At a security conference in Germany this weekend, Secretary of State John Kerry noted that if the status quo persists in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, boycotts against the country will likely grow.
This objective observation from Kerry was met with blindingly offensive attacks by Israeli government officials, who tarred Kerry as an anti-Semite interested in Israel’s demise for legitimizing the international boycott movement by … noticing it exists.
Naftali Bennett, Israel’s Economy Minister and member of the extreme-right Jewish Home party, stated:
“We expect of our friends in the world to stand by our side against the attempts to impose an anti-Semitic boycott on Israel, and not to be their mouthpiece.”
Adi Mintz, a high-ranking official in the Settler’s Council, accused Kerry of an “anti-Semitic initiative” and stated:
“The anti-Semites have always resorted to a very simple method – hit the Jews in their pockets.
And Yuval Steinitz, Israel’s Intelligence Minister, accused Kerry of holding a gun to Israel’s head by stating that the boycott movement could grow if a peace accord is not reached:
Israel cannot be expected to negotiate with a gun to its head when we are discussing the matters which are most critical to our national interests.
Even Netanyahu critiqued Kerry for mentioning the boycotts, though in softer terms. Needless to say, the Obama administration is apoplectic, and rightly so. Israel’s closest and most important ally, the United States, is having its highest-ranking diplomat slurred as an anti-Semite. This is the man responsible for trying to broker a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and a man who has bent to nearly every Israeli demand in the process.
He is a clearly an ally in a government which is Israel’s greatest ally. So why is he being attacked as an anti-Semite, or as a mouthpiece for anti-Semitism?
Because right-wing extremists both in America and in Israel have become so accustomed to using the anti-Semitism charge as a way to either shut down dialogue on difficult issues or to delegitimize those who might critique Israel that it is now done reflexively.
This reflexivity is so pronounced that Israeli officials could, with a straight face, suggest America’s most important diplomat is anti-Semitic for merely observing the existence of the Palestinian/international boycott movement, and the danger it presents to Israel if the status quo persists. (A danger Israel’s Channel 2 profiled recently.)
For such leaders, Israel’s violation of international law, with its continued appropriation of Palestinian lands and building of settlements, is not an issue worthy of discussion.
What is? Mentioning the Palestinians’ nonviolent opposition to such violations. Even if you don’t endorse them.
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David Harris-Gershon is author of the memoir What Do You Buy the Children of the Terrorist Who Tried to Kill Your Wife?, just out from Oneworld Publications.
Follow him on Twitter @David_EHG.
To the extent your last paragraph is intended to suggest a comparison of you and Kerry, the comparison is a big fat fail.
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You’re seeing things which don’t exist. (Kind of like those Israeli officials implicated in this piece.)
The last paragraph relates to Kerry.
I agree that it only applies to Kerry.
None of those quotes have anyone calling Kerry an antisemite. They are calling a boycott of Israel antisemitic, which it is.
biz… Though I don’t agree with either David’s stated points about the “overuse of anti-Semitism” (which is just a canard used by anti-Semites to hide their anti-Semitism) or his unstated point that he just wants to keep chipping away at the American / Israeli friendship… and convince Americans to hate on Israel.
In this case, it is true that the Israeli Hard Right (not the rest of the country JUST a few politicians on the edge) have called Kerry a “mouthpiece for anti-Semitism”.Of course, David does neglect to mention that most Israelis don’t agree with this and that in public opinion poll after public opinion poll it is the Israelis who love the U.S. and the Palestinian polity that is virulently anti-U.S. Why doesn’t he mention that to give the article context? Because that defeats his false narrative of the Israelis being irrational American haters who all scream “anti-Semitism”, at the drop of a hat.
But, to say that these guys didn’t call Kerry an anti-Semite is simply not true. They did and it is a bullshit charge – Kerry is no anti-Semite.
Israel is a Jewish State. But, it is a state, and as such, deserves to be boycotted as much as any state taking part in oppressing a large minority within its borders.
The boycott is not against the Jewish people or their religion, but against the State that claims to represent their will.
Does it? Many do not believe so. The Jewish people know all too well how an oppressive state can overrun a people’s will.
The quoted remarks are in no way calling John Kerry an antisemite. They are calling a boycott of Israel antisemitic, which it is. Kerry is not even advocating a boycott, he is just saying others might, so your post just doesn’t add up.
The point of this piece is that the claim of antisemitism is overused. While that may be true at times, it is equally true that there are some who are far too dismissive of instances of antisemitism.
That is right lauren.
My criticism of DHG here does not stem from his pointing out the foibles of the Hard Right in Israel, and really they did call America and Kerry a “mouthpiece” for anti-Semitism. It is that he doesn’t ALSO mention that most Israelis don’t share this opinion, that Israel looks like it will ACCEPT the U.S. Framework (while the Palestinians will reject it). He doesn’t mention that Israeli Public Opinion shows universal love for the U.S. While the Palestinian public absolutely despises us. AND when he talks of Public Opinion he won’t mention that 71% of the Palestinian public rejects a State where Jews and Arabs are equal.
It is very much that David simply doesn’t Americans to like Israel.
I was having this same discussion with a friend last night who was apoplectic about Kerry’s comment. Thanks for articulating so well what I was trying to explain.
Kerry and indeed most American Jews are not prepared to ratify and act on Israel and AIPAC’s right wing fantasies about endless war involving US money and indeed, the lives of America’s troops—–our kids.
The use of anti-semitism charges is just meant to stop discussion. I am an American Jew and a veteran and a supporter of Israel, but I am an American first. If Israel and their US supporters want to have war in the middle east….they need to plan on having it and paying for it themselves. If it is in our interest as Americans to join in, we’ll let them know.
I’m with you, Michael. I have a similar background, though not a vet. I served in the Peace Corps during the Vietnam War and have been supporting peaceful, negotiated solutions whenever possible, for any conflict, and certainly any conflict which the U.S. gives either monitary or man/womanpower to. I was raised to believe that Israel was worth supporting at all costs, but like many Jews (not enough, unfortunately) I began to see that Israel was not keeping the most basic tenet of our religion – to treat others as we wish to be treated ourselves.
“The anti-Semites have always resorted to a very simple method – hit the Jews in their pockets”.
That’s because it seems to be the only place that affects them and might make them cease illegally occupying and colonizing the West Bank and East Jerusalem. If Israel ended the occupation and implemented a fair and equitable two state solution with the Palestinians based on the 1967 Green Line, 95% of what is called “anti-Semitism” would dry up and disappear overnight.