A view on why campus protests appear anti-Semitic
April 24 − To the Editor:
In the waning days of World War II, the United States fire-bombed the city of Dresden killing perhaps as many as 30,000 civilians, then occupied major sections of Germany. For a US citizen to have called the fire-bombing an atrocity and for an end to the occupation would have been perfectly legitimate free speech. But if protesters did so while waving the Nazi flag, full swastika on display, their credibility would tank to zero. To regard them as anti-Semitic would be a logical conclusion, especially if they engaged in harassment of Jewish students, even if that was done by a minority of the protesters.
Today we are witnessing protests on college campuses across America against the Israeli actions in Gaza. These protesters say, “Some amongst us are Jews, and we even held a seder at the pro-Palestinian sit in at Columbia, How could we possibly be antisemitic?” Let me explain. While horrified by the assault of October 7, the hostage taking and their continued captivity, I as a human being and as a Jewish American am disgusted by everything about the Netanyahu government, and sickened by the suffering of Palestinian non-combatants as a result of the way that government has waged this war. But the idea of expressing that by marching behind the Hamas flag and chanting Hamas slogans is unthinkable. The slogan “Palestine shall be free from the river to the sea” means the dismantling of the Israeli state, the establishment of an ISIS style caliphate in its place, and the murder of all Jews who do not flee into exile. It is not a call for peaceful co-existence, nor is it freedom by any stretch of the imagination. To accuse Israel of genocide while willfully blind to the fact that Hamas's stated goal is slaughter of Jews, and their actions back up that intent, is hypocrisy unchanged by the fact that some at the sit-ins are Jewish.
Let's accept for the moment that the majority of those at the sit-ins may not be motivated by hatred of Jews; but, those whose cause is advanced by their actions certainly are. While the majority may not realize, or may deny the true meaning of the slogan they are chanting, those who lead them certainly do. Scary world we live in.
Jeffrey Cooper
Portsmouth