QUIT GIVING A FREE PASS TO ANTISEMITES

WE NEED A LINE IN THE SAND: YOU CAN’T SUPPORT JEWS WITHOUT SUPPORTING ISRAEL.

Get it now?

Jews, Israelis, Zionists and their allies have given our enemies a free pass for too long. We have let them set the terms of the debate. This is true in numerous ways that I will address in future. (We are almost always on the defensive. That’s why my Substack goes on the offense. In case you haven’t noticed.) But the primary way we have done this is by allowing them an almost free hand to assault Israel in the most extreme ways while we equivocate over whether their actions are, or are not, products of racial resentment.

As I wrote in my previous post (I said this would be my next one, but I slid in the text of my speech to the hostages rally Sunday), we have allowed the fight against antisemitism to be undermined by providing an out to even the most obvious haters to insist that their apoplectic attacks on Israel are mere political commentary, not racist animosity.

Critics say that Jews and Zionists “smear” them with “false allegations” of antisemitism. Let’s say that were true.

Even then: Which is worse — the existence of racism? Or the possibility that you are being inaccurately depicted?

Let’s say you utter (what you consider) some mild criticism of Israel. An interlocutor accuses you of being antisemitic. So you go full-on victim and jump right to a conspiracy theory that The Powerful Jews are silencing what you can say or think. See how that might undermine your argument a tad?

But maybe we can tone the example down a little. You are sure that your criticism of Israel is legitimate, fair and not influenced by inherent biases about Jews. And let’s say it is. If, then, you are wrongly accused of antisemitism, is it not more constructive to explain yourself?

Would your assertion that you are not motivated by racism not carry a bit more weight if you didn’t get so defensive and instead defended your argument with rational arguments and evidence — rather than instantly going on the offensive and accusing others of ill will, of defaming you?

If defending your arguments rationally is such a challenge, maybe you should reconsider your motivations.

But here is the bigger issue: In a world where antisemitism is undeniably running rampant, you demonstrate more concern for the possibility that your character has been mildly besmirched (by someone whose opinions you clearly have no respect for in the first place) than you do for the resurgence of a particularly virulent form of hatred.

Even if you are not antisemitic in this (or any other) example, if you can’t even expend the energy to acknowledge why some people might be (in your mind) a little touchy about the potential, you don’t seem to demonstrate much concern for the bigger picture. It isn’t always about you, you know.

If you cannot even be bothered to expend a few calories explaining your intent to reassure Jews that you bear no racial animosity to them, I think your dismissal of their concerns — whether you think their concerns are bunkum or not — is itself a sign of something disrespectful. In other words, if you demonstrate more concern about a perceived slight against yourself than about a global conflagration of a hatred that anyone with a sense of history knows is a hugely hazardous force, I think that is as big a problem as your original transgression (even if, as you insist, you didn’t transgress in the first place).

As I have written before, the absolute least we should be able to expect is an acknowledgement, a disclaimer, along the lines of, “I recognize that antisemitism has an enormously long history and can manifest in complex and unknowable ways. Conscious of this reality, I think …”

If this is too much effort — if you think this is a plot by the Jews to “silence” criticism of Israel — well, you are not the antiracist person you think you are. Because this is the sort of proviso you would be comfortable making anytime your conversation turned to an area where misunderstandings might come into play. On race, gender, orientation or any other difference, you would not get your back up by acknowledging that, say, immigration policy can be influenced by racism, so you devote a little more care to explaining why your position is reasonable and thoughtful. You would do that around any other group or topic.

Except Jews.

Only in this instance do self-described progressive, antiracist people react with this level of defensive aggression.

Instead of even a symbolic level of introspection, they respond with “Anti-Zionism is not antisemitism!”

So, by their very actions, “critics of Israel” very often disprove their own innocence.

Actions speak far louder than words.

But let’s step back.

“Anti-Zionism is not antisemitism” — the problems with this formulation are manifold.

Anti-Zionism is not “criticism of Israel.” It is the belief that Jews have no right to national self-determination. So if you support the right of self-determination for all people — especially Palestinians — but not for Jews, the shoe fits.

To claim you have no animosity toward Jews but you just oppose their right to national self-determination is utterly specious. It is sort of like saying you have no problem with The Gays as long as they act straight in public. Or you support Indigenous reconciliation as long as those people abandon their old ways and integrate into our society. Or you support unions but think they should not be allowed to strike. Or you support women’s equality — except their right to vote. Yes, it is just this ridiculous. (I know there is an argument that Jews are not a “race” or a “nation” and so do not deserve a country. This demonstrates your ignorance. It is not your right to define another people. Read this.)

And just because your friend David is an anti-Zionist Jew does not grant you dispensation to deny the Jewish people the right to self-determination. David is an outlier, outnumbered about 9-to-1 by Jews who do support Israel, so your tokenism is a slap in the face to almost all Jews. Do you have a gay friend who opposes marriage equality, too? Do you use an idiot like that to justify your stupid positions?

But even if you sidestep these rhetorical and moral landmines, if you insist you are not “anti-Zionist,” just “critical of Israel,” you probably still don’t get it.

First of all, the people who are expressing this probably overwhelmingly self-identify as progressive and antiracist. And yet, this approach to Jews — absolute denial that even the most unconscious bias could play a role in their worldview — is a position they would take with no other people on earth. So there’s that.

The more salient point is that it ignores the kind of antisemitism we are talking about. Overt, “We hate Jews” antisemitism exists. But all decent people recognize and condemn it. The kind of antisemitism that is rampant in the anti-Zionist movement is more subtle and insidious. It is a web of assumptions, biases and prejudices about Jews that get projected onto Israel, so that, when we hear the most incendiary, incredible allegations against the Jewish state, we may be inclined to believe them because, somewhere deep in our subconscious, we have an inclination to believe such accusations against those people. (If you deny you carry these subconscious biases, trust me, you carry them.)

Finally, and even more subtly, is the simple lack of understanding about what Israel means to Jewish people.

Israel means different things to every Jew. Yes, for many, it is a religious connection — and just because you are an atheist does not negate their validity.

For others, it is a potential refuge of last resort — and just because you think that is a sign of Jewish paranoia and oversensitivity does not negate this reality. In fact, it shines a light again on your deeply problematic thinking. A step further: your crazed condemnations of Israel and your nonchalance about the pandemic of antisemitism is proving to many Jews that this refuge may indeed be a refuge, if not for them then for their children or grandchildren.

For others, it is an emotional, familial, historical, experiential, cultural or any of a million other connections.

For almost any Jew who understands history or has any affinity to their culture, Israel is a source of profound connection and pride, a modern miracle created by a profoundly resilient people in the aftermath not only of the Holocaust but of 2,000 years of victimization and attempted genocide.

So your continued victimization, whether you view it as such or not, resonates deeply with most Jews.

When you spit on Israel, you spit on them — whether you intend to or not. Whether you think that is antisemitic or, as you seem to, you think Jews are employing their experiences with discrimination to shut you up. (A little narcissistic, too, you may be,)

Here is the bottom line: The existence of the State of Israel, for the vast majority of Jewish people, is an inextricably central part of their Judaism. Whether you like it or not. Whether you think that is reasonable or not. Whether you view that as tribal mentality, ethnonationalism, racism or whatever smears you want to throw — or not.

Zionism is Jewishness in practice.

And you can’t support Jews without supporting Israel.

By equivocating on this — by acknowledging that, OK, he doesn’t think Israel should exist but he is OK with Jews existing — Jews, Zionists and their allies have lowered the bar and given antisemitism a free pass.

I’ll be writing more about this. Damn right I will.

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