Traditionally, hardliners have made the absurd claim that all or most criticism of Israeli policy in the Middle East is anti-Semitic, a sneaky accusation aimed at shielding the Israeli government from any criticism. It is. But even democratic governments are morally and financially problematic because they spend other people's taxes and often have little regard for the lives of non-voters (and sometimes even the lives of their voters) abroad. They often have a motive for taking a certain action. In the Gaza war, the Israeli government is making costly decisions, both in terms of lives and money. Therefore, they take actions that are likely to undermine the security and prosperity of their own people.Is it anti-Semitic to warn against such acts? The answer seems to be no.
The main definition of Semitic in the dictionary is someone who speaks any of the Semitic languages, such as Arabic, Aramaic, Assyrian, Hebrew, or other Canaanite languages. The common usage of “anti-Semitism” means prejudice against Jews. However, Judaism is a religion with believers all over the world. Zionism is a political movement that supports the creation and maintenance of the state of Israel in Palestine. Israel is a country that is 80% Jewish and 20% Arab. However, when talking about public policy, “Israel” usually refers to the Israeli government. Finally, there are more Jews living outside Israel than inside Israel, and some Jews in the diaspora do not support Zionism. Therefore, it is unreasonable to equate any criticism of the Israeli government with denigrating Judaism or Jews, regardless of where they live.
In fact, some American Jewish politicians and media figures have recently criticized the Israeli government's actions in the Gaza war. Examples include normally pro-Israel Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Sen. Bernie Sanders, and American professor and editor Peter Beinart.big Jewish stream. In a recent editorial, new york times, Beinart reported that in 2002, Democrats favored Israel over the Palestinians by a 34-point margin, but that reversed in early 2023, with the Palestinians favored by 11 points. As of November 2023, among Democrats under 35, support for Palestinians was 58 points.
Unfortunately, some of this shift in legitimate public criticism of the Israeli government has spilled over into illegal anti-Semitic behavior on university campuses. Mr. Beinart pointed out that the unwarranted and misdirected hostility toward outside actors against U.S. citizens with perceived ties to foreign organizations is an ugly American tradition. Examples include hostility toward German-Americans during World War I and violence against American Muslims after 9/11. Attacks and assaults against Asian Americans during the coronavirus pandemic. Beinart also cited research by political scientist Ayal Feinberg that found that when the Israeli government takes major military action, anti-Semitic incidents in the United States increase. This finding is particularly ironic since the Israeli government claims to protect Jews around the world.
It also comes at a time when Donald Trump, a non-Jewish former president and 2024 presidential candidate, has been criticized by many Jews for trying to define anti-Semitism. It is also ironic that a food fight has broken out, with the right wing criticizing the left wing because of Judaism. On what it means to be a good Jew, he said that Jews who voted for the Democratic Party hate Israel and their religion.
It is not anti-Semitism to criticize the Israeli government's inaction, even though it was warned a year ago of Hamas's attack plans. For telling Qatar to continue funding Hamas three weeks before the attack to prevent Palestinian unification and a two-state solution. And by falling into Hamas's trap with an excessive military response to Hamas's heinous terrorist attack on October 7, the Israeli government has killed more than 31,000 Gazans to date. , amidst overwhelming international condemnation of the possible deaths of dozens of people in the coming days. Thousands more die of hunger.
Under international law, war crimes are not justified as a response to war crimes. Some commentators argue that Israel is held to higher standards than those applied to the conduct of other bloodier civil wars, such as Sudan's civil war, and that that double standard amounts to anti-Semitism. However, Israel is an advanced democracy that is an ally of the United States. Sudan is none of those things.
American commentator David Brooks recently listed several options for the Israeli government to use instead of massively invading and flattening Gaza from the air using giant bombs over urban areas: 1) lighter Combating Hamas with more surgical strategies, 2) using targeted assassinations of Hamas' leaders (counterterrorism strategy), or 3) implementing a long-term counterinsurgency strategy. Judging that all options were scarce, he argued that the only path to peace was the complete defeat of Hamas by continuing the Israeli government's crushing of Gaza.
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But most military analysts, few of whom are likely to actually be anti-Semites, thought from the beginning that eliminating Hamas was an Israeli pipe dream. In addition to grossly underestimating the Hamas threat and admitting that Qatar continued to provide external funding to the group before the attack, the Israeli government has accused the United States of overreacting in the same way it did after 9/11. He ignored President Joe Biden's pleas not to make the same mistake. The Israeli government did not listen. Instead of taking the time to surgically target Hamas's leaders and using more rational retaliation, Hamas launched an onslaught in Gaza, killing and starving civilians and injecting future generations with steroids. and incited them to join a group that was likely to become Hamas.
Even this more targeted response should have been a stopgap measure until a one-state or two-state peace solution could be achieved. Because experts know that you can't take your life away from rebellion. Rather, eliminating rebellion requires eliminating the root cause. Even if the Israeli government reduces the rest of Gaza to rubble, it is certain to be stuck in a quagmire of counterinsurgency for many years, similar to what the United States experienced in Iraq.
