Anti-Zionism vs. Antisemitism
Some of you, who are reading this, will know the difference and are reading this to, sort of, check me and make sure I’m not lying to people. Some of you, unfortunately, may be reading this with a drop of drool forming in the corner of your mouth, anticipating something that degrades Jews, because you believe that all Jews are involved in a global Illuminati conspiracy to enslave humanity and enrich themselves. Still others will truly not understand the difference, believing that any word against Israel or any Jewish leader, is in nature, antisemitic. And I do hope you continue reading, because it is you who I am hoping to reach.
To start, let me tell you a bit about myself. I am Jewish, 100% (as far as I know), Sephardic. My parents split up when I was about three months old, my mother re-marrying early. Her second husband raised me as his own son, and he is the one that I call Dad. My biological father has olive skin, like me, but I’ve only seen him a handful of times in my 49 years. So both of my parents actually have white skin. For years, I was convinced I was adopted. I was, of course, by my Dad, but I was pretty sure my Mom couldn’t be my Mom either. I was also raised non-religiously, so I was very confused, being a “white” guy who wasn’t really white and a Jew, who wasn’t really Jewish.
Why am I telling you this? I wanted you to understand that I am not coming at this article from an antisemitic point of view, but perhaps it is also important to note that I come at this from a very different perspective than many Jews, as sort of an outsider who is also an insider. And I do not take this article lightly. This is something I have struggled with for years- how to express dissent without Zionist family members being offended. And yet, if we do not question authority, question our leaders, then leaders invariably run amok. Questioning is actually built into the essence of what it means to be Jewish. I can’t help it.
The belief that I expressed above, that all Jews are involved in a global Illuminati conspiracy to enslave humanity and enrich themselves, this is classic antisemitism. And I can tell you, from first hand experience, that not all Jews are wealthy. Not all Jews are even good at saving money. I know I’m not. The stereotype of a Jewish banker is just that: a stereotype. Now, it is true that most stereotypes do have a basis in reality. If you look for something, eventually you will find it.
There are Jews that are wealthy, there are Jews in banking. There are also people of other nationalities. Jeff Bezos, born Jeff Jorgenson, descends from Scandinavia. I’m sure there are many other very wealthy Scandinavians. If I were predisposed to believe in a conspiracy of Scandinavian elites, I might seek out the names of those elites so that I could point to them and say “Look how many of the elites are Scandinavian.” And I think I have just made a point of the silliness of antisemitism. There is no Scandinavian conspiracy. That would be absurd! And yet, many people do believe in such a conspiracy of Jews.
I had a very brief discussion with someone the other day, who honestly believed that all Israelis have sex slaves. Obviously, I couldn’t reason with this person, so I moved on, but the reality is that governments, through the differing treatment of groups of people, whatever the basis, CREATE division. And such division causes people who have been marginalized to look for someone to blame.
A friend sent me a video clip, 2 or 3 days ago, of a 15 minute monologue from FOX News host Carson Tucker. I am very much a progressive, and not at all a fan of mainstream media, much less FOX News, but I watched it. I have heard Tucker say some pretty right-on things before. One of the things he said that really struck a chord was that “When a parent treats one of their children better than the other, the children don’t hate the parent, they hate each other”.
And it is the same with marginalized people, people who struggle- they look for someone to blame for their woes. It is human nature. Most of us blame government, but we all know that politicians’ behaviors are dictated by their wealthy donors. For some, it is a natural conclusion that these donors are Jews.
Now here’s the slap in the face: they’re not all wrong. A conspiracy of Jews is, well, stupid. But the reality is that the Israeli lobby groups AIPAC (American Israeli Public Affairs Committee) is one of the strongest, most powerful lobbies in Washington D.C. And being that strong and powerful means, of course, that they are very well funded, and that AIPAC does give a lot of money to U.S. politicians. And the reality is that when a lobby group (or a corporation) gives money to a politician, they expect something in return for that money. AIPAC’s mission statement says: “ The mission of AIPAC is to strengthen, protect and promote the U.S.-Israel relationship in ways that enhance the security of the United States and Israel.”[1]
We, as Americans, do need to be able to address this. Addressing this is not antisemitic. There are lobby groups in Washington D.C.- groups that represent American interests- that have far less power than AIPAC. Is it right that Israel gives money to enhance the security of the Israel? To be perfectly fair, there is also a Rwandan lobby[2], a Russian lobby[3], a British lobby[4], an Indian lobby[5], even a Swiss lobby[6]. “International interference” in our political system is built into our political system.
So the fact that Israel does influence our elections isn’t a problem, in and of itself. What I take issue with, and what many people take issue with, is how much influence Israel is able to wield. AIPAC is, without question, one of the strongest lobby groups in Washington. That leaves many Americans wondering what Israel is getting for its money. For instance, the United States, under George W. Bush began funding terror groups in Syria[7], with the intent of destabilizing the al Assad regime. Under Barack Obama, we invaded. Why? Syria was never a threat to the United States, nor had they ever so much as threatened us. There’s not even a lot of oil in Syria. Could this decision have been influenced by AIPAC? Quite possibly. And expressing this should not be labeled antisemitism. Questioning these things is what we are supposed to do.
At this point, let’s define Zionism, so that we have an accurate idea of what anti-Zionism means. Jewish Virtual Library says “Its general definition means the national movement for the return of the Jewish people to their homeland and the resumption of Jewish sovereignty in the Land of Israel. Since the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, Zionism has come to include the movement for the development of the State of Israel and the protection of the Jewish nation in Israel through support for the Israel Defense Forces.”[8]
My experience, speaking with a great many Zionists, including friends and family, is that many Zionists believe that every Muslim seeks to destroy every Jew, and coming from that perspective, feels justified in making war on just about any country in the middle east. I have even asked about Malaysian Muslims, because Malaysia is far from Israel, and been told that Malaysian Muslims feel the same, in solidarity with Arab Muslims. Full disclosure: I have never, in my life, to the best of my knowledge had a conversation with a Malaysian Muslim. Some of them may very well feel that way.
The Zionists out there will tell those of you who are not Jews that you don’t understand the very long history of antisemitism and the struggle that Jews have had, and in that I do somewhat agree. As a Jew, I’ve taken a special interest in learning these things, but many of you who are not Jewish may not be aware of how Jews were treated in Russia during the 20th century[9], or how the Spanish Inquisition was for Jews[10]. You probably have never thought about the portrayal of Shylock, by Shakespeare, in The Merchant Of Venice[11], how Wagner hated Jews[12], that the Obama-installed president of Ukraine is a neo-nazi[13], or how countries such as France, Austria or Poland still have fairly large numbers of people who despise Jews[13][14][15].
This is all true. But the instance of antisemitism that has had an indelible effect on the hearts of Jews everywhere, even those of us who weren’t even born at the time, is the most grievous instance of antisemitism in history- the Holocaust. Most everyone knows that 6 millions Jews were murdered, often locked in concentration camps where they were worked to death or gassed, naked, in groups. It has seemed to me that most Americans believe that that was why our country fought in World War II, but in fact, our country didn’t lift a finger until the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor on Dec 7, 1941. In fact, many Americans continued to do business with the Nazis, even as they were committing their crimes[16]. In fact, England had some disturbing connections, too[17]. In 1939, England turned back a ship of escaping Jewish refugees[18]. In France, too, “Vichy went above and beyond what the Germans asked it to do because it hoped to stave off German intervention in French domestic affairs”, according to Chris Millington, senior lecturer at Swansea University in Wales and an expert in twentieth-century French and European history[19].
And so it is with this lens of persecution from all sides, with no allies, that Zionists seem to see the world as it relates to Israel. A Zionist believes that Israel should be controlled by Jews, because it is our ancestral homeland, going back thousands of years, but is not empathetic at all to the people who have been living on that land ever since the Roman destruction of Israel almost 2000 years ago, up until the re-creation of Israel in 1948.
The Israel/Palestine issue is a complicated one, indeed. An indigenous peoples returning to their sacred homeland after so long is singularly unique in world history. And it has been further complicated by violent Palestinian groups like Hamas, to be sure, and corruption in Palestinian leadership. But Israeli treatment of Palestinians has been, to many, appalling. The destruction of Palestinian homes and the construction of Jewish ones, the open air prison that is Gaza, the fatal shooting of people for throwing rocks, arresting and imprisoning a Palestinian teenage girl for 8 months for slapping a soldier that shot her cousin- these, to many, would be described as human rights abuses. And to say so isn’t antisemitic, but it IS anti-Zionist.
Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel for the past 10 years (and 4 years non-consecutively) has presided over an Israel that has systematically subjugated and brutalized Palestinians. Now, it is extremely important to specify that not all Jews have supported this Israeli apartheid. Many Jews have protested, tried to help, even been jailed for refusing to serve military terms. It is extremely important to be specific when we say Zionists support Netanyahu’s actions. There are many of us who do oppose his actions, and if you oppose his actions, then we are standing beside you. Do not alienate us by saying “Jews” where you should say “Zionists”.
There were many of us, back in the 1990’s, who thought that Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was going to bring a peaceful end to the conflict, but he was assassinated in 1995. This assassination was incited by Benjamin Netanyahu, who publicly called Rabin “traitor” and “Judenrat” for negotiating with Palestinians. Netanyahu, at one time, was seen at the head of a protest, leading a coffin that was inscribed with the words “Rabin is causing the death of Zionism.”[20]
The far right, led by Netanyahu, seized control, not just of the Prime Minister position, but of the media, convincing many Jews that the only path to peace lay in vanquishing Palestinians, rather than learning to live together. This is the face of Zionism today, and I, as a Jew, oppose it fervently. I weep when I think about it. It is a grave mistake to ever assume that all members of any group feel the exact same way about anything.
In the face of grievous injustices and an illegal occupation of Palestinian land- things that should be considered war crimes if the country were at war- the United Nations has, in the past, tried to pass resolutions to send investigators to the area, each time the resolution being vetoed by the United States[21]. It is clear that Israel sees a potential UN investigation as unable to be impartial[22], which makes sense through the lens of persecution and a lack of allies. Palestinians in Gaza, for instance, have been holding Nakba, or “right of return” protests, which have led to, according to Al Mezan, as of October 2018, over 150 Palestinians killed and at least 10,000 other Palestinians have been injured. Finally, the UN Human Rights Council, in May 2018, was able to pass a vote to investigate.
The reactions of Benjamin Netanyahu and his deputy foreign minister are quite telling. Netanyahu’s response was “The organization that calls itself the Human Rights Council again proved it is a hypocritical and biased body whose purpose is to harm Israel and back terror, but mostly it proved it is irrelevant.” Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely tweeted her response: “The UN Human Rights Council prefers to back Hamas instead of supporting Israel’s right to defend itself from terror. We have no intention of cooperating with an international investigative committee that wants to dictate results without a connection to facts.”[23]
In July of 2018, the Israeli Knesset passed the “Basic Law: Israel as the Nation-State of the Jewish People”, codifying into law that only Jews may emigrate to Israel, declared Hebrew the official language and purported to legalize the illegal Jewish settlements on Palestinian land. Adalah, the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, declared that the new law “entrenches the privileges enjoyed by Jewish citizens, while simultaneously anchoring discrimination against Palestinian citizens and legitimizing exclusion, racism, and systemic inequality.”[24]
So, there’s a lot there to oppose. I have previously written that Zionism and democracy are incompatible. You cannot exclude any group and still be considered a democracy. Most Palestinians are not allowed to vote, and those that can vote, are not allowed to vote in national elections. I believe that Jews and Palestinians CAN live together peacefully. We are all brothers and sisters of the desert. In fact, the word “Semite” itself doesn’t just refer to Jews, but also to Arabs[25].
Well, I didn’t spend a huge amount of time discussing antisemitism. Hatred is hatred. We all know what it is. We all know that biases can be slight, covert and insidious. What I hoped to accomplish, in writing this article, is to clear the way to discuss, openly, issues with Israel and its right wing government, things we may not agree with, and to be able to do it without being called antisemitic (racist). I hope that I reached Zionists, at least a little bit. Even if you do not disagree with Netanyahu’s treatment of Palestinians, we should at least be able to discuss it without falling back on finger pointing.
There are some who feel that Jews should never criticize Israel, because everyone else does. I disagree, whole-heartedly. I think it behooves all people to call out things that we find disturbing among their own groups. What if white people didn’t call out David Duke or French people didn’t call out Marine LePin? To NOT call out Netanyahu is, not only to associate myself with hatred and violence, but to be complicit in covering it up. I don’t want to be seen as being like Netanyahu- not even close. I also want my people to live in peace and thrive, something which is extremely unlikely on the path that he has led Israel. So I say: Netanyahu is a criminal, who should be tried in the International Criminal Court, and I also say there’s nothing antisemitic about that belief.
-Jason Kishineff
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1] -https://www.aipac.org/about/mission
[2] -https://www.cgdev.org/blog/africa-k-street-lobbying-not-restricted-developed-world
[3] -https://cointelegraph.com/news/russian-lobby-group-to-present-alternative-bill-on-digital-assets
[4] -https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/globalbusiness/6034554/The-great-British-lobby.html
[5] -http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/28/AR2007092801350.html
[7] -https://www.globalresearch.ca/america-created-al-qaeda-and-the-isis-terror-group/5402881
[8] -https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/a-definition-of-zionism
[9] -http://www.zionism-israel.com/dic/Russsian_Civil_War_pogroms.htm
[10] -https://www.simpletoremember.com/articles/a/the_inquisition/
[11] -https://www.adl.org/news/article/anti-semitism-and-the-merchant-of-venice
[12] -https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/richard-wagner-controversy
[13] -https://grayzoneproject.com/2018/12/10/nato-ukraine-president-poroshenko-nazi-soldier-totenkopf/
[13] -https://www.dw.com/en/anti-semitism-on-the-rise-western-european-jews-think-so/a-44884904
[14] -https://www.newsweek.com/anti-semitic-incidents-austria-increase-82-percent-444996
[15] -https://www.dw.com/en/anti-semitism-on-the-rise-in-poland/av-42851245
[16] -https://www.toptenz.net/top-10-american-companies-that-aided-the-nazis.php
[18] -https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-27373131
[20] -https://www.timesofisrael.com/netanyahu-lambasted-for-incitement-in-insiders-rabin-biography/
[22] -https://www.haaretz.com/1.5134138
[24] -https://truthout.org/articles/israel-illegally-enshrines-apartheid-in-its-basic-law/
