Barr Compares Anti-Semitism To A Metastasizing Cancer

Attorney General William Barr on Monday talked about the dangers of allowing anti-Semitism to flourish. Barr’s remarks were made during a Department of Justice’s summit designed to condemn anti-Semitism.

“The most ancient and stubborn form of racism throughout Western history has been anti-Semitism. Hostility or prejudice against the Jewish people has manifested itself in the organized violence of pogroms, expulsions, and massacres. Within living memory, these genocidal acts reached the unimaginable scale and evil of the Holocaust,” Barr said.

“In the United States today, we do not see state-organized violence, but increasingly we are seeing hate-inspired violence against the Jewish community perpetrated by individuals and groups,” Barr said, referencing the shootings at various synagogues across the country.

Barr explained why it’s important to protect the Jewish people from persecution, even if the government struggles to address the issue.

“Hate crimes and civil rights prosecutions are important tools, but they cannot solve the problem on their own,” Barr explained. “Hearts and minds must be changed, but that is not always the task to which the government is particularly well-suited. We have a legal obligation to respect the free speech rights of even despicable speakers and our harshest critics. But lines can be drawn by our society, sometimes easily and sometimes not so easily, between that commitment and repudiation of anti-Semitism.”

The Attorney General compared anti-Semitism to various types of cancers.

“I think of the various forms of anti-Semitism as very much like different kinds of cancer,” Barr said. “A healthy body with a strong immune system can have success in preventing cancer from emerging or spreading. But if the immune system weakens, cancer can emerge. Some might be localized, but others can rapidly metastasize and become systemic. Just like a physical body, a body politic must have an immune system that resists anti-Semitism and other forms of racial hatred.”