'Don't be fooled.' Being against Israel's genocide does not make you antisemitic

Columbus Dispatch
·2 min read
46
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

Story of loss a poignant reminder of love

I commend Abbey Roy for her achingly beautiful and sensitively written May 12 column “A Mother’s Day of Grief."

Who would not be moved to tears to understand the grief of this husband’s loss of wife Nellie and newborn daughter and of Nellie’s family.

Abbey Roy (right) pictured with one of her children.
Abbey Roy (right) pictured with one of her children.

I am in awe of this young man’s reflections on the life of his wife and of the precious few moments he had with his child.

And we thank him for his loving tribute to mothers. What a gift to all of us.

Susan B. West, Athens

Pranav Jani, an associate professor of English at Ohio State and faculty advisor for the Students for Justice in Palestine chapter, uses a megaphone Wednesday as hundreds gathered on Ohio State University's South Oval in a demonstration in support of Palestine and calling on OSU to cut ties with businesses linked to Israel.
Pranav Jani, an associate professor of English at Ohio State and faculty advisor for the Students for Justice in Palestine chapter, uses a megaphone Wednesday as hundreds gathered on Ohio State University's South Oval in a demonstration in support of Palestine and calling on OSU to cut ties with businesses linked to Israel.

My pro-humanity protest

In his opinion piece in the April 12 Dispatch ("Don't be fooled by real intent of protests at Ohio State"), Phil Derrow assumes the protests at Ohio State were " . . . against Israel and Jews . . . " Perhaps they were against genocide.

I'm neither antisemitic nor anti-Israel, but I am anti-genocide and anti Benjamin Netanyahu who is apparently unconcerned by the number of civilians killed and injured in Gaza.

'Don’t be fooled.' Ohio State campus protests not about suffering in Gaza | Phil Derrow

While I certainly agree that Hamas' attack on October 7 was horrific, at some point Israel's response has exceeded retribution and the targets have exceeded the perpetrators.

Count this as my protest, not anti-Jew but pro-humanity.

Neal Snyder, Columbus

It is not antisemitic to be against Israel's war

I don't understand why people can't separate the government of Israel from Jewish people.

To disagree with the actions of the Israeli government is not antisemitic, it is disagreeing with a governmental policy. The Israeli government is callously killing Palestinian civilians to accomplish their goal of eradicating Hamas.

Opinion: Jewish, Palestinian students are terrified. Why colleges must try what Ohio State is doing.

Does the Israeli government have a right to protect themselves from Hamas? Absolutely. Do they need to kill 30,000-plus civilians to do so? Don't think so.

There has to be a better way.

It is entirely reasonable to protest the policies and actions of the Israeli government without it being a protest against Jews..

Israel's policy is currently inhumane. This doesn't mean that all Jews are inhumane. Conversely, Hamas committed the atrocities on Israeli citizens. Palestinian civilians were not the perpetrators so they are not criminals who need to be punished.

We need to think critically about who we want to be angry with. It seems like both sides have blame  to share.

Do we view the conflict between Russia and Ukraine from any other lens than one country wanting to take over another country with the cost being loss of life of innocent civilians? We need to  view the Gaza conflict the same way.

It benefits no one to assign labels to our anger.

People are dying.

Holly Richard, Columbus

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: It is not antisemitic to be anti-Benjamin Netanyahu genocide