We are all being bombarded with images of campus protests. Depending on our news sources, these are described as pro-Palestinian, or anti-Israel, or pro-Hamas, or anti-Zionist. I will share with you what is in my heart, which is heavy and sad as I witness the weaponizing of discourse and language in America in the beginning of the 21st century—how the way in which many Americans speak and refuse to listen, firmly ensconced in a team mentality that will either win or lose a match has shaped the conversation regarding Israel and Gaza.
The savage terrorist attack in Israel on October 7th left me horrified and broken. The barbarity of Hamas’ terrorist deeds was beyond unacceptable, as was the taking of hostages, regardless of age, gender, religion, or nationality. Almost immediately a few groups shifted the focus of the narrative associated with the attack, from what Hamas did to a sickening explanation of the reasons Hamas did what it did. It went something like this: Yes, what they did was horrible, but they did it because… (I refuse to write down what was said). And when Israel attacked, the focus became Israel’s counter-offensive, the way in which the search for the hostages was (and is being) conducted. The rapidity of that shift enraged me. I was still shocked and grieving the losses caused by this pogrom and found myself feeling the need to explain what I thought had no need to be explained. The focus on Israel’s attacks without an acknowledgement of the actions of Hamas would be baffling were it not for the fact that this is, indeed, a very old trope, a page taken from every antisemitic propaganda throughout millennia. It is the Jews’ fault. It is the Jewish State’s fault. And this is what I believe is the fuel behind these protests—good, old hatred of Jews and anything Jewish, the assignment of guilt to us for everything that is wrong with the world from one perspective or another. Let me be clear that I do not condone many of the actions of the Israeli government, the refusal to acknowledge that the Land of Israel is home to more than Jews (and sometimes only acknowledging the validity of the life style of certain kinds of jews, not all Jews). I do not condone the settlements and settler violence. I believe that many Palestinians are interested in living in peace and are not murderous savages, and that the Israeli government has failed in procuring effective ways to engage with those Palestinians. I do not that every action taken by the Israeli government is right. And although I know that no one who is involved with the Campus Protests is going to listen to my balanced opinion, here are a few facts for their consideration:
- Israel is attacking Gaza right now because Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023. The attack by Hamas was brutal and would have merited a reaction, but when they took the hostages and refused to bring them back or to negotiate their release, and failed to abide by hostage exchange agreements, the Israeli government had to go in and look for the hostages. In a small country where everyone has lost a friend or a loved one on October 7, the reaction (understandably) became personal. The Palestinian government has refused to return the hostages and to sign any peace agreement with Israel, a fact corroborated by the American government. Without a peace treaty, which Israel has with many surrounding Arab nations, Israel as a sovereign state cannot stop protecting Israeli civilians, and will continue this war.
- The Palestinian Authority has refused a ceasefire or a peace treaty because their stated goal is to eliminate Israel as a Jewish State. The chant “from the river to the sea” means that the swatch of land between the West Bank (that belonged to Jordan before 1967) and Gaza (that belonged to Egypt before 1967) would be connected as a Palestinian State—a swatch of land that includes many Jewish settlements such as Jerusalem, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Kiriat Gat, and other Jewish owned land, that has belonged to Jews for many centuries.
- International aid has been given to Gaza for many years, and a lot of it has been misused to create the tunnels that are used for terrorist attacks on civilians in Israel and to maintain hostages.
- There are more than 135,000 displaced Israeli citizens, living as refugees, because their homes were destroyed by terrorists on October 7 and because Israel is being attacked by missiles from Gaza and from the North on a daily basis. In other words, the attacks did not end on October 8. The suffering that we are witnessing affects Palestinians and Israeli civilians. No one has a monopoly on suffering.
- This is not a war between mighty Israel and the poor Palestinians that live in Gaza. One might even be tempted to imagine that this is a war between the State of Israel and the Palestinian Authority (the Palestinian governing body), but that is not the full picture. Most of the war power coming to the Palestinian Authority originates in Iran. This is a proxy war between Iran and their allies and the United States and their allies. Asking companies, universities and our government to stop investing in Israel is akin to asking the American government to capitulate and allow for the governments of countries such as Iran, North Korea, China, and Russia to take over the world. In my opinion, that is not advisable (I couldn’t refrain from sarcasm). The ideologies of these countries do not really align with the kind of freedoms we experience in the United States, to say the least.
- I ask the protestors to take a moment and reflect on their demands and on what else they are failing to demand. After all, there are many conflicts around the world that demand engagement and protesting, but I have failed to see the intensity of these demands when it comes to Russia or China. The impassioned protesters that disregard the feelings and the safety of their neighbors, friends, and classmates in order to protect Palestinian civilians would ring true if the same amount of passion was used to safeguard the lives of people who are living under oppressive regimes throughout the world. The fact that this is not happening makes the campus protests sound hollow, and they can only be labelled as anti-Jewish.
I pray for a ceasefire that involves the return of the hostages, the end of the launching of missiles onto the Israeli civilian population, and a recognition of the age-old anti-Jewish feelings that are fanning the flames of these protests, the same feelings that have been so hurtful to Jews throughout our history. We know what happens when antisemitism is rampant, and I hope that my fellow human beings will soon understand what they are truly espousing, and the dire consequences of their hatred.