New Israeli report lies about anti-Semitism
Ali Abunimah writes in The Electronic Intifida:
Israel always wants to claim that all its crimes and achievements are Jewish crimes and achievements, and that therefore anyone who condemns Israel’s crimes is condemning all Jews.
But principled critics of Israel must and do insist that Israel’s crimes are not committed in the name of all Jews.
Yet two groups share an interest in erasing the distinction between Israel, on the one hand, and Jews individually and collectively, on the other.
The first group is anti-Semites who want to seize on Israel’s crimes to justify their bigotry against Jews – such people are not motivated by genuine solidarity with Palestinians.
The second group is Israel and its supporters around the world, who – by implicating Jews in Israel’s crimes – want to use Jews and genuine concern about anti-Semitism as a shield for Israel.
By crying wolf, this second group harms the struggle against real anti-Jewish bigotry, which all anti-racists must support.
In that spirit, Israel published a report on Wednesday claiming to “unmask” the BDS – boycott, divestment and sanctions – movement as inherently anti-Semitic.
At a press conference in Brussels, Israeli strategic affairs minister Gilad Erdan declared that “BDS leaders who use anti-Semitic language and images that also prove their principles, of boycotting the Jew among the nations, Israel, are anti-Semitic.”
This is an old theme that Israel is pursuing with renewed vigor.