You want to question Israel? Fine, by all means. But do it without lies and antisemitic rhetoric. Unfortunately, so much of that is being propagated by terrorist groups that even the most good natured of people can fall for it. Learn your history, look at facts, understand the circumstances and then question whatever you want. But when someone has no other argument than continuously accusing Israel of being “racist” without obviously having a single shred of knowledge and understanding about the history, facts and reality, then what do you suppose that person is? Where does that hostility come from? Certainly not from any actual reasons.
And what about the double standard? Russia can invade a country, commit the most atrocious of war crimes and the world just gets over it or just go yeah, yeah, that Putin is awful”. Give him a slap in the wrist- and then let’s go back to check what Israel is doing so we can condemn it some more. Israel defends itself and it’s the UN bashing it, wrongful accusations of apartheid and ethnic cleansing, and the vilifying of not only the government, but the whole country AND Jews around the world. Even here I saw someone who I’m sure strongly supports sanctions against Israel for “war crimes” say that Russia shouldn’t get any because the poor Russian people, it’s not their fault.
So how can it be anything else when the “criticism” of Israel takes such unique form that no other country faces? What makes Israel unique that it’s treated so unequally and frankly, unfairly?
And OMG, YES! Judaism is VERY intertwined with Israel. Totally, 100%. That’s like asking if the Vatican is so intertwined with Catholicism that any criticism of it means criticizing Catholics. Israel is the ONLY Jewish country in the world, the ONE place where Jews can have safety and self determination. Antisemites have vilified the world “Zionism” so much that some ignorant and misguided Jews have fallen for it. It’s a very small minority, though. Survey around the U.S show that about 90% of Jews identify as Zionists. There are others, like Neturei Karta that are anti Israel for religious reasons. But Zionism simply means that Jews should have a country where they can have that self determination in their ancestral land. That’s all. If you’re an anti Zionist, then you’re against Jews having their country in that land. And many people, including some Jews that are very disconnected with their Judaism take it to mean being in favor of unjustified mistreatment of Palestinians. That’s not it. I’m a hard core Zionist, my uncle was head of the World Zionist Organization and I’m against any unjustified mistreatment towards anyone- including Palestinians. And I can guarantee, so was he. I have friends that are ultra Zionists, and they’ll be the first ones to talk against Netanyahu and criticize settlements. Those are current political issues, that’s not the core of it. If you’re anti Zionist you’re against a Jewish state in that land. Are you against Zionism then?
And regarding your article, it’s simply an opinion piece and I personally think that a lot of that opinion is flawed. He may make some points worth pondering, but ultimately I see him missing the big picture, the largest issue. He’s pushing aside that the “questioning” of Israel always and inevitably brings about antisemitism all around the world. So obviously, this alleged “criticism” is being used a lot as a shield to justify antisemitism. Like the OP in this post. Is it always? Maybe not. But I’m yet to find one of these Israel “critics” be consistent when criticizing other countries. Now why would that be…? Are you seriously telling me that Israel has done worse than other countries? Has been especially violent and despicable? Because for starters, that’s not true. And that would be the only valid reason to judge Israel more harshly than other countries. Sign #1 that the “questioning” isn’t that noble and unbiased. And have you, or the writer of that article ever questioned what’s so unique about antisemitism too? Because it is quite unique. The oldest continuing irrational hatred in history.
And ultimately, after fighting Antisemitism for so long, you learn to distinguish between legitimate criticism, good natured but misguided people and antisemites using “criticism of Israel” as a shield. At some point, the signals are too obvious that you can easily differentiate between the 3. You learn to distinguish who is legitimately questioning specific actions, who is simply ignorant but has their heart in the right place and who is just acting out of hatred and disguising it.
WellPreserved wrote: ↑Wed May 24, 2023 8:13 pm I feel that if we are not allowed to question Israel without being accused of anti-semitism, then we have lost the plot. There are plenty of Jews and Gentiles who are anti-zionists and they should not be written off as anti-semites as it does disservice to both. Is the Jewish religion so intwined with Israel, that any criticism of Israel becomes anti-semitic?
https://www.theguardian.com/news/2019/m ... ntisemitic