THE GAZA WAR, ISRAELI SETTLERS ON THE WEST BANK AND FREE SPEECH
Dr Common Good
This will be a short post.
Let me make it clear. Opposing Israel’s actions in Gaza and the actions of Israeli settlers in the West Bank is not antisemitism. This distortion needs to stop, and the unjustified, malicious, political and cynical suppression of anyone who voices that opinion needs to stop.
We can all agree that Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attack was heinous and unforgivable. But the mass killing of 50,000 Gazans, which does not even include the larger number maimed and otherwise damaged, cannot in any way be characterized as just retribution, or as representing any conceivable military strategy to eliminate Hamas. It is a stain on Israel that will reverberate for generations. There is also little doubt that among the far right in Israel the Gaza War and the increase in militant settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank are part and parcel of a longstanding policy aim of Palestinian removal. This will only increase anti-Israel sentiment and Palestinian militancy.
I will put it this way, as I have before. It is entirely consistent to support long-term security and peace in Israel and to condemn what Netanyahu and his government has done, and to condemn the unrestrained violence of settlers – because these actions will never lead to peace and security.
So, to you who label as antisemitic people and groups who condemn these Israeli actions, you are falsely using the charge of antisemitism to shut down free speech and justified moral outrage. Shame on you. It is cynical, and undermines the real efforts needed to combat true antisemitism.