As a Jew I know what antisemitism is and isn’t.  For many non-Jews that divide may be less clear, which is likely causing some to self-censor when discussing the War in Gaza.  It is to that demographic that this column speaks. Let’s begin at the beginning.

Most of us are average (hence, the term), yet almost no one views themselves that way.  It’s about more than intellect.  Because while a person’s capability certainly impacts their success (or lack of it) in life, so does how they live. We see a gap between overly generous self-perception and relentless reality in the workplace, in social settings, in extended families, in academia.  And also in ourselves. Indeed, it is one of the more complex aspects of our shared experience.

For most people, that gap is manageable, occasional, and relatively benign – waxing and waning without any lasting effects.  But it can also distort.  When this gap is a chasm, some people bridge it by defining, blaming, and acclaiming their superiority over, the “other.”  Which is the process that lies at the very heart of bigotry.

Because when you decide how a person you have never met thinks, engages the world, and lives based on their race, ethnicity, religion, or gender, then you are switching out who that person actually is with your own pre-conceived idea of who you think that person should be.  This casual denial of the “other’s” lived experiences, intellect, and unique life’s circumstances severs reality from perceptions, which can then become whatever the bigot needs it to be. Amplified and enabled by a lack of basic critical thinking skills and a profound ignorance of the human story.

As applied to Jews, those who claim that my murdered family members were not actually murdered (Holocaust deniers) or believe in an international Jewish conspiracy (the Zionist Occupation Government, or “ZOG” ), or think that the US or world economies are controlled by Jews is certainly antisemitic. If you are one of them, you need read no further. I hope you eventually heal.

What about Zionism?  Opposing the existence of a Jewish Homeland need not be antisemitic, but too often is.

Here is why.  Yes – antisemitism is only one shade of bigotry.  But it has had uniquely bad impacts.  While Germany perpetrated the Holocaust, the ground for it was prepared by 1,500 years of relentless brutalization.

Over the course of time some Jews rose above their circumstances to an uneasy place of prominence in otherwise hostile societies.  Most did not.  And all Jews remained the “other” in virtually every country where they lived.  Before 1948 (when the modern State of Israel came into existence), Jews were routinely and widely viewed – at various times and often simultaneously – as too poor, too rich, too powerful, too weak, too aggressive, too greedy, too ostentatious, too cheap, too insular, and trying too hard to assimilate. In addition to being Christ killers.

There is nothing ennobling about being bullied, raped, robbed, marginalized, and killed. If anything, once normalized being a victim tends to engender further victimization.  But a simple truth cannot be avoided.  Of all the many groups victimized by bigots over the ages, Jews are one of the very few – and the only one in the modern era – for whom bigotry is an existential issue. We have been taught by the hardest of historical experiences that we cannot remain the “other.” That without a homeland, the world will ultimately not permit us to exist.

Well – one may say – it doesn’t have to be that way. And it doesn’t.  But Jesus did not ascend the Mount to congratulate those listening to his sermon. He was admonishing them to change.

With very few exceptions they plainly did not, and neither have we. Since WWII (in which over 50,000,000 died) violence, war, and murder have steadily and incrementally accelerated. There may come a day when swords are beaten into plowshares, we treat others as we ourselves would wish to be treated, and there is war no more.  But until that day comes, opposing Zionism without also meaningfully addressing what the lack of a Jewish homeland likely means for the survival of the Jewish people is antisemitism wrapped in analytical tissue paper.  Some of which is now quite familiar.  Such as, for example, calling for a Palestine “from the river to the sea.”

Now let’s go one level deeper.  Is criticizing the polices of the Israeli government in Gaza antisemitic?  If you are coming from either of the two places described above, it very likely is.  If not, it almost certainly isn’t.

Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, Iran, and a multitude of others are irredeemable antisemites under any definition.  October 7 was a pogrom – plain and simple.   The days of casually murdering Jews because they are Jews is (and needs to be) over.  And the Israeli government (like all governments) is duty bound to minimize the death of its citizens.

In that context, all options merit consideration. But not all options are equally viable or just.  In my view, the continuing death and destruction in Gaza is not a viable option.  I well understand that Hamas – having murdered, raped, and kidnapped on October 7 – uses civilians as human shields.  And I well understand that Hamas – having initiated this blood bath – could end it overnight yet chooses not to.

To me, however, the Jewish Homeland is more than a piece of land.  It is an idea.  The land of Israel sits in a very tough neighborhood.  The idea of Israel is about hope for humankind’s most downtrodden people against extreme odds.  Hamas must be removed from Gaza and those who murdered on October 7 eliminated. But not like this. Not with Israel becoming just another very tough player in a very tough neighborhood. Because that price is too high; it requires Israelis to diminish the idea that is Israel.

All of which is just one man’s opinion, speaking only for himself.  Plainly, the quality of this discourse would benefit from the input of others. But if you choose to do so, be cognizant of not only where you have landed, but also how you got there.  Every country, including Israel, has the right to defend itself against its mortal enemies.  Every people, including the Jewish people, have the right to exist. Once this is acknowledged, then we can discuss what that should look like, how, and why.