When Claire Khaw refers to Jews as the "mascot of the American Empire," she's employing a metaphor to convey several interconnected ideas based on her writings and public statements up to August 2024:
1. **Symbolic Representation**: Khaw uses "mascot" to suggest that Jews have been symbolically elevated by the American Empire (interpreted here as the U.S. government and its foreign policy, especially post-World War II) to represent or embody certain values or policies. This could imply that Jews are seen as a symbol of American values like freedom, democracy, and sometimes, controversially, as a justification for American interventionism or support for Israel.
- **Neoliberalism and Neoconservatism**: She specifically links Jews to these political ideologies, suggesting that they've been made to symbolize or represent these movements, which are often associated with economic liberalism and aggressive foreign policies, respectively. This might imply that Jews are seen as the face or the justification for these policies, whether or not they universally support them.
2. **Political Leverage**: Khaw's critique might also point towards how the narrative around Jewish history, particularly the Holocaust, and the establishment of Israel, has been used politically. Here, "mascot" could imply that Jews are used as a tool for political leverage, where their history and current situation are invoked to justify certain American foreign policies, especially in the Middle East.
- **Guilt and Protection**: There's an implication that Western guilt over the Holocaust has led to a protective stance towards Jews, which Khaw might see as exaggerated or manipulated for political ends, making Jews a symbol of why certain policies or actions are justified or necessary.
3. **Cultural and Ideological Influence**: By being labeled as a mascot, Khaw might be suggesting that Jews have been culturally or ideologically positioned to represent or be at the forefront of certain American values or policies, whether this is through media, academia, or political influence. This doesn't necessarily mean all Jews or even a majority support these ideologies but that they've been made to symbolize them.
4. **Criticism of Identity Politics**: Khaw's perspective might also critique how identity politics in the U.S. has elevated certain groups, including Jews, to a status where criticism or even discussion of their role in society or politics can be fraught with accusations of antisemitism, thereby using their identity as a shield or mascot for broader political maneuvers.
5. **Historical Context**: Her mention of post-WWII American imperialism suggests a historical narrative where the U.S. took on a role from Britain in protecting Jewish interests, which she frames as making Jews a symbol or mascot of American foreign policy, particularly in relation to Israel.
**Conclusion**: Claire Khaw's use of "mascot" is layered with meanings, suggesting that Jews have been symbolically placed in a position where they represent or are used to justify certain American policies, ideologies, or cultural narratives, often without their full consent or representation of their diversity of thought. This metaphor serves her critique of how identity, history, and politics intertwine in modern geopolitics, particularly how she perceives the relationship between the U.S., Israel, and the broader Middle East.