by David Winner
We are living in interesting times, and people are making interesting claims, 
particularly with regards to Israelis and Arabs, Jews and Muslims.
Criticism of Israel, of course, need not be antisemitic, but bona fide antisemitism is proliferating. An acquaintance’s boss (in a very progressive workplace) publicly referred to my acquaintance as “visibly Jewish” while castigating her for missing a meeting with a potential Jewish donor.
Meanwhile, it is de rigueur to accuse any American Muslim politician of terrorist associations like celebrating 9/11. Mamdani, El Sayed, Ilhan Omar… have all suffered such denunciations along with harassment and threats of violence. As a non-famous white Jew not running for office, no one cares, but, yes, I denounce any violence caused by Hezbollah, Hamas, the Moslem Brotherhood, the KKK, the JDL etc. Genuinely, I do.
Irrelevant defenses of Israel abound. Governor Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania recently responded to comments about Israeli atrocities by making the familiar point that Israel should have the right to be a Jewish state as there are several Muslim states. Okay maybe. But many Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank, I would conjecture, are less interested in the nature of the Israeli state than living comfortably and safely without physical danger and food insecurity.
Several American supporters of Israel have developed sudden concern for the way that Iran and Sudan abuse their citizens, arguing that only Israeli oppression gets focused upon. Probably true but disingenuously missing the fact that while we’re supporting Israel militarily and vetoing UN resolution after UN resolution condemning them, we’ve been busy bombing Iran and ignoring Sudan.
I shudder when yet another person defends Israel as the ostensible “only democracy in the Middle East” as it sets up a chilling Shirley Jacksonesque scenario in which people voluntarily opt to murder. Most likely Jackson’s characters from The Lottery would have voted for the sacrifice if there had been a referendum as Israel seems to have voted to keep Netanyahu in power, democracy and genocide going hand in hand.
And when reasonable people defend Palestine in larger public forums, they are so often silenced. Macklemore, an American rapper, got tossed from Ed Sheerin’s world tour for urging his audience to “Free Palestine,” and I wondered what other sort of freedoms might also be problematic to endorse, “Free Hitler,” “Free saturated fats,” “Free VD.”
I don’t see an honest way to avoid labelling Gaza genocide and the occupied territories a form of Apartheid. But all problems in the world are not caused by Israel and its Jewish supporters. Another Facebook acquaintance suggested that the women accusing former Maine gubernatorial candidate, Graham Platt, of sexual impropriety were commissioned by Israel because they didn’t like his pro-Palestinian views.
An old family friend (also on Facebook) declared that AIPAC, a powerful and malign pro-Israel lobby, is not just a major influence on Republican and Democratic party policies, which they are, but the only political and/or societal factor influencing American politics. Guns, oil, Christ, transphobia, racism, xenophobia don’t matter apparently. It’s all Israel, folks.
When a false rumor of easy European asylum led many Africans to penetrate Ceuta, the Spanish enclave in Morocco, the news spread (without evidence, of course) that the disinformation had been spread by Israel out of revenge against Spanish pro-Palestinian politics. If there’s proof of that, bring it on, but it seems as if Israeli atrocities, however horrifying, are never adequate enough to satisfy its haters. If you’re a Tampa Bay Rays fan, maybe you can find comfort in the possibility that AIPAC rigged the world series.
In my wishful quixotic imagination, the United States cuts off relations with Israel and keeps it that way until a radical solution has been agreed upon acceptable to all parties in Palestine. But given the bizarre antisemitism arising from this situation, several examples of which I’ve detailed here, I do worry for “visibly Jewish” people. The ultra-Orthodox in our neighborhood, who (judging from a friend who grew up in 70’s Queens fearing Arab bombs exploding over Corona Heights) might be made anxious and angry if we placed a “Free Palestine” sign outside of our house.
Therefore, we have no such sign. We live on a crowded street, so many more people would see our Free Palestine banner if we had one then will read this column, but nevertheless I will write it here and write it loud.
Free Palestine!