Antisemitism, Actually

I finally reached an important milestone: I was accused of antisemitism. I earned this esteemed merit-badge recently when I made some comments about tension between Iran and Israel. In essence, I stated that if the world wants to play “shoot the bad guys” then bombing Israel makes more sense. As a staunch pacifist, I condemn all “shoot the bad guys” tactics as unsustainable and unconscionable—and I made that clear. Ethically speaking, I find attacking Israel just as appalling as attacking Iran but from a practical perspective its a better short-term gamble because it would cost so much less than continuing to support Israel; it makes me nauseous to even write that. I stand by my assertion that there is no such thing as a military solution and Iran should be able to pursue its nuclear program to the same extent that everyone else does ~ I hope, none for everyone.

My accuser is an idiot American who decided to use a predictable pile of misinformation to attempt a lecture. As part of ‘becoming Daniel Xavier’, done being a people-pleaser, I decided I did not need his church’s money that badly and simply broke contact. I decided it was time to write the entry on antisemitism I’d been incubating, instead. Being called antisemitic is a twisted honor since I know, now, that I am being vocal enough to garner attention. Antisemitism in Europe sprang from superstition, bad scriptural interpretations, and inexcusable scapegoating. In a dark way, I joke that Israel is trying to remedy the senselessness of antisemitism by giving the world viable reasons to hate Jews. The flaw to that quip is that Israel does not represent world Jewry. Simultaneously, I have never said anything about the Judaic religion or Hebraic people throughout the diaspora, excepting certain Israelis, Israeli policy, and pro-Israel lobbies. I could start naming Jewish people I like but I should not have to gush about Albert Einstein or conscientious Jews I have met personally. For that matter, I follow Israeli human-rights pages with great joy and admiration. Israeli officials accuse Hamas of hiding rockets behind children but Israel, the nation-state, has hidden racist colonialism behind a relatively inoffensive faith tradition: Judaism.

“Antisemitic”, like “antiwhite”, is an obfuscatory, smokescreen label in most cases. Figuratively, the boy is crying wolf. When a Syrian crowd was chanting [trans]: “The Jews in a coffin and the Christians in Beirut {deported}”<<< THAT is antisemitism. I know what real wolves look like. Nevertheless, I could not help but notice the mixed company I have joined. Just as civil rights leaders, of great character, were accused of being “antiwhite” there are also discriminating scumbags who deflect labels like “racist” and “sexist” by crying for their free-speech and making downward social comparisons. Discrimination is not all about heinous acts: it is also about attitudes. My duty is to not fear the label while I fight for Arab human rights but also avoid becoming one of those hateful creatures.

The first step is to see the monster in myself: I am not an antisemite by nature but I have antisemitic tendencies as part of my job. Police on the gang-beat are probably not meditating on Cesar Chavez and Thurgood Marshal as they fulfill their duties-- their feelings about people of color will erode without taking time to be conscious of that deterioration. It took me several minutes to remember that Albert Einstein was Jewish at all because I have positive feelings about that name that naturally disconnect from settlers and IOF soldiers – the ‘Jews’ (practicing or not) that I hear about most. Passing through the checkpoint, the security guard came out of her booth with a lit cigarette, told me she was from Philly, and started to tell me how dangerous it was in Bethlehem [suspicious, brainwashed]. Sitting on the other side, at Tantur, a young Arab from Beit Zefafa crossed several lanes of traffic to make sure I had a place to stay for the night. It was only then that I noticed more than a dozen settlers had passed without acknowledging me [uncaring, irresponsible]. When the taxi arrived, the driver and some of his passengers were unapologetically nasty to a young tourist who had accidentally waited in the wrong place. They just would not quit or even shrug it off [unkind, nit-picky, nasty, elitist]. Between the uniforms, the yarmulkes, and the little star-of-David hanging from the rear-view mirror I can be certain these people are Jewish. I was not actively thinking about Barney Frank, who I like. It was work to pull-up on the reigns and think “these people are individually unappealing; I refuse to categorically condemn or even make a generalization just as I embrace fighting the systemic problems which encouraged them to be this way—none of which are by nature Judaic.” Fighting antisemitic thoughts is also part of my job.

Though this by no means exhausts my thoughts about antisemitism, racism, Islama-phobia, and related topics I believe I am ready to make a decree: readers, it is not the general public’s place to tell me I am being antisemitic. First of all, my former-facebook-friend demonstrated that he lacked requisite understanding of the issue and I am learning to expect no better. Second, and more important, it dawned on me that there are at least forty people, whom I call ‘colleagues’, who know me sufficiently and have heard enough about my work to make assessments about how antisemitic I am being. Added to that are higher officials in General Board of Global Ministry. There are enough people policing me and I refuse to be blown about by just any person with a facebook account. From now on, I am resolving to have faith in my colleagues and let the rest of the world blunder about as they please. If my friends are not already converts to Justice, then I cannot be held accountable for their ignorance beyond telling them the truth in the most complete way I can.

The truth remains: there is nothing that says Israel deserves to continue existing. Period. Israel has been a threat to other nations in the middle-East and the aggressor in the vast majority of circumstances, no matter what the revisionist historians say. Period. Israel, not Judaism, is a drain on US finances and Israel, not world Jewry, possesses destructive capabilities. Period. If I employed “shoot the bad guys” thinking, they would be on the top of my list. Period. I do not, nor will I ever, believe that killing innocent or even GUILTY Israelis is a solution to problems in the middle-East. Period. I employ the “Grace and cordial relations” line of thinking. FULL-STOP. Israel needs to be included in any solution for the Holy Land. Period. No matter how scummy the Israeli, the Iranian, the American, etc, that person is still entitled to God’s love and forgiveness. Period.

Halas: print-it.