Not only the reality, but also the terminology of anti-Semitism has become controversial in recent years, especially since Israel’s campaign against Hamas in Gaza. People who criticize Israel are often labeled anti-Semitic. But are they? Does criticizing the State of Israel make one anti-Semitic?
Anti-Semitism is any attitude of prejudice against Jews just because they are Jews. (Yes, I know “Semite” can also refer to Arabs, but that is irrelevant here.) To be sure, it also includes actions that are meant to harm Jews because they are Jewish, either ethnically or religiously or both. Those actions, however, tend to arise from a negative attitude, if not outright hatred, toward Jews.
Anti-Semitism has a long and wretched history especially in the West. Most people think it really began with Hitler and the Nazis in Germany, but that is wrong. Long before Nazi anti-Semitism, many Jewish individuals and communities in Europe, especially Russia, Ukraine, Poland, and Spain, suffered unjust discrimination and oppression. “Pogroms” against Jews broke out frequently in those and other European countries.
None of that is to minimize the guilt of many Americans who to this day harbor anti-Semitic attitudes.
I grew up in a form of American Christian life that favored Jews because, so we believed, they are God’s chosen people. We were (and many still are) Christian Zionists who believed that “blessing” Jews brought God’s blessings. My stepmother, for example, would only patronize Jewish doctors and business owners. When we (our church) went on two “Holy Land Pilgrimages” we would only have Jewish guides and we insisted on visiting a Jewish rather than a Palestinian Christian home.
However, in spite of my strong belief that God does have a special place in his heart for Jewish people, I question the misuse of “anti-Semitism” in society today. Anyone who demonstrates against Israel’s actions in Gaza will be labeled anti-Semitic by someone. Anyone who dares to openly criticize the State of Israel risks being labeled anti-Semitic.
One ought not to equate the State of Israel with Jewishness. No state or government is above criticism. And to criticize Israel for specific actions it takes is not automatically anti-Semitic. It is anti-Semitic, however, to blame all Jews, everywhere, for Israel’s actions.
Anti-Semitism is a demonic disease; it infects not only individuals but whole societies and communities. I denounce it unequivocally. On the other hand, I reject the accusation of anti-Semitism solely for criticizing Israel.
I once had a colleague who was a Jewish scholar who believed in and taught Palestinian rights and did not hold the State of Israel above criticism. His very life was threatened by some militant Jews and he was often accused of anti-Semitism. How ironic, a Jew being accused of anti-Semitism!
I call on people in the media and education and government to stop accusing critics of Israel’s handling of the Gaza crisis of anti-Semitism. That is a misuse of the term and can itself be oppressive. People, including university students, have a right to speak out against Israel’s treatment of the residents of Gaza without being labeled anti-Semitic.
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