Somehow, it’s not only become socially acceptable to be an antisemite, but it’s also become a part of “cancel culture” to attack Jews and pro-Israel voices who dare to stand up for themselves. Merely opposing calls to “free Palestine” is enough to get one canceled, threatened, or worse.
The result of the normalization of antisemitism has been the bullying of Jews around the world who are faced with outrageous litmus tests of either condemning and bashing the State of Israel and the Jewish right to self-determination, or suffering brutal (sometimes even physical) attacks and harassment for being “Zionist.”
On a public level, a Jewish designer at Zara, Vanessa Perilman, got into an argument with a Palestinian model at Zara, Qaher Harhash, who had made incorrect statements about Israel’s actions against Palestinians. Perilman sent an emotionally charged private message to Harhash, who then publicly shared it. An online mob began pressuring Zara to condemn the designer, which Zara eventually did. But they did not condemn the comments of the Palestinian model who was sharing disinformation, the nature of which we have seen contributing to antisemitism around the world.
Once again, it’s socially acceptable to spread antisemitism, but when Jews fight back, they get condemned. The false dichotomy of being “the oppressed” or the “oppressor” is creating a dangerous environment in which Jews are being backed into a corner. In order to be “good Jews” and to be accepted in the progressive camp, you must bash Israel, Zionism, and even fellow Jews who speak out in defense of their country.
Look no further than the recent petty comments of comedian Seth Rogan, or the fawning tweets this week from Sarah Silverman, supporting Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, two congresswomen who played an essential role in the recent rise of antisemitism in America. Instead of using her platform to correctly condemn the libelous accusations made by “The Squad” on the House floor while Israelis were being bombarded with rockets, Silverman actually legitimized them. By stating she wished a “progressive Jewess” was in the squad, she gave credence to the antisemitic views of folks like Omar and Tlaib that the 95% of Jews who are Zionists do not have a home in the progressive camp – and that to be progressive you must oppose Israel.
On a personal level, I’ve had numerous friends who were previously uninvolved, or in some cases even pro-Israel, suddenly take a sharp anti-Israel turn, becoming the biggest critics of Israeli military policy and the very existence of the State of Israel.
On the other side, I have numerous friends who have been isolated and bullied for refusing to condemn Israel or jump on the bandwagon of inflammatory toxic rhetoric and wildly untrue accusations of “ethnic cleansing” and “genocide” supposedly being committed by Israel.
WHAT CHANGED? Is Israeli policy so much worse? Has the occupation intensified? Are more Palestinians dying? In fact the opposite. The only change is that the illegitimate and obsessive criticism of Israel has morphed into old school Jew-hatred more than ever before.
This is unacceptable and the entire Jewish community and all its supporters must unite to speak out against this vile bigotry Jews around the world are experiencing. But there is one more aspect to this wave of Jew-hatred that must be stated unequivocally: Jews do not owe anyone an explanation on Israel.
Whether you are a Jew, an Israeli, or simply a Zionist, unless you are the spokesperson of the IDF or the prime minister of the State of Israel, you don’t owe anyone an explanation about Israeli policy or Israeli military actions. You don’t need to condemn Israel, or state that you “support Palestinians and also Israelis.” You don’t need to argue about whether Israel is moral or not, or talk about Islamophobia because of anything which occurs in Israel. You don’t need to answer to anyone, or to prove yourself, ever, simply because you are a Jew.
Being a proud Jew who supports the Jewish right to self-determination in the Land of Israel doesn’t necessitate that you explain how you don’t “hate” Palestinians or demand that you explain how you support a Palestinian state too. The Palestinian state is a political question, not an ideological belief about fundamental rights of a people, as is Zionism.
A Jew (or anyone) can support Zionism without needing to explain themselves about Palestinians because Zionism doesn’t negate anyone else’s right to self-determination. A Palestinian state has nothing to do with believing that Jews have a right to live in their ancient homeland, and anyone who assumes otherwise holds prejudiced views about Jews.
The demand that Jews (or Israelis) “condemn” Israel’s actions in and of itself reeks of antisemitism and must be called out. No Jew should ever be pressured or expected to explain the policies of Israel, the same way that an Arab in New York has no obligation to answer for the actions of the Palestinian government. The woke campaign to cancel proud Jews must be stopped, because there is nothing “woke” about smearing and bullying one of the most historically oppressed groups in the history of mankind.
The writer is the CEO of Social Lite Creative LLC and a research fellow at the Tel Aviv Institute.