Note to progressives – it is not possible to have a different set of rules for Israel
Giant mock apartheid wall from Students for Justice in Palestine at the University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign, now for sale
Alice Rothchild writes in Mondoweiss:
On November 14, 2019, The New York Times published an opinion piece titled, “On the Frontlines of Progressive Anti-Semitism.” The first thing that caught my eye is that the author is a Mr. Blake Flayton, a sophomore at George Washington University who describes himself as a Jewish progressive and an advocate for gay rights, abortion and the environment. As a writer and social commentator, I am painfully aware of how difficult it is for a not-so-famous person to get an opinion piece published anywhere, particularly at the very high falutin NYT.
As a liberal minded person, Mr. Flayton is apparently very tired of being called “an ‘apartheid-enabler,’ a ‘baby killer’ and a ‘colonial apologist.’” Okay, so maybe he actually wrote the technically very well composed piece or maybe he was fed the talking points. Interestingly, a quick review of his social media reveals that he is a student, (reassuring) writer, lover of Mexican food, a musical theatre enthusiast, and a “courageous Zioness and student activist, involved at GW Hillel.” Now Zioness is a very slick organization that vigorously defends the idea that one can be progressive and Zionist at the same time. It is registered as a 501C3 and interestingly shares the same address as The Lawfare Project. Zioness’ founder and CEO Amanda Berman was an employee of The Lawfare Project which is now ironically complaining that Zioness is not unabashedly Zionist enough. The Lawfare Project describes itself as “the legal arm of the pro-Israel community.” It functions as a kind of legal pitbull on all things Palestine and its main attack strategy is that universities that do not suppress Palestinian solidarity work are failing to protect Jewish students. Hillel is an international Jewish campus organization that provides a home for Jewish students (from kosher food to a large collection of nice Jewish boys), and also espouses a clear stand-with-Israel against boycott, divestment, and sanction and other criticisms policy.