Question: Often when there is dissent expressed in the United States against policies of the Israeli government, people here are called anti-Semitic. What is your response to that as an Israeli Jew?
Sl
Shulamit Aloni replied:
“Well, it’s a trick, we always use it. When from Europe somebody is criticizing Israel, then we bring up the Holocaust. When in this country people are criticizing Israel, then they are anti-Semitic.
And the charge of “Antisemitm” is used in other areas, though it does exist.
I am not an Israeli. I am an American.
I do not believe that people who disagree with the policies of Israel are antisemitic.
I would like to know, though, why Israel, which has now been in existence for almost a century, continues to be a “problem.”
Its borders are a problem. Its policies are a problem. Its citizens pose a problem.
When rockets land on Israel, in places like Sderot, where rockets have landed for decades, almost daily, it is not a problem.
When snipers take out Israeli schoolchildren, when there are stabbings of Jews in the street, it’s not a problem. On and on, daily, it’s not a problem. You will never see CNN in Sderot...
Because they are all hanging out in Ramla, discussing the problem THEY see, the problem they have ALWAYS seen.
The problem THEY see is Israel defending itself. The problem THEY see is Israeli sovereignty. The problem THEY see... Is Israel.
In a thousand ways, every day, Israel is “the problem,” and the stories flow, and flow, and flow from cafes in Ramla and East Jerusalem, where the privileged white journalists from the big fancy schools in the US hang out with the people they trust and love... Never the IDF. Never the Zionists.
So? We hear the news, year after year. News about policy problems, “apartheid” problems, social problems... And we “express dissent.”
Visit Israel. See Israel for what it is. Meet the people, the Jews, the Arabs, and you’ll understand the answer I gave you.
I hope that helps.