Charges of anti-semitism may ring hollow

MR. NETANYAHU is pursuing his goal of achieving full control over Gaza with an unequalled dedication. Attempts to achieve a ceasefire that might have allowed Israel to get some of the hostages back has so far failed because neither party has found the terms of the other side acceptable. Mr. Netanyahu wants to overcome Hamas and render it ineffective, but he has so far failed to do so. Instead, the Israeli Army has continued to destroy cities, public facilities including hospitals and kill innocent people with many women and children among them. Global public opinion, initially appreciative of the fact that Hamas had initiated acts of terrorism against Israel, has begun slowly to turn against the actions of the Israeli government which are beginning to resemble those of Hamas.

Western governments without exception are behind the Netanyahu government. Sure, they render some critical comments about Israeli policies, but this does not translate into policy that would deter the Israeli government from the inhumane policies it has been following in Gaza. In the meantime, popular feelings against Israel are rising. There may come a point where the governments will no longer be able to ignore the reality that the mass publics do not support their government’s Israel policies. But, for the time being, governments have chosen to suppress anti-Israeli manifestations and along with Israel, accuse those critical of Israeli policies of anti-semitism.

Suppression has hardly ever proven to be an effective instrument in changing attitudes even in highly authoritarian systems. Furthermore, in democratic societies, there are limits to suppressing criticism of government policies. Nevertheless, in this case, even democratically elected governments cannot quite liberate themselves from resorting to suppression of expression, especially when criticism is branded as being anti-semitic, giving suppression an aura of legitimacy. Currently, the spreading of protests on America’s university campuses are receiving much attention not only because they are spreading like wildfire, but also because of their complex nature that ties in with resignation of university presidents and withholding financial support by some donors from those institutions that treat anti-Israeli demonstrations as a matter of freedom of expression. It is clear, however, that we face a phenomenon that far exceeds the concerns of university students.

Allegations of anti-semitism needs to be challenged. It appears that, fearing that they might be accused of anti-semitism, governments shy away from being sufficiently critical of the Netanyahu government. To judge whether criticizing the doings of the Israeli government constitutes an exercise in anti-semitism, we might examine what the concept really means and turn to historical experience. It is to be admitted that historically Jews were treated unkindly and with suspicion in most societies deriving from their believing in a different religion than the majority, the intense group solidarity they displayed owing mainly to the fact that they were in the minority and the level of economic prosperity they achieved in many societies for a variety of reasons that I will not go into here. The way Jews were often treated is shameful and clearly runs against the democratic, egalitarian ethic we have come to subscribe in contemporary times.

Anti-semitism, as a formal doctrine that constituted a basis for public policy, on the other hand, is associated with Nazism of Hitler’s Germany. Hitlerite thinking wanted to eradicate the Jews not because of what they did but because of what they were. More than six million Jews living in Germany and in the lands the Germans invaded were murdered simply because they were Jews. Not surprisingly, the Germans always found local forces that were willing to join them in clearing their society of Jews. The crimes that were committed against the Jews were horrendous and inexcusable. The Jewish people were made to go through an experience that no other group in the world has gone through with such cruelty. Once Germany was defeated, everyone saw that horrible crimes were committed and wanted to make sure that such a thing would never happen again. Hence, the great sensitivity to not being anti-semitic or being branded so.

The Netanyahu government has purposely worked to designate all criticisms directed against the Israeli government and its policies as being anti-semitic. The American Senator Bernie Sanders, himself Jewish, has an excellent broadcast in which he makes the very clear that criticizing Netanyahu and his government for what they are doing in Gaza and the policies they are following is not being anti-semitic. By branding criticism of his government as an exercise of anti-semitism, Mr. Netanyahu has opened the door to the dangerous development of rendering the concept hollow. People will increasingly ignore allegations of anti-semitism since they feel justified in criticizing policy, but gradually this may lead to taking real manifestations of anti-semitism also as being normal. I do not think this is where Mr. Netanyahu wants to go, but his actions may well take him there.