A Critic of Israel is a What???

Driving into work this morning, I happened to catch "Commentary" on CBC's Eyeopener program.

Today's speaker was some lawyer from "The Center of the Universe(tm)" (aka Toronto) who was arguing that modern criticism of the Israeli state is somehow anti-Semitism in a new guise.

I have no doubt that there are plenty of neo-Nazis, Holocaust deniers and others that are quite loud in their critiques of Israel. However, I don't think the existance of these loons justifies a global assertion that any criticism of Israel is inherently anti-Semitic.

The author on the radio this morning went on to assert that Israel has been unduly maligned on the world stage. After all, where are those critics when it comes to China's treatment of Tibet; Russia's handling of Chechnya, or the ongoing civil war in Sudan?

Further, he asserted that Israel has experienced some 20,000 acts of "Palestinian Terrorism" in the last year. Therefore, Israel's behaviour towards the Palestinians has been quite benign.

First, just because I happen to think that the Israeli government - especially under Sharon - is as much a part of the problem as the terrorist organizations claiming to be fighting "for the Palestinian Cause(tm)" does not make me anti-Semitic. Criticism of the behaviour of governments is legitimate discourse. I may, for example, criticise the Iranian government for its policies towards women. That doesn't make me "anti-Islamic" either.

The second part of the author's complaints were that the world appears to be more inclined to condemn Israel for its practices while other, equally (or more) egregious events are taking place. This is not a legitimate defense of Israel's actions towards the Palestinians. The fact that other nations are engaging in activities that I would politely describe as noxious doesn't absolve Israel of responsibility for its actions vis a vis the Palestinian people.

Expressed concerns about Israel's behaviour are no more "anti-Semitic" than criticism of the Bush administration's invasion of Iraq is "pro-terrorism".

The situation in Israel is socially and politically complex, riddled with issues that ripple back throughout history and have never been adequately resolved. Ultimately, it is incumbent upon both Israeli and Palestinian leaders to come to a solution. Both sides have sunk to new lows in human affairs. It is past time for them to put aside their pugilism, and move forward. Extremism, violence and retribution solve nothing, and do little more than create more bodies to be buried.

To say so is neither anti-Arab, nor is it anti-Israeli. It is a legitimate critique of the situation. No more, no less. Those that accuse all critics of being "anti-Semitic" are engaging in hysterical over-generalizations.