The gesture seen around the world
Criticism of Elon Musk by those who've been silent as Israel fights for its survival is shameless hypocrisy by every standard.
By Chaskel Bennett
JNS
Jan 24, 2025
The alleged Heil Hitler salute. This was no Nazi-like gesture. What we saw was an exuberant Musk, emotionally, and yes, awkwardly, trying to connect with his adoring crowd.
For Jews in Israel and across the globe, Oct. 7, 2023, was more than a horrific, unprecedented terrorist attack of historic proportions. For us, that fateful day changed the world as we know it.
No longer did we feel the (false) sense of security and comfort we had mistakenly felt on Oct. 6. In the aftermath of the Hamas-led terrorist rampage in southern Israel, hatred and bigotry—already on the rise—were unleashed with frightening speed and fury. It seemed that the haters got the global green light to come out of their skulking shadows, and burst onto college campuses and in the streets of American cities with a vengeance. Understandably feeling vulnerable, Jews were looking for solidarity from anyone who might offer it. Tellingly, we could barely find it anywhere.
So when we witnessed billionaire entrepreneur and X owner Elon Musk weirdly gesticulating his arms earlier this week at an inauguration event for President Donald Trump, many were confused and even perplexed. Could it be that he did a Nazi salute? To the honest and nonpartisan observer, it became immediately apparent that after viewing the entire video—and not the spliced, six-second clip shared by the extremists on the far-right and far-left—this was no Nazi-like gesture. What we saw was an exuberant Musk, emotionally, and yes, awkwardly, trying to connect with his adoring crowd. After all, it seemed inconsistent with everything we have come to know about him.
Even the Anti-Defamation League, not known for a warm and fuzzy relationship with Musk, immediately defended him by posting on X, “ … It seems that @elonmusk made an awkward gesture in a moment of enthusiasm, not a Nazi salute … .” Of course, the ADL was immediately slammed by the usual suspects for daring to give its opinion on a subject that is the organization’s expertise.
Also inconsistent were the instantaneous condemnations and vilifications from leftists who were furious that Musk could invoke the universally abhorrent gesture. While their outrage would have been welcomed at any time this past year as Jews faced anti-Israel protests and antisemitic gestures worldwide, it became painfully obvious that the faux reaction wasn’t about providing well-needed support for beleaguered Jews. Rather, it was a calculated, politically motivated smear campaign to malign Musk, and by extension, Trump, with whom he has a close relationship.
As Musk’s loudest critics in Congress and the media were skewering him on every possible platform, many of those very same voices are the ones who have been loudest in calling for an arms embargo on Israel, even as the Jewish states continues its fight on a multifront war.
Among those in Congress leading the charge against Musk were Sens. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and the self-professed non-expert in international foreign policy, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), among others. These particular members of Congress are notable because they are also part of a larger cabal of leftist, anti-Israel lawmakers who have been banging the anti-Israel drums loudest in the Capitol.
They advocated for U.S. military aid to Israel to be cut during the height of Israel’s war against terrorists from all sides. For his part, Musk visited the Jewish state and met with Israeli leaders, as well as Oct. 7 victims and the families of hostages who have been held captive in Gaza for 15 months—something none of those yelling so loudly at Israel did.
And while some of these new bigotry warriors were embracing masked, keffiyeh-clad anti-Jewish hate groups on university campuses parroting the false genocide defamation of Israel, Elon was standing with Jews at Auschwitz in Poland.
While some senators were blocking the antisemitism awareness bill in Congress, Musk was everywhere, highlighting his “Bring Them Home” dog tags and calling for the release of Israeli hostages.
The duplicity of Musk’s detractors goes on and on.
A friend of mine used to sign his emails with the phrase, “Tough times don’t last, tough people do.” There’s no question this motto can certainly be an apt way to describe this past year of pain, sorrow and fear for the Jewish people. But tough times also reveal who your true friends are.
It is the height of hypocrisy and insult to see some of these brazen opportunists furiously pointing the antisemitism flag at Musk. These folks who turned their back on Israel during this war will be forever known as those who have most betrayed the Jewish people in our time of need. Their thunderous inaction in the face of Hamas’s unspeakable atrocities is their miserable legacy, not this salute charade.
Yes, politicians have perfected the art of shamelessness, but invoking antisemitism as a political weapon at a time of record-breaking Jew-hatred takes shamelessness to a whole new level.
1 comment:
The Democrat-Socialists are declaring EVERYTHING THEY DON'T LIKE and EVERYONE THEY DON'T LIKE to be a NAZI. It is stupid, and they are full of shit. If they ever found a REAL Nazi and told people, nobody but Joy Blowhard and Whoopi Goldberg would believe it.
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