Anti-Israel and anti-Semitic, is there a difference? Can a person’s opposition to a nation’s foreign policy be construed as racism? Do such attempts to simplify a complicated issue and to demonize political opponents have a legitimate place in our nation’s political debate?
This subject comes to mind for obvious reasons. The current conflict in the Middle East (thirty-four or thirty-five day war, Israel-Lebanon conflict, whatever), has served as a wake-up call to many Americans that even when our government is not paying attention to the Levant, the fires that burn in that region are far from extinguished. Almost all American politicians and elected officials came out with their utmost support for the military actions of the Israelis to recover their kidnapped soldiers and make their borders more secure. In the meantime, the right-wing media was quick to jump on those critical of Israeli tactics that resulted in large numbers of civilian casualties in Lebanon as being anti-Semitic.
I, myself, have only recently become acquainted with the viciousness of the right-wing media establishment in lambasting those who do not offer their unquestioning support for Israeli military actions as racist. At first I only dabbled, watching Fox News here and there, but lately I have entered into a far more sinister domain – the world of AM radio! The right-wing nut jobs are allowed free reign to level as many unwarranted accusations against those who disagree with their politics as they can in their allotted time frame. It was on AM radio late one night that I heard two different commentators on two different stations attempt to link the left wing of the Democratic Party with some sort of anti-Semitism. One even went so far as to say that liberal anti-war groups in the United States are fronts for what used to be the American Communist Party and are part of a global anti-Semitic movement that is made up of those who oppose the Iraq War (which the right-wing cannot distinguish from the War on Terror), those who do not offer Israel their unconditional support and the terrorists whom they label Islamo-Fascists. I do not have the time in this column to point out the factual inaccuracy of applying such a label to a religious terrorist organization, so we will not get into that. This may seem like an extremist view, but I have heard it on the radio several times since. Also, I have heard these accusations of anti-Semitism leveled against the liberal interest groups who support Ned Lamont’s bid to win the Connecticut Senate seat held by Democratic Senator Joe Lieberman, a Jewish-American and pro-war politician.
The problem with making such accusations is they do not rely on any evidence of anti-Semitic statements made by individuals, but rather attempt to equate opposition to a Jewish nation’s military actions or a Jewish senator’s foreign policy positions with a form of discrimination. This strategy of the right wing to rely upon the public to respond to accusations with emotion rather than with reason can surely not continue to work for them.
Lastly, let me just say this: I do not live in Israel, a country constantly under attack. I am not able to put myself in the shoes of the Israelis, and therefore, my criticisms of Israeli policies will never be completely informed. However, I do not find it so hard to wonder if a military campaign that resulted in the deaths of far too many civilians was a just act.