Antisemitism has been ubiquitous for millennia. It serves as a convenient scapegoat for deflecting blame on officials during bad times, as a means of gaining or keeping power, and as a recognizable “cause celebre” for those who feel the need for a more meaningful existence and to be part of a larger group or gang.

However, for Jews like Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield (and others like Bernie Sanders) I don’t think they need these as incentives. To turn their backs on friends, neighbors, family and thousands of years of religion and tradition, there must be much deeper roots driving their Jewish self-hatred. I have no training in psychology so I can’t offer any clinical diagnosis, but one word does come to mind: sickness. I think it may be pathological, somewhat like an addiction. I don’t think they can help themselves, and have a compulsion to act as they do.

If this is true, no amount of protests, marches, letter writing, pleading to reason or pointing out economic consequences is going to have an effect or make them change their minds. Therefore, while protests may be useful to garner widespread support, other stronger options must be explored to deal with this issue. For example, legal actions are a good start.