To my fellow Arabs: Yes, anti-Zionism is antisemitism

I am not addressing this to hard-core Arab antisemites, who I think are in the minority.  I am addressing it to the Arabs who are not fundamentally antisemitic, but who have not rid themselves of the old baggage of antisemitism that makes them blame everything on Jews and Israel.

I am addressing this to Arabs who are familiar with Western culture and who may even know Jews personally.  These Arabs know that Jews do not grow horns.  They know that Jews do not drink the blood of Arab children.  They know that Jews are human beings like them, and they often even look like them and talk like them.

To these Arabs, I say: Is it not time to stop the charade?  Is it not time to admit that hating Israel is exactly the same as hating Jews?  Is it not time to stop deflecting the reality of antisemitism by playing dumb about the meaning of the word?

When you express concerns about Palestinian refugees who have been living in camps for generations, you are right, and that is not antisemitic.  But when you refuse to accept any Arab responsibility, and when you place all your bets on flooding Israel with Palestinians, then you are an antisemite.

When you mourn the death and the destruction in Gaza, you are just being human.  But when you make false claims of genocide, and when you refuse to attribute any fault to Arab terrorists, then you are an antisemite.

When you question the wisdom of continued Israeli construction on land that is destined to be part of a future Palestinian state, you are right.  But when you blame everything on Israel and nothing on the stubborn refusal of Palestinian leaders to accept any solution presented to them or on the continued terrorist attacks that threaten the security of every Israeli, then you are an antisemite.

I could go and on, but I think that deep down you know very well what I mean.  You know that hating Israel is just an excuse and a distraction from the horrendous Arab failures of the past and present.  You know that the conflict with Israel was born from antisemitism and will only be resolved through an end to antisemitism.

When the loathsome “comedian” Dieudonné promotes hate against Jews, it may make you feel superior.  It may make you feel that you have won over the West, but make no mistake.  The West will not return to the old antisemitism, and if you refuse to change, you will be the pariah, not the Jews.

Even in France, which recently voted at the UN Security Council to recognize Palestine against the wishes of Israel, the old antisemitism will not pass.  The West will not let itself be dragged back into the days when Jews were packed in trains by the thousands and sent to die.

France’s Prime Minister made this abundantly clear after the recent terrorist attacks when he said, “There is a historical antisemitism that goes back centuries. There is also a new antisemitism that is born in our neighborhoods, coming through the internet, satellite dishes, against the backdrop of loathing of the State of Israel, which advocates hatred of the Jews and all the Jews. […] How can we accept that when a child is asked, ‘who is your enemy,’ the response is ‘the Jew?’  When the Jews of France are attacked, France is attacked, the conscience of humanity is attacked. Let us never forget that. […] Let us never pass over these matters in silence, and let justice be implacable with those who preach hate.”

The West does not like to admit openly that anti-Zionism is antisemitism, but that fact is still very well know and very well understood, especially at the high levels of government.  If you maintain your antisemitism, you will find yourself on a dead-end.  Because of you, all Arabs and Muslims will be vilified.  If you move your fight against Jews to the West, you will lose.

Violent antisemites like Hamas and Hezbullah are beyond hope, and they must be marginalized or eradicated, but you have the power to change history.  If you care at all about the future of your own children and the future of the children of your Arab brothers and sisters, you need to act now.  Embrace the right of Israel to exist as a Jewish state, and make your peace with your Jewish brothers and sisters.  Do not wait another day.