Greenberg: San Francisco Misdiagnosed Blame for Rise in Antisemitism

San Francisco’s elected officials, long-steeped in infamous progressive ideology, have repeatedly and wrongfully attributed the periodic rise in antisemitic incidents to right-wing extremism, shunning the likely culprit: left-wing activism and influence, particularly from groups like the Arab Resource and Organizing Center (AROC), the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), Soros-backed NGOs, Tides Advocacy, local labor unions, progressive teachers and myriad left-wing elected civic leaders.

Last Friday morning, San Francisco’s Jewish elected leaders, their allies, and local synagogue leadership gathered on City Hall steps for a press conference- denouncing this latest rise of antisemitism in the city, the state and across the country. Yours Truly was on hand. Present were California State Senator Scott Winer, Mayor Daniel Lurie, city Board of Supervisors president Raphael Mandelman, district attorney Booke Jenkins, SF city attorney David Chiu, rabbis and lay leaders, and a host of prominent city and civic officials.

In all, 11 people took to the microphone to denounce antisemitism, retell stories and to place blame for the acts. And that’s where the problems began. Who is responsible for hatred of Jews?

A purposeful misdiagnosis, exemplified in part by both Sen. Scott Wiener and City Attorney David Chiu’s relentless anti-Trump rhetoric, not only distorts reality of the root cause of San Francisco’s antisemitic attacks but also undermines efforts to address the scourge effectively, in a city with virtually no organized right-wing. Contrary to what Wiener and Chiu claim, white supremacy just doesn’t exist here.

Bear in mind San Francisco’s political landscape is overwhelmingly liberal, a stronghold of progressive values where right-wing groups struggle to gain traction, or gave up entirely. The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) notes some white supremacist activity elsewhere in California. Yet, officials like Senator Wiener and Mayor Daniel Lurie persist in framing antisemitism as a product of “both left and right” extremism despite local data suggesting otherwise.

City Attorney David Chiu epitomizes this misdirection. A rabid critic of President Donald Trump, Chiu frequently uses social media and public statements to portray Trump as a catalyst for hate, implying a link to antisemitism. Yet, given Trump’s record—including obvious strong support for Israel, and condemnation of antisemitism, is the exact opposite of an anti-Semitic agenda. By lazily scapegoating Trump and alleging right-wing extremism, Chiu and his peers obscure the city’s antisemitism stemming from left-wing sources.

The ADL reported a 330% spike in antisemitic incidents nationwide after October 7, 2023, many tied to anti-Israel rallies where slogans like “From the river to the sea”—implying Israel’s destruction—were chanted. AROC, a San Francisco-based group, has fueled this trend. Its executive director, Lara Kiswani, declared in 2024 that “overcoming Zionism” is essential and referenced Hamas’ October 7 attack to emulate, rhetoric critics argue incites antisemitic sentiment. AROC’s partnerships with groups like Jewish Voice for Peace, (barely Jewish in fact), amplifies this issue. Similarly, CAIR’s San Francisco Bay Area chapter, led by Zahra Billoo, has drawn criticism for targeting “Zionist synagogues” as enemies and denying Israel’s legitimacy. CAIR’s national director, Nihad Awad, faced backlash for supporting Palestinians on October 7, 2023, prompting the Biden administration to disavow CAIR.

Such groups’ influence in San Francisco’s civic and educational spaces clearly exacerbates antisemitism. In 2024, AROC and CAIR opposed SFUSD’s (our public school system) training with the American Jewish Committee, labeling it pro-Israel. The city’s Jewish families have reported antisemitic incidents in schools, as seen in Berkeley Unified School District complaints as well, join San Francisco State University and UC Berkely, where rabid left-wing, anti-Israel rhetoric creates hostile environments for impressionable youth.

San Francisco’s officials’ fixation on the right-wing ignores these local realities.

This misattribution has serious consequences. By blaming Trump or phantom right-wing groups, officials like Chiu divert attention from addressing antisemitism in progressive spaces, such as schools or activist circles. Their rhetoric polarizes communities, framing antisemitism as a left-right divide when San Francisco’s context points to left-wing extremism as the primary driver.

To truly combat antisemitism effectively, San Francisco’s officials including Scott Wiener, Daniel Lurie and David Chiu must abandon their reflexive, knee-jerk scapegoating of right-wing extremism and address the uncomfortable truth of their own democratic party’s left-wing contributions to the antisemitic environment. This includes rhetoric propagated by current New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, US Congress “Squad” members like Ilhan Omar and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and past San Francisco DA Chesa Boudin. Until then, their misdiagnosis risks letting antisemitism fester under the guise of malicious and exploitative political posturing.