BoSoxGal wrote:I'm the furthest thing from an anti-Semite; yet while I have serious concerns about and objections to many of Netanyahu's policies, I've long since given up speaking up about them.
Criticism of anything Jewish simply isn't allowed. Even Jews in Israel who criticize their government's policies toward Palestinians, settlements, etc. are often publicly decried.
For a non-Jew it's a lose-lose. If you mention Jews and money anywhere in the same essay - much less sentence - you're an anti-Semite. (Logic dictates that to speak about US foreign policy generally requires discussing foreign aid, yet use of the otherwise innocuous phrase 'follow the Benjamins' with regard to aid and lobbying re: Israel brings down a hail of criticism from right and left alike. Of course, Muslim Congresspersons probably should keep their mouths shut entirely, like Germans, when it comes to Jews.)
I have very mixed feelings about this; as a 2nd generation German American on my father's side, with cousins whose grandparents were Nazis, I have so much guilt about the Holocaust and I believe firmly in the adage that we must never forget, so as to never repeat. But while we must never forget the Holocaust, does that mean we can never, ever criticize anything about Israel, or the pro-Israel lobby in the US?
The cartoon, IMHO, is very apt.
The imagery in the cartoon is not inherently anti-Semitic, but it is probably ill-advised given the history of actual anti-Semitic cartooning and the dog-whistling these particular tropes might represent.
As for criticism of Israel, it's only problematic if you credit the right-wing apologists who scream "Anti-Semitism!" whenever legitimate political issues are raised. There is already plenty enough anti-Jewish and anti-Muslim bigotry in American public discourse, we don't need to invent more that really isn't there. But complaints of anti-Semitism (like other complaints of "intolerance") are unfortunately frequently deployed as a political tool to silence opposition. There is a difference between criticizing acts of the Jewish state and criticizing Jews generally, and it is precisely the same difference between criticizing acts of the Islamic State and criticizing Muslims generally.
So that you know there is an active movement that both supports Israel and criticizes its government, here are some website resources:
J Street
Peace Now USA/שלום עכשיו
B'Tselem
Religious Action Center (URJ)
And a news organization that has battled its way back from extinction to new relevance:
Forward
