When is criticizing Israel not Antisemitic?

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

As a Liberal Jew, it has been hard to find the distinction.

Benjamin Paley | Managing Editor

Recent events have called into question the difference between Antisemitism and legitimate criticism of Israel.

Before I get started, I want you to know that I am Jewish. I am a proud Jew who has traveled to Israel numerous times.

I also have family in Israel. My sister made Aliyah, the Hebrew word meaning “to go up” used to refer to the return of Jews to their historic homeland — first associated with the Zionist movements started in the 1800s.

Her safety is paramount to me and my family, and we know that she is safe in Israel.

As a result, I am taken aback when certain individuals and groups focus their energy on vilifying the State of Israel for defending itself like any other country would.

For me, that is not where the argument ends. For me, the argument ends when people acknowledge that Israel is not the only country in the world that has troubling policies and practices.

Israel is a country that, like all other countries in the world, is not immune to criticism. I personally disagree with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Likud leaders for being too quick to invoke a military response. I also blame Netanyahu for allowing illegal settlements to be built because he can’t stand up to the ultra Orthodox Jewish political parties due to their support of the Likud party.

I also believe that the current Israeli government is cozying to President Trump and only listening to conservative Jewish Americans who pour millions and millions of dollars into organizations like AIPAC (The American Israel Public Affairs Committee) — such as Sheldon Adelson. AIPAC also has a large sway in Federal Elections.

In the United States, though, there a plethora of Jewish groups dedicated to various causes and issues within Israel. Some of those groups, such as J Street, have platforms that advocate for better treatment of the Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza.

But there is a line that has been crossed with movements including Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) in the United States and around the world that claim to be critical of Israel when in fact they are just blatant Antisemitism hiding behind the Palestinian plight — a plight I partially believe in.

So how can one tell the difference between legitimate criticism of Israel versus antisemitism?

Over the years, I have learned of a few tactics used by Anti Semites in their attacks against Israel. Most of this criticism dates to the very founding of the State of Israel in the 1940s.

 

1. Israel is an apartheid state that is actively attempting to eradicate the Palestinian community. This could not be any more false. Anyone who has studied world history knows that apartheid is an active and purposeful policy of a government to eradicate a specific population. Israel has no such policy. In fact, like most democracies around the world, Israel affords to all people in Israel basic rights. Even the most conservative Israelis acknowledge that they will have to work with the Palestinians to achieve peace, and that it is unrealistic and illegal to kill all the Palestinians. When the Israeli government does go in to Gaza or the West Bank, it is for a narrow military purpose and they are targeting terrorists. If civilians are killed in the process, it is due to a large propensity of Hamas putting military assets in densely populated areas, not because of an Israeli policy to commit genocide against the Palestinians.
2. Israel exists solely because the world felt bad for what the Jews went through during the holocaust. The notion of a Jewish state in what is now Israel existed long before the Nazis implemented their notorious “Final Solution to the Jewish Question.” I will acknowledge that the process of establishing Israel was expedited after the Holocaust to ensure that the Jewish people survive and their traditions live on. This attack is used to delegitimize Israel as a country, and seeks to accuse Israel of using the Holocaust to kick the indigenous Palestinians out of their land.
3. Israel’s policies are similar to the one’s used by the Nazis/ Israel is a Nazi state. To assume this is in of itself Anti Semitic. The Nazis were bent on eradicating the Jewish race and did not ant to work with the Jewish people. The State of Israel has not constructed concentration and death camps for the Palestinians, and Israel does not have a statewide policy of state sponsored discrimination against the Palestinians. Now, within Israeli society and in certain government members, there is discrimination against the Palestinians, but it is not at all similar or even close to what the Nazis did or wanted to do. Israel wants to work with the Palestinians to come to a viable solution to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.

 

So how can someone be critical of Israel without being Antisemitic?

It is easy. Simply treat Israel the same way you would treat other countries you are aware of and its policies. If Israel enacts a policy you do not like, say something, but you should be doing the same thing for other countries as well.

For example, any one who is friends with me on Facebook knows that I like and share and post a variety of articles calling on the governments of various countries for the policies that they enact. My posts concern the United States, various European countries, a number of Arab countries in the Middle East, and of course Israel. I do not only focus on Israel because to do so is unfair to them as a country. We all live on the same planet and we should all be held accountable to the same standards.

I am also aware that in the Middle East there are countries with horrendous human rights violations, but they are never discussed. The only country in the Middle East that is ever condemned for its wrong actions is Israel. I believe that goes against the purpose of criticism. If one really cared about human rights, they would be calling on every single country in the world that violates human rights — for example, the United States right now with its policy of separating children from their parents at the border.