The Progressive, Antisemitic Problem

Let’s get this out of the way: the right has hijacked the discourse on Israel. Like, to an unhealthy extreme. Whenever anyone has something to say, be it endearing or critical, it’s only been okay as long as they’ve said it. You dare speak up on the left, and you’re automatically labelled an Antisemite. It’s sickening, it’s maddening, and it’s time that it ended.

Now then, let’s talk about anti-Zionist Antisemitism.

I’ve been holding off writing this for a while. I always knew it was gonna be my 100th blog (speaking of which, yay me!), but I never knew if it was worth the risk. What would happen once it got out there? And would it be well-received, or blasted for existing? The answer was never concrete, yet because it’s Israel, a country no bigger than New Jersey with more intense scrutiny than states twice its size, I figured I’d have to bite the bullet eventually.

I’m Jewish. Have been my whole life. I also have strong ties to Israel, as would be expected (the word “Jerusalem” appears 669 times in our sacred texts). I’ve been there three times since high school, and I plan to return a fourth time at some point in the immediate future. Israel’s kind of a big deal for me, even though my fondness isn’t uncritical (more on that later).

In the 12 years that I’ve frequented online circles, the last 7 being Twitter, I’ve noticed a strong frustration from many people over the subject. The issue of Israel is complicated, no doubt, but it’s almost a poisonous trigger word for many individuals. The number of times it’s come up aggressively is headache-inducing, but what’s worse is how frequently people tow the fragile line between critique and legitimate Antisemitism. And while this is more blatant with the far-right, I’m focusing on the left here. Besides, at least the right is honest about its bigotry, whereas the left could use a wake-up call.

I’ll begin with the most-obvious point: that criticism of Israel is automatically “Antisemitic”. As Twitter user Yair Rosenberg once stated, this isn’t necessarily the case. There’s a difference between criticizing political policies/laws/decisions that Israel’s made over the last 70 years, and simply trashing it as an apartheid state that genocides Palestinians. One of these is based in genuine concern over how the piece of land is governed. The other is slanderous.

It’s in trying to explain the difference that I routinely get pushback. Either it’s the typical “I disagree, and here’s why” rebuttal, or the blanket “you’re an idiot, and here’s why” retort that misses the point. You’d be surprised how blurry that line is, as I’ve heard varying degrees of both from people I otherwise get along with. Many well-intentioned progressives think that it’s acceptable to trash my character because I think Israel’s a multi-faceted issue. And if I tell them I’m Jewish? Well, what do I know? It’s not like my experiences are worth listening to, right?

Allow me to share two secrets about Zionist discourse: one, Israel’s a huge part of the Jewish experience. Like Mecca and Rome for Muslims and Christians, Israel is our history. Zionism comes with the territory of being Jewish, it’s, quite literally, in the fine-print. And while not all of us believe it, enough do that it should be regarded as second-nature. You simply can’t, and shouldn’t, separate our Jewishness from our Zionism.

Two, and this one is a harder pill to swallow, you can’t transpose Western responses to police brutality and military presence onto another part of the world without first factoring in context. That’s not only irresponsible, it’s also a form of ideological colonialism and/or terrorism. I know this might come as a shock, but Israel’s current situation with its Palestinian people didn’t blossom overnight: it’s an end-result of 70+ years of history with several thousand years of backstory. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is messy, but it was messy long before it acquired that name. All you need is to take a primer on the conflict, something many people haven’t.

That’s not to say that some elements of Western sensibilities can’t be exchanged with Israel’s history, like how many Palestinians feel like second-class citizens in Judea and Samaria, but it’s not enough to be a 1:1 conversion. Life in the region isn’t that simple, and it’s high-time progressives understood that.

I often find it frustrating pointing this out to people, as they either don’t get it, or choose not to. Regardless of how you look at it, the internet looks at a dense conflict through a shallow prism fed by the media. To be fair, Israeli media is equally biased, even “I’m ashamed to be Israeli 24/7” Ha’aretz, but by comparing sources you get a clearer picture on what’s happening. Because for all the nonsense that Trump claims about “fake news”, the media is still largely sensationalized and generated to sell stories, even when they’re libellous.

I also find it frustrating pointing out the left’s dogwhistling to the right too. Whether it’s through The Chicago Dyke March using “Zios”, a David Duke phrase, to justify their decision to ban Israel flags, or referring to AIPAC as “the Israel lobby that controls politicians”, these kinds of claims aren’t without consequences. Words have meaning, and in an age where the right is known for being stealthy and slimy, it hurts when the left stoops to their level.

Speaking of which, let’s talk Jeremy Corbyn. Corbyn’s become a celebrity in post-Brexit England, having taken on the role of “progressive champion”, and he’s incredibly popular with youthful voters. However, many Jews in England, particularly those in Labour circles, have become wary of him, claiming that, whether intentional or not, he’s been breeding Antisemitism in his own party. I’m not sure how much qualifies as truth, since most British tabloids have had it out for him since day 1, but when even left-leaning papers, like “I’m not subtle about my irrational hatred of my own country” Ha’aretz, have written pieces about Corbyn’s Antisemitic ties, well…it becomes hard to take his attempts at placating to Jews seriously with his left hand when he’s dogwhistling to Antisemites in his own ranks with his right hand. It’s a case of “where there’s smoke, there’s fire”, which is all-the-more reason why Corbyn apologists drive me up the walls with their insistence that this is “paranoia”. Give us Jews some credit, huh?

Corbyn’s influence is, unfortunately, not exclusive to England. He’s been spoken of highly by Bernie Sanders, who is, himself, Jewish, and his methods have seeped into the cracks of the socialist wing of the Democratic caucus. I have stories of how DSA affiliates have called me a “Republican Evangelist shill” over Israel, when an in-depth conversation would suggest otherwise. And many attempts at anti-Zionist rhetoric are praised, to the point that a flyer promoting The DSA’s platforms once had the words “F*ck Israel” on it. I can make as many jokes as I want, but it’s scary that a group affiliated with social change and combatting bigotry is openly-bigoted about a minority group with conditional privilege.

It’s become a problem in some of the progressive candidates’ platforms too. I have immense respect for Alexandria Occasio-Cortez and Rashida Tlaib, considering their steps at breaking down barriers immense and praiseworthy, but if some of what’s been said about them is true (and I’m not confirming anything), then as a Jewish Zionist I’m a little worried. The overtly bonkers claim of “you can’t be a feminist and a Zionist” aside, supporting Israel is smart politics. Even if you don’t agree with many of their policies, Israel is The US’s biggest ally in The Middle East.

We also have the issue of BDS, or Boycott, Divest, Sanctions, being used as a legitimate talking point in progressive discourse. The tag is used in many people’s online handles, even though the movement is toxic. For one, it was started by someone who wishes to see all Jews washed over. And two, it’s both oddly-specific and incredibly-vague. It attacks SodaStream, for example, without recognizing that the company has employed Palestinian workers alongside Israelis peacefully, yet it doesn’t realize that Sabra Hummus is an American product. It also ignores the that the IBM chip was co-created in Israel, and that a consistent boycott would mean not using computers ever again.

These are the issues I have to deal with on a daily basis. And I don’t want to. The internet’s already pretty stressful without having to justify Jewish self-determination. But when misinformation is widespread, dogwhistling to the right exists and political candidates refuse to renege their covert bigotry about Jews, then what does this tell me? Sure, progressives are great at tackling and exposing overt Antisemitism, especially with the resurgence of fascism in the 21st Century, but without tackling covert Antisemitism it feels like placating.

It's not like Israel’s a flawless country. Sociologically, there are inherent biases in how the country views outsiders. Economically, Israel’s a barely-functioning start-up nation, riddled with inconsistent technology, hotels that are run like circuses (have you seen how bad the showers are?) and markets that rip you off at the sound of a foreign accent. And politically, it’s a mess, with a borderline-authoritarian government that recently passed a nation-state law that’s being challenged by the courts. This is on-top of the love-hate relationship many Israelis and Palestinians have with one-another, such that I doubt a real solution will happen in my lifetime.

But that’s irrelevant if progressives won’t put aside their animosity to listen to Jews in their own circles. And not only listen, but understand and appreciate. Because while some Jews espouse the same hatred as their oppressors, thereby opting into the cycle of bigotry, many don’t. We want genuine societal change, and that begins by recognizing that we have a voice too.