The New Antisemitism
I was born in1949 - just after WW2 and the Holocaust. I grew up in a world where antisemitism was associated with Nazis and various fascist groups. There were Holocaust deniers like David Irving who was denied entry to Canada because of his blatant Holocaust denial .He was antisemetic in my view, Lots of people still think like him.
I recall the war in 1967 when Israel was attacked by many Arab neighbors at once and Israel heroically triumphed. I cheered. I remember reading in the news at the time that Jewish settlers had made the desert bloom as a justification for taking land from Palestians. Turns out that the Palestinians were making the desert bloom by growing plants that prosper in the desert like olives. The settlers preferred water intensive crops like oranges.
When I was first thinking about Israel long ago I was sympathetic to the idea of a Jewish homeland - a place of their own where they weren't subject to pograms and holocausts. The movement pre-dated the Nazis. After WW2 it had a lot of backing. The democratic Jews were standing up to the autocratic Arabs. The trope is still used today. I had a good friend at school - Gary Zatzman. Gary was singled out and as a pseudo friendly gesture was offered an exploding cigarette. I met him soon after - he was stunned and his nose was black. That's antisemitism to me. Antisemitism is unreasonable hatred of people just because they are Jewish.
That was in 1967 when the Holocaust was fresh in social memory as an open sore
A good friend of mine once told a story about Israel from 1949 when his British Dad was stationed with the UN in Israel trying to keep the Zionists and Palestinians apart. The Zionists were terrorists. They'd assassinate somebody and then booby trap the body to kill first responders. Out of that sort of mess the state of Israel evolved.
I know that Europeans took over territory all over the world that was occupied already and subjugated the residents. The zionist project may be the last such invasion.
I hope you notice the distinction between Zionists and Jews here. Jews are another religion among many that I get along with in peace. How would a Palestinian get along with a zionist who burns their home and cuts them off from their orchard. That's apart from the huge crime of forcing Palestinians into Gaza and then wrecking the place.
Let me be plain here - Zionism is not being Jewish - Zionism is a movement among some Jews. Criticizing Zionism is not antisemetic.
I've read the Zionist cry that criticizing them represents a double standard - that they are held to a standard that nobody else is held to. That is a lie basically. I, at least, condemn any country that treats people like the zionists treat the Palestinians.
I must admit that the stories I've read about how orthodox jews in Israel are not a good look. I've read of them spitting on little girls going to school because they disapprove of their dress.
Settlers burning what Palestinian villages are left is not a good look either.
It is the zionists who are bring Jews into disrepute by being so bad and claiming the mantle of Jewism as a defense. They are the ones creating antisemitic feelings by being so bad and saying that that is Jews speaking. Nobody who is good can support them. That's not antisemetic. It is facing up to reality
I have to admit that after 100 years of strife in Palestine that both sides have now committed many atrocities. I see no easy way out.
What do you think?
I open the floor
I present regular philosophy discussions in a virtual reality called Second Life.
I set a topic and people come as avatars and sit around a virtual table to discuss it.
Each week I write a short essay to set the topic.
I show a selection of them here.