Opposing Israel’s War Machine Doesn’t Make You Antisemitic

Asan American Jew, I am fed up with the uncritical support for Israel’s brutal war in Gaza. I am even more horrified and fed up with the rush to judgment — and condemnation — that’s emerged within our federal government as well as right-wing media over any public support for the beleaguered Palestinians.

While I’m not a practicing Jew, I’m proud of my Jewish heritage and cherish my Jewish upbringing. I love the music and many Jewish traditions. Yet I’m quite uneasy about the United States’ black-and-white view of the situation in Gaza. I’m deeply disturbed by our tendency — now institutionalized in U.S. government policy — to condone everything that Israel does, keep supplying them with massive amounts of weaponry, and meanwhile defame or ignore everything that the poor Gazans do, say, or plead for.

I do not blame Israel at all for wanting and choosing to defend itself and its citizens. After that horrific Hamas attack in October 2023, Israel had every right to go on the offensive and do its best to stop Hamas in its tracks. That choice isn’t problematic, but what IS problematic is Israel’s relentless bombing campaign and ongoing attacks that continue 18 months later.

What is problematic is Israel’s overreach and hubris in working to totally destroy any safety or security for an entire people and region, all in the name of defeating Hamas.

Gaza is not equivalent to Hamas. The Palestinians who live in Gaza don’t equal Hamas. Some Palestinians who live in Gaza support Hamas, but many don’t. Although Hamas is the designated ‘ruler’ of the Gaza enclave and has much influence there, it is not respected or revered by many Gazans. Most of the Palestinians living in Gaza are just trying to survive, raise their families, and find a bit of peace and security.

All of Gaza and every Palestinian living there should not be punished, over and over again, for the sins and actions of the Hamas faction. It’s neither right nor morally justifiable.

Israel’s ‘just war’ rationale has broken down

I’m sure I will face some fierce blowback for my position here, but I don’t care. I am sick to death of the hate and revolting non-empathy aimed at anyone who has the temerity to speak up in support of the Palestinians and/or Gaza. (Hell, the U.S. government and many red states are even ‘canceling’ and punishing people’s freedom of speech regarding these issues. So much for the GOP’s ‘fierce defense’ of free speech!)

The truth is, I think the entire situation in Israel — and the U.S. as well — has gotten way out of hand, and any moral ‘justification’ for Israel’s attacks and murderous rampages in Gaza has long since evaporated.

By now, it looks like Israel is out for revenge and aims to make the entirety of Gaza an unlivable, brutal hellscape. Israel’s war against Hamas has morphed into an ongoing, vicious war against all of Gaza and all the Palestinians who live there. Just recall the frequent headlines about Israel bombing schools, hospitals, shelters, and other places that used to be considered ‘off limits’ for military action. Every single time this happens, the stale, unconscionable rationale is that Hamas terrorists were ‘hiding’ there or using the people there as shields.

But does that excuse Israel’s excessive and indiscriminate killing? Even these ‘targeted’ attacks usually result in dozens of civilian casualties — including many women and children. Is this truly a ‘just war’ anymore? I don’t think so.

Plus, Israel is constantly ordering all the poor, displaced Gazans to quickly move to another part of the Gaza Strip if they want to avoid being bombed or shot. Thus, the Gazans are in a constant state of fear, anxiety, and social chaos; every time they begin to settle in and start feeling a bit more secure, the rug gets yanked out from under them and they have to move again. I’d guess this has happened at least ten times since the war began.

These desperate people are being ruthlessly terrorized — no exaggeration. Imagine being uprooted and forced to flee for your lives, often with only the few belongings you can easily transport — and then imagine having to do this over and over again, with barely any time to rest or ‘get it together.’ It must be… a total nightmare.

And that’s prior to the unending problems obtaining fresh water, food, and medicine in a bombed-out, cut-off enclave like Gaza.

Yet the plight of the Palestinians and Gaza has been increasingly minimized by both Israel and the U.S. Netanyahu’s corrupt far-right government shows no mercy at all, and he therefore faces some stiff opposition even within Israel (but not enough to shift Israel’s strategy). Meanwhile, here in the U.S., Trump, MAGA, and even many Democrats have jumped on the pro-Israel/anti-Palestinian bandwagon and are increasingly demonizing — or even deporting — anyone who has a balanced viewpoint and sees and voices major issues with both sides.

Any vocal support for the Palestinians and Gaza has become dangerous in both countries and can now land you in jail or subject you to merciless harassment on social media or even directly from the government.

As I said, the situation has gotten way out of hand.

We need to see the Israel/Gaza conflict through ‘new eyes’

Here’s my take on what’s happening. Everyone feels the need to ‘take sides’ and totally support one side while attacking or condemning the other. Rabid black-and-white thinking abounds and keeps spreading.

But this blind insistence on taking sides is neither smart nor moral. The situation in the Middle East has been supremely difficult for many decades, and there are valid points of view and vital needs or requirements on both sides.

For instance, Israel has a valid need to protect itself and its citizens. This is a given. Yet, does that ‘excuse’ vicious attacks that mainly hurt or kill civilians? Also, Israel has done some highly unethical things over the past few decades, including unlawfully occupying a large swath of the West Bank — which is designated Palestinian territory.

Similarly, Gaza and the Palestinians have some very legitimate complaints about the way Israel treats them — as second- or third-class humans — and the fact that Israel is always grabbing territory from them. Plus, Israel itself was originally created by taking land away from the Palestinians — land that was shared with the Jews for many hundreds of years — and using it to forcibly create the new nation of ‘Israel.’

There are no ‘total saints’ or ‘total villains’ here

My main point is that there are no saints in this situation. Nor are there any horrible total villains (though Israeli P.M. Netanyahu and Hamas terrorists come close). The Israel-Gaza situation is not black-and-white, nor should anyone’s heartfelt support for the Palestinians be conflated with antisemitism.

All this intense ‘side-taking’ and intentional conflation of issues helps no one and instead does a lot of harm. But thinking, caring people don’t have to go along with these intense social and governmental pressures. We can and should insist on a much more nuanced and balanced approach to the gruesome on-the-ground reality facing both Israel and the Gazan Palestinians.

There are no lily-white heroes or pure villains here. Rather, there are two nations and peoples in conflict, and neither one is doing a great job of handling the situation responsibly.

Thus, just as we despise and refuse to condone antisemitism, so should we also refuse to condone anti-Palestinian, heavily pro-Israel viewpoints and actions. We all need to take a deep breath, investigate the true situation more fully, and seek a far more realistic and balanced understanding.

Antisemitism is a very real and fast-growing threat in the U.S. and around the world. But protesting Israel’s out-of-control ‘war machine’ in no way makes you antisemitic — unless you also happen to hate or despise Jews.