Answer 1: when the alleged anti-Semite is actually defending Palestinian human rights by highlighting the oppressive, anti-Palestinian policies implemented by political Zionist parties in the state of Israel.
Answer 2: when the alleged anti-Semite is criticizing Israel’s political Zionist policies that discriminate against and overtly oppress the Palestinian people within Israel and the Occupied Territories.
Answer 3: when the alleged anti-Semite is criticizing specific actions taken by and/or specific policies advanced by a Jewish individual or a Jewish organization that intends to support and defend the anti-Palestinian policies of political Zionism in the state of Israel.
Anti-Semitism has historically been defined as belief or behavior that is hostile, discriminatory or prejudicial against Jews as a religious or ethnic group simply because they are Jews.
Sadly, since the rise of Donald Trump and the political victories of extreme right-wing groups in Europe, the vile beast of anti-Semitism appears to be growing and spreading its hateful influence. That is very, very troubling.
But another cause for sadness is the pernicious way in which political Zionism has deliberately muddied the waters through its longstanding propaganda tactics of confusing anti-Semitism with anti-Zionism.
It is no accident that Rep. Ilhan Omar is this very day (Wednesday, March 6, 2019) being reprimanded (though her name is not mentioned) on the floor of the House of Representative through a bi-partisan Resolution
condemning anti-Semitism within the halls of Congress (read the text here), at the very moment she is receiving death threats and public excoriation for her criticisms of the pro-Zionist Israel lobby in this country.
Political Zionism’s confusion of (a) conscientious antagonism against the discriminatory practices of an exclusive, ethnocratic, Jewish-only state with (b) a “belief or behavior that is hostile, discriminatory or prejudicial against Jews as a religious or ethnic group simply because they are Jews” is one of the most stone-cold, cynical exploitations of human suffering imaginable.
I’m sorry, but it’s not much different from Jack the Ripper dressing himself up as a virginal washer woman innocently roaming the London streets. Anyone perceptive enough to see through his disguise risks immediately being tackled and beaten up as one more would be rapist.
On the one hand, the mainstream victory of Zionist polemics in manipulating the terms of public debate is a remarkable achievement in public relations, deserving of the highest accolades in the halls of modern propaganda. As long as we remember that propaganda prefers to work for liars and con-men. People who stand for the truth never need propaganda’s trickery. In that respect, Josef Goebbels would be proud of what political Zionism has wrought.
On the other hand, these tactics also pave the way for government officials to strip people of their civil rights, especially the freedom of speech. We see this trend already embedded in Israel, Canada, France and the United States where bills outlawing the BDS movement as anti-Semitic are being passed faster than a crippled snail at the French Grand Prix.
Here is the million-dollar question, however: How is criticizing Israel any different than criticizing Russia, which is every pundit’s favorite punching bag nowadays? It isn’t.
How is criticizing a powerful lobbying organization that devotes itself to promoting American financial aid, arms shipments, as well as domestic and international support for the state of Israel any different than criticizing comparable organizations that do the same for China or Cuba or Kazakhstan? It isn’t.
The root of the problem is political Zionism’s successful confusion of Jewishness with Zionism in the public mind.
Unpacking that problem will require more space and time. I will have more to say about this problem, but for now please take some time to read and/or listen to the following excellent defenses of Rep. Omar and her criticisms of the Israel Lobby in America offered by two outspoken American Jews who also criticize AIPAC, Israel and political Zionism.
Who is going to call them anti-Semites?!
Well, actually, many political Zionists will call them “self-hating Jews.” But that, too, is a discussion for another post.
First, “I’m Jewish, And I Find the Hypocrisy of Republican Islamophobes Hounding Ilhan Omar Breathtaking,” in Newsweek magazine, by Rebecca Vilkomerson, Executive Director of Jewish Voice for Peace, a staunchly anti-Zionist organization.
Here is an excerpt:
“It has never been more important to be able to distinguish between the critique—even the harshest critique—of a state’s policies (Israel,) and discrimination against a people (Jews.) Israel does not represent all Jews. Not all Jews support Israel. Speaking out for Palestinian human rights and their yearning for freedom is in no way related to anti-Semitism, though the Israeli government does its best to obscure that. And yes, there are anti-Semites who support Palestinian rights. They have no place in any movement for justice, which Palestinian leaders of the movement have made very clear.”
Second, “The Democratic Party Attacks on Ilhan Omar are a Travesty,” in
The Nation magazine, by Phillis Bennis, another staunch anti-Zionist Jew.
Here is an excerpt:
“Attacks on Congresswoman Ilhan Omar are rising. One of the first Muslim women elected, Omar is also black, an African immigrant, a former refugee from Somalia, and wears her hijab in the halls of Congress. She is under attack from the leaders of her own party for anti-Semitic statements she never made, for anti-Jewish prejudice she never expressed, for hatred of Jews she doesn’t hold. And the Democratic Party leadership is considering a resolution whose early text, at least, while not mentioning Omar by name, is clearly aimed at accusing her of precisely those things, despite the fact—ignored by the Speaker of the House and other top officials—that she never said or believed any of those words.
“The most recent attacks on Representative Omar are based on her answer to a broad question about anti-Semitism during a recent town hall meeting at Busboys & Poets in Washington, DC. I was there, sitting just a few feet from Omar, asking a question during the Q&A. She never said that Jews have dual loyalty. She never expressed “prejudicial attitudes” or supported “discriminatory acts” against Jews or anyone else. And yet that is the language being proposed for a Democratic Party–sponsored resolution aimed at undermining Omar’s credibility, and likely that of Rashida Tlaib, the other Muslim woman just elected to Congress. Like Omar, Tlaib, who is Palestinian, stands forthrightly in support of Palestinian rights, against the power of the pro-Israel lobby and other lobbies that use money to influence Congress to support guns, environmental destruction, and Israeli violations of human rights—and she stands against racism and anti-Semitism.”
