for crimes against humanity at Nuremberg, and the one who beat us to it by blowing his own brains out in a bunker in April 1945.

This kind of pathogenic societal behavior is what we were supposed to never forget. Not only have we forgotten, but the adults in our classrooms are TEACHING our children and young adults to think and act this way. Many of our elected officials are encouraging it. Others are kowtowing to it. (Looking at you, Bernie, Peter and Becca!) And, frighteningly, it seems they have succeeded to such a degree that this kind of activity is now considered respectably normal.

Which gets me back to my opening thought about the Klan in the 1920s, and an interesting article from NPR (ironically now on board with the “from the river to the sea” crowd) back in 2015 titled, “When The KKK Was Mainstream.” It describes the scene,

In the 1920s, membership in the KKK reached several million people…. And in communities where the KKK really took root, “this meant that a very sizable part of the eligible population was in the Klan.” The KKK was even successful at “block recruiting” of whole clubs or congregations at one time.

And the Klan insinuated itself into otherwise polite society. There were KKK public initiations in many states — including California, Alabama, Oklahoma and Texas — and KKK public parades in Florida, Oregon, Tennessee and other states. 

The article gives example after example of how openly proud Klan members were elected to public office, held pageants, sponsored youth baseball teams, and engaged in everything from sewing clubs to agricultural societies, all while “their main leaders promoted expulsion and economic retribution against their ‘enemies.” Of course, what made this grotesque facet of our history possible was the fact that the morality behind it was sadly generally accepted. If you weren’t a member of the KKK, at least you tolerated what they were doing. Or, if you were opposed, you were probably too intimidated to speak out.

The author of the article concluded, “How strange and scary and dangerous those times must have been, when large numbers of Klanspeople paraded around, draped in white robes and sinister ideology,” and too often resorting to violence and intimidation to get their way. Strange, scary, and dangerous indeed. Kinda like what we’re seeing on campuses today, and on blocked roads leading to major airports and bridges, ringed outside politicians’ homes, etc. Let’s not let it happen again.

Rob Roper is a freelance writer who has been involved with Vermont politics and policy for over 20 years. This article reprinted with permission from Behind the Lines: Rob Roper on Vermont Politics, robertroper.substack.com