Our Response to David Duke, White Nationalists

When we discovered that David Duke, the Holocaust denier, former KKK grand wizard, and anti-Semite extraordinaire, and the White Nationalist online community Stormfront picked up on an article in the current issue of Moment Magazine entitled “When Money Grows On Jewish Trees,” our first reaction was far from shock. After all, any discussion of Jewish prosperity can devolve into a controversial one.

The article outlines the contributions of Jews in the current presidential race as well as in American history, showing why and how the Jewish community has become disproportionally represented in contemporary campaign finance.

David Duke said on his website that our article is an instance of the biased, Jew-controlled media getting away with writing what would be called prejudiced if it was written by someone else. Stormfront went further, saying we were “boasting” about Jewish power. But this is utterly bogus. While David Duke, Don Black (the neo-Nazi founder of Stormfront), and others have managed to build entire careers out of spurious and hateful accusations, we at Moment dedicate our work to recognizing and reporting on the Jewish community. As independent journalists, we find the story of Jewish campaign contributions especially worth reporting during this election year.

Unfortunately, because of millennia of anti-Semitism and invented texts like the Protocols of the Elders of Zion that purport to explain the supposed conspiracy of Jewish world domination, many Jews have no choice but to assume a defensive and cautious disposition when dealing with issues like political influence. Indeed, many of the sources we spoke to for the story were more comfortable speaking off the record.

But the sources were not hesitant to speak on the record because they were deviant plotters, busy wringing their hands behind sacks of cash. The sources were uncomfortable because they recognized that any article highlighting Jewish prosperity and success might lead to hateful ripples in prejudiced circles.

It is our belief at Moment that it is important not to be afraid of the ridicule of white nationalist extremists. And though it feels wrong to give Duke’s ridiculous ideas space on a blog committed to respectable ideals and intelligence, it is important that we directly and unequivocally confront these iniquitous charges. We do not “boast” about Jewish life. We report on it. So while you will notice that nothing on this post gives links to the fanatical websites themselves, there are references to sites that provide more information on these bigots.

This way, we can educate ourselves and respond to their preposterous charges. Here at Moment, we consider it part of our purpose to “counteract” anti-Semitism, and we will continue to do so intellectually, at any cost.

Image by blakeemrys.

—Benjamin Schuman-Stoler