Everywhere I turn, I see another headline describing conservative commentator Candace Owens as an anti-Semite.

If Owens is an anti-Semite, she certainly is a very strange one. How many anti-Semites write tweets like this: “For two years the ‘rabbi’ [i.e., Shmuley Boteach] has attacked me – not because he believes I hate Jews, he knows I love Jews”?

Or this: “[N]o one is buying the ridiculous storyline that I suddenly became an antisemite, no matter how powerful the network of smear merchants are working to try to make that a thing”?

How many anti-Semites ask, “Why…would you refer to someone [i.e., Candace Owens] who is so clearly and evidentially not a Jew hater as one”?

Candace is famously not shy. If she believes something, she says it. She even boldly defended Derek Chauvin, the policeman who kneeled on George Floyd’s neck and set off a summer of riots four years ago. (Candace argues, based on a report of the chief medical examiner of Hennepin County, that Floyd died of a drug overdose, not strangulation.) So if Candace were an anti-Semite, she would almost certainly say so, proudly – especially now that she’s been fired. But she hasn’t.

Pirkei Avos tells us that Rav Yochanan ben Zakai asked his students to identify the worst possible characteristic man can possess. One of them, Rabbi Eliezer, responded: “an evil eye.” In other words, a jaundiced eye. An eye that interprets everything in the worst possible light.

Liberals see the world with this eye. Donald Trump says the auto industry will experience a bloodbath if he loses the election, and liberals say he called for the massacre of his political opponents. Tucker Carlson warns of the dangers of illegal immigration and liberals say he obviously hates anyone who isn’t white. Jordan Peterson defends the honor of men, and liberals claim he must despise women.

Racism, sexism, transphobia… Liberals never allow for the possibility that an innocent explanation may account for someone’s words or opinion. They always assume nefarious intent.

Right-wing Jews have long decried this “evil eye” perspective – and rightfully so. And yet, in the last few years, many of these Jews – the very same one who can’t stand when liberals call Donald Trump, and every other conservative, racist – have been cavalierly calling people they dislike anti-Semites.

They would hate it if someone called them a racist based on something they said about blacks 10 years ago (and how many of us haven’t uttered a statement that, out of context, could be considered racist?). They would hate it even more if that person then called on their boss to fire them. But they have no problem acting in the very same manner when the offense is anti-Semitism rather than racism.

Hillel HaZaken famously said, “Don’t do unto others what you don’t want done to you.” Why are so many Jews blithely ignoring this core tenet of Judaism?

Many accuse Candace Owens of being anti-Israel. I won’t argue that she’s a great friend of the Jewish state, but she isn’t an enemy either. Enemies single out Israel for opprobrium. They highlight Israel’s “crimes” while ignoring the crimes of states like China, Ukraine, Zimbabwe, and Saudi Arabia. They consistently lie about Israel and seem determined to see its downfall. Candace doesn’t fall in this category. She comments on Israel when it’s in the news and to the extent that it relates to American affairs.

Every statement she’s made regarding Israel can be explained without assuming anti-Semitism on her part. Yet – despite everything she’s done to advance Biblical values in the West – we refuse to give her the benefit of the doubt or try to change her views. “Anti-Semite!” we reflexively shout before even considering less odious explanations of her words, making a mockery of Pirkei Avos’s advice to judge our fellow favorably.

Our behavior, though, isn’t just wrong. It’s also unwise. We Jews represent just two percent of America’s population. We can’t bully our way to safety. Our future is ultimately in the hands of G-d, but, on the human plane, it rests among the remaining 98 percent of the American population that isn’t Jewish. And if there’s one thing that half this population hates more than almost anything else, it’s cancel culture and the oppression of political correctness. Do you think this crowd looked kindly on the pressure that led to Candace’s firing?

We should also remember that the year is 2024, not 1994. Influential voices no longer need the patronage of a big TV channel or newspaper to influence people. They can work for independent outlets – or even no outlet at all. Candace Owens doesn’t need The Daily Wire. Not at this point, anyways. She already has millions of followers, and her firing won’t scare any of them away. If anything, she will gain more fans in the coming year.

So what exactly have we accomplished?

The same Rabbi Eliezer who called an evil eye the worst characteristic called “a good eye” the best characteristic. So henceforth, let’s assume the best – not the worst – of our fellow human beings (unless they have clearly and consistently proven themselves to be evil) and do away with the name-calling and canceling campaigns. If we don’t like what someone says, let’s respond to his arguments, not attack him personally.

This approach is more in line with the advice of Pirkei Avos and will ultimately foster a more amicable and philo-Semitic society.

Ed. note: The Guardian reported: [Owen] criticised US support for Israel but also mused about “political Jews” and a “very small ring of specific people who are using the fact that they are Jewish to shield themselves from any criticism,” remarks [Ben] Shapiro called “absolutely disgraceful”.

We leave it to Arutz Sheva readers to form their own opinion on the issue.

Elliot Resnick, PhD, is the former chief editor of The Jewish Press, a podcast host, and the author/editor of seven books, including most recently, “America First: The Story of Sol Bloom, the Most Powerful Jew in Congress During the Holocaust.”The opinions expressed here are his own.

Comment:  Our Mafia Media is OWNED by the Jewish Mafia who represent ONLY themselves.