Jew-hatred was the core of Nazi ideology – an inconvenient truth scrubbed away from Anita Chabria’s Los Angeles Times Jan. 15 column.
Nazism was not merely “an authoritarian ideology that puts white men first, white women second, and everyone else below that,” which “often justifies violence” to enforce this order, as the regular columnist claimed in her piece, “Nazi-esque slogans on official government communications? Yes, that’s where we’re at.”
Group of SS officers responsible for Adolf Hitler’s protection, Nov. 22, 1938. (Colorized photo by unknown, German Federal Archives, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)
That pseudo-definition, used to argue that the Trump administration is flirting with Nazism while embracing white Christian nationalism, erases the ideology’s genocidal core—the systematic, violent eradication of Jews, Roma, and the disabled that claimed over six million lives.
Hitler dictated a rigid racial hierarchy that was not solely based on skin color: Aryan Germans at the top, followed by western, then eastern Europeans, with Jews, Roma, and the disabled at the bottom. Just above that bottom tier were Afro-Germans, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and homosexuals.
Across nearly all these categories were individuals who would be considered white by modern American standards.
This hierarchy was reflected in caloric allotments in wartime food rations. In 1941 in German-occupied Poland, Germans were allotted over 2,000 calories per day; Poles were allotted about 600-700; and Jews were allotted just 180-200.
Redefining Nazism to serve a political argument diminishes the reality of its genocidal evil.
This columnist has had no problem freely highlighting antisemitic dog whistles on the right but has consistently used qualifiers when discussing antisemitism in pro-Palestinian spaces in other articles.
In her Apr. 10, 2025, column, “Felony charges for pro-Palestinian Stanford students? Trump will love this,” Chabria warns that antisemitism claims are being weaponized to suppress pro-Palestinian protest, citing selectively quoted remarks from Cal State San Bernardino professor emeritus and extremism expert Brian Levin:
There are dishonest people who conflate passionate and heartfelt political protest to save the lives of Palestinian children, with those who are out of bounds and use undeniable symbols related to foreign terrorist groups or abject antisemitism and severe criminality. But they are the minority. And it requires merely a dose of objectivity and common sense to separate them.
In “Will Newsom’s ambitions save UCLA from giving in to Trump,” published Aug. 13, 2025, Chabria suggests “Harvard may be “on the brink of caving to the president’s demands around claims of antisemitism,” casting doubt on the existence of the hate on college campuses amid anti-Israel demonstrations.
Dog whistles like “globalize the intifada” and “long live the resistance,” are widespread at these demonstrations. They refer to the Palestinian intifadas, in which more than 1,000 Israeli civilians were murdered in suicide bombings, shootings, and stabbings.
These phrases signal support for killing Jewish Israelis and are no less Nazi-esque than any white supremacist slogan.