I had an interesting run-in with a person from International Answer after a large anti-Occupation demonstration here in San Francisco a couple of years ago. It was at a now-closed Arab restaurant in the Mission, where my wife and I were standing in line waiting to order falafel.
This person, a middle aged English tourist wearing an Israel out of Palestine tee-shirt, noticed that the man standing in front of us had an Israeli accent as he ordered his food. She started saying "Shame on you, you Jews are criminals for what you're doing in the West Bank."
The guy turned around looking totally surprised and said "Maybe you could address me not as a Jew but as an Israeli, and then we could have a civil conversation about what my government is doing wrong to the Palestinians, which I happen to agree with you about."
The English person proceed to tear into the guy, saying she had every right to address him as a Jew, because it was the Jewish religion and Jewish racism that were the problem, and that all the Israeli government was doing was expressing that disposition on the part of world Jewry.
This is why when Left-wing Jews argue that at times there are elements of anti-Semitism in progressive criticisms of Israel, it can be true. I can't tell you how many times I've heard similarly reductionist and racist stereotyping from fellow comrades, and it can be really dispiriting to have to deal with.
I totally agree that many of my fellow Jews and Israelis - particularly neo-conservatives - pull the anti-Semitism card out to the point that it almost becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. I also agree that these people have made it impossible to decry actually existing anti-Semitism. And I also agree with Norman Finkelstein's position that if anything is going to help renew anti-Semitism in the Diaspora, its Israeli foreign policy. This is an example.
Best, Joel
On Sep 2, 2006, at 8:41 PM, joanna wrote:
> So, if someone criticizes Israel's policies and conduct in
> Palestine, how can you tell whether they're anti-semitic or not?
> This is not a rhetorical question.
>
> Also, why are Zionists never charged with anti-semitism even though
> they regularly call the semites in the middle east cockroaches and
> vermin...and treat them as such?
>
> Joanna
>
> Angelus Novus wrote:
>> --- "Michael J. Smith" <mjs at smithbowen.net> wrote:
>>> Oh please. How many times does the mischievous shepherd boy have
>>> to cry "wolf" before the villagers stop running into the field,
>>> pitchforks at the ready?
>> No, of course there's no anti-semitism. That's why the Left spends
>> all of its time discussing Darfur, and nobody ever says anything
>> about Israel/Palestine.
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