EVERYONE KNOWS WHAT CONSTITUTES “ANTI-SEMITISM.”
Yes ◻ No ◻
Perhaps the statement should be: Everyone THINKS they know what constitutes “anti-Semitism.”
IS IT “ANTI-SEMITIC” to criticize Israel? Israeli Jews do it all the time, even so-called “orthodox” Jews have issues with modern Israel and its government.
As with most criticisms, it is wise to have an answer to a situation other than “throw out the bast*rds.
Is it “anti-Semitic to criticize a Jew?
Jews criticize Jews all the time. If you consider Bernie Sanders a Jew, then politically conservative Jews almost constantly criticize the man. Politically conservative Jews are quick to criticize politically liberal Jews, i.e., Democrats. Most do NOT, however, refer to the others as “nazis” or racists, but it has been known to be said by leftists, both Jewish and non-Jewish..
Jews are not exactly xeonophobic, but sometimes . . .
Black hats look with disdain on clean-shaven and kippa-less Jews who look at bearded, kippa-wearing and tzit-tzit dangling Jews as “extremists.”
There ARE some crazies among us — the harideem who stand along a roadside on Shabat and throw rocks at passing vehicles and those who strung a chain across a major Bnai Brak thoroughfare sans warning; the chain decapitated a scooter driver on Shabat.
These are Muslim tactics and they are rare among most Jews in Israel and elsewhere.
There is much to criticize in Israel. Not all Jews are treated fairly; nor are all Israeli Arabs.
Legal immigrant integration
New legal immigrants are not as quickly integrated into society as possible; read: As quickly as leftists would like.
To be fair — but who wants to be fair? — there are new immigrant integration issues everywhere. But what other country makes as much of an effort to integrate legal immigrants as Israel? (Personal experience.)1
Netanyahu seems, or perhaps now “seemed,” to be “King for Life,” taking cabinet positions (“portfolios”) for himself if the incumbent displeased him.
Is criticizing Netanyahu either anti-Semitic or anti-Israel or even anti-Likud? Today’s Likud is hardly Begin’s Likud.
Is it anti-American to criticize President Trump? The Democrats and other leftists have been doing that, relentlessly, since Trump took office.
Is it anti-American to criticize laws passed that impact one group’s rights in favor of another? Hardly.
Do Muslims complain of discrimination in the U.S.? Silly question. Muslims complain of discrimination everywhere that they are less than a majority.
Yet, there are many Muslims in Israel who prefer Israel to life in PLO or Hamas-controlled areas.
Two — or three — state solution
Is it anti-anything if a person is for — or against — a “two state solution?” How about a three state solution: Israel, Jordan,, and Egypt. It might work except that Egypt won’t absorb Gaza with its Hamas/Islamic Jihad crazies and Jordan has all the “Palestinians” it can suffer. Gaza once was part of Egypt and the so-called “West Bank” was controlled by Jordan, “back in the day.”
When “Palestine” was ruled from Amman, there was no talk of a state independent of Jordan. Likewise, does anyone recall the residents of Gaza seeking independence from Egypt?
That, of course, is conveniently forgotten. Likewise forgotten is that the PLO’s first leader (Mohammed Yasser Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf Arafat al-Qudwa al-Hussein2 ) was not “Palestinian” or even Jordanian, but Egyptian.
Also forgotten is the time when Lebanon “shared” Mt. Hermon and shelled Israeli civilians or the Katusha’s from Lebanon that fell on Zefat. (Personal experience.)
Critics can’t see own image
Perhaps the most interesting thing about the folks who criticize Israel is their blindness to all other countries less than ideal Human Rights practices.
One major talking point on which the anti-Israel groups harp is Israel’s so-called “occupation” of “Arab” lands.
Consider for a moment that no matter where an American lives in the U.S., he or she is on land taken — usually by force of arms — from the indigenous population, a population, incidentally, that was warehoused in ghettos, a/k/a reservations. America’s treatment of American Indians was far worse than anything Israel has done to Muslims.
The same applies for most countries. Russia recently took Crimea from the Ukraine as the world watched — and did nothing.
Ah, but Russia is not Israel.
Is it anti-Russian to remind the Russian government that it “stole” the Crimea?
Who does BDS hurt?
The anti-Israel folks who promote Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel hurt the people (residents of PLO areas) more than they hurt Israel.
They drove out Soda Stream, a company that employed Muslims from the so-called West Bank and paid them at the same rate as Jews. Sans Soda Stream, the former employees are financially worse off. (Arabs in southern Israel gained from the BDS effort; THEY now have jobs their kin in the north lost.)
Israel is training PLO-area residents in high tech so they can improve their communities’ economies.
BDS’ raison d'être, no less than Iran’s, is to destroy Israel.
If it did, the UN would have to close out at least two “Palestinian-specific” welfare programs: United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and United Nations Development Programme's Programme of Assistance to the Palestinian People.
Gaza, incidentally, with cooperation from the Israeli government, is shipping record amounts of strawberries to England as well as to the PLO territories.
When Israel, under Ariel Sharon, forced Jewish farmers out of Gaza in 2005, the Muslims destroyed most of the greenhouses and infrastructure left by the departing Jews. It has taken more than a decade of foreign funding to restore what was destroyed in 2005.
Bottom line
The bottom line is that most of the people who are anti-Israel have no first hand experience with Israel, Gaza, or the PLO-controlled areas. This includes the anti-Israel representatives in the U.S. House who, despite Israel allowing them entry to the PLO areas, declined the opportunity.3
People who DO know first hand what goes on in Israel can criticize the country’s government — but not the people; they are as diverse as the people in the U.S. — after taking a look at their own history and after looking at other countries around the globe.
People also can criticize Jews for being “clannish” or a bit “xenophobic” — and why not, given the centuries of persecution for their belief or ancestry — but tarring all Jews with the same broad brush is a sign or ignorance.
The true anti-Jew — Arabs also are Semites so “anti-Semite” is not accurate unless these people also hate Arabs — DOES know a Jew is a Jew is a Jew, regardless of level of observance, where the person lives, what he or she eats (or avoids), or with what political party the person affiliates (e.g., Democrat=Good Jew, Republican=Bad Jew — or maybe it is the other way around).
Ignorance.
The hallmark of a bigot.
Sources
1. Immigration: https://tinyurl.com/t5vgtmz
2. PLO leader: https://tinyurl.com/rrk2cdh
3. Rep. Tlaib: https://tinyurl.com/y6obleb2
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