March 13, 2019
Page 13
O PINION
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Criticizing Israel Isn’t Anti-Semitic
Disgusted by
critics false
claims
S arah g ertler
Weeks ago, when
the first accusations
of
anti-semitism
were being leveled
against Rep. Ilhan
Omar, I was deeply agitated.
Not long ago I saw her address
these accusations at a local town
hall. She reminded the world
that, as a Black Muslim woman
in America, she knows what hate
looks like — and spends her life
laboring against it. Her words
were clear, bold and unflinching.
When members of Congress
not only continued to gang up and
falsely smear Omar as anti-semit-
ic, but even created a House reso-
lution painting her words as hate-
ful, I wasn’t just agitated. I was
absolutely disgusted.
Omar has criticized the U.S.
government’s support for Israeli
actions that break international
law. And she’s spoken out against
the role money in politics plays in
shoring up that support.
Neither is anti-semitic.
What is anti-semitic is the ca-
by
cophony of mainstream media and
politicians saying that criticizing
U.S. policy toward the state of Is-
rael is the same as attacking Jew-
ish people.
Like most American Jew-
ish youth, I grew up know-
ing Israel. During holidays,
I sang prayers about Eretz
Yisrael, the land of Israel.
In Hebrew school, I learned
about the country’s culture,
its cities, its past prime ministers.
At my Jewish summer camp, we
started every day with the Israeli
national anthem, Hatikvah.
My image of Israel was a rosy
one. When I finally visited it in
college, I was spellbound by the
lush landscapes and sparkling cit-
ies, certain I would one day move
to this golden ancestral home my-
self.
All this emotional buildup
made it all the more sickening
when, in the years that followed,
I learned the realities of the Israeli
occupation.
The modern state of Israel was
established by Zionists — a na-
tionalist movement started by Eu-
ropean Jews with the aim of creat-
ing a “Jewish state” as a refuge for
persecuted Jews.
It’s true that Jews have faced
centuries of brutal persecution in
Europe. But the Zionists’ project
shared unmistakably European
colonialist roots.
In 1948, Israel’s war of inde-
pendence led to the Nakba, an
invasion driving 700,000 Pales-
tinians from their homes. These
Palestinians were never allowed
to return, creating a massive refu-
gee population that today numbers
over 7 million.
While I was able to travel freely
up and down Israel, the Palestin-
ians who once lived there are le-
gally barred from returning. While
I wandered the marketplaces try-
ing stews and shawarmas, Pales-
tinians in Gaza can’t afford even
the gas to cook their food because
of the Israeli blockade.
Zionism didn’t create an in-
clusive Jewish refuge either. In
fact, the diverse Mizrahi — or
Arab — Jewish population that
was already thriving in Palestine
was pushed out of Israeli society
as Ashkenazi — or European —
Jews became the elite class.
What it did create is an impe-
rialist stronghold that continues to
break international law by build-
ing settlements deeper and deeper
into Palestinian territory, giving
Jewish Israelis superior legal sta-
tus to Arab Israelis and Palestin-
ians, and attacking all who protest.
Since Israel’s origin, the U.S.
has supplied tens of billions of
dollars of military aid and ardent
political support. Congress con-
sistently ignores dozens of UN
resolutions condemning Israeli
abuses, and year after year gives
it more resources to violently op-
press impoverished Palestinians.
Pro-Israel lobbying groups’
considerable political influence
has even pushed Congress to con-
sider bills punishing Americans
who support Palestinian rights.
(Around half of all states already
have such laws.)
More broadly, they rely on vil-
lainizing critics with false claims
of antisemitism — especially
when the criticism comes from
a person of color, as we’ve seen
with Angela Davis, Marc Lamont
Hill, and Michelle Alexander be-
fore Rep. Omar.
I, along with an increasing
number of young American Jews,
want to discuss U.S. support of Is-
rael. Talking foreign policy is not
anti-semitism. What is anti-semit-
ic — always — is saying that all
Jews support violence and impe-
rialism.
Sarah Gertler is the Newman
Fellow at the Institute for Policy
Studies. Distributed by Other-
Words.org.
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