Anti-Zionism and Antisemitism Redux

The latest tragic murder of two young employees of the Israeli Embassy in DC at the Capital Jewish Museum is another episode in the ongoing debate about the relationship between anti-Zionism, anti-Israel sentiments and antisemitism. Do all acts or articulations of anti-Zionism or anti-Israel sentiments constitute antisemitism? Is it antisemitic to blame all Jews for the actions of the state of Israel?

I have already responded to the first question in “Anti-Zionism and Antisemitism
Redefined” (https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/anti-zionism-and-antisemitism-redefined/). At first blush, it would seem that the answer to the latter question is, yes. Blaming all Jews for the actions of the state of Israel is an example of guilt by association and should be considered antisemitic. But I would insist that the issue is not so simple.

Leaving out the totally disaffected Jews–those who have no affiliation or formal connection to the Jewish community–American Jews are overwhelmingly Zionists. While I have not visited every synagogue in America, I have visited many, and I would contend that there are few synagogues in America that don’t fly an Israeli flag. Walk into a Federation building, a JCC, a JCRC office, and I would bet that they all fly an Israeli flag. Indeed, I would be surprised if there were not an Israeli flag flying at the Capital Jewish Museum. We Jews are virtually all Zionists. So if the anti-Zionists link Jews with Zionism, it’s because we have created that link. Yes, there are definitely anti-Zionists who are antisemites. But it is also the case that anti-Zionists correctly associate Jews with Zionism.

It seems to me that world Jewry–both in Israel and in the Diaspora–stands on the edge of a precipice. Indeed, given the volatile political situation in the United States and in western and western orientated nations in general, the entire world stands on the edge of a precipice. So I think it is crucial for Jews everywhere to face the precarious situation which we confront with clear-eyed truth.

Much of what is currently labeled antisemitism is actually a growing anti-Zionism, a product of Israel’s actions in the Palestinian territories over the past many decades reaching a crescendo in the absolute horror of Gaza. As noted, if the world associates Israel with Jews generally it is mainly because we Jews have made the deep connection between Jews and Israel. I personally plead “guilty.” That’s right! I am an American Jew and I am an ardent Zionist. Yet, I, too, am appalled by what Israel is doing in Gaza.

Here’s another problem. The administration’s attempt to link all of Trump’s fascist efforts against peaceful protest, free speech, due process, universities in the name of combating antisemitism is a set up. Let’s face it honestly: shouting “free Palestine,” or “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” can have different meanings to different people. It can mean the destruction of Israel. In that case, I’m obviously against it. It can also mean that everyone living between the river and the sea has a right to freedom and self-determination. In that case, count me in–as a Jew, a Zionist, an American and a human being. In either case, I would insist on the right to free speech of the person or people chanting this slogan. I would insist that calling Israel to task for the horror of Gaza in a student newspaper is no pretext to summarily arrest people and deport them without due process. The end result of chalking all of this up to antisemitism and efforts to combat it is that Jews will be saddled with complicity in not only the horror of Gaza, but also with the erosion of democracy in the US.

And let’s face it. The Netanyahu government is perfectly happy to deflect the horror of Gaza by defining all anti-Zionist and anti-Israel sentiments as antisemitism. That’s just another example of the “shiny object.” Don’t look there at the 10s of thousands of dead Gazan civilians, the razed neighborhoods, the starving children. Look over here. The real problem is antisemitism.

We live in perilous times. I am getting the feeling that it is especially perilous for world Jewry. To overcome the perils, we must face them with clear-eyed honesty and truth. We must bravely stand against antisemitism and anti-Zionism, but we must do so while also dissociating ourselves and vigorously condemning the horror of Gaza and the attempt to subvert democracy in the name of combating antisemitism. To do otherwise will leave a moral stain on the Jewish people that will last decades if not centuries. It will also leave our generation of Jews in very deep water with no Nahshon to rescue us.