Stop the killing in Gaza. Opposing Israel’s genocide isn’t antisemitic.
Israel’s genocide against the Palestinian people of Gaza has galvanized vociferous opposition across the globe, most recently on college campuses throughout the U.S. and in other countries as well. Support for Palestine has also grown dramatically within Jewish communities evident by massive actions from the take-over of public spaces and the blocking of business as usual, to the many young Jews part of the campus encampments in solidarity with the Palestinian people of Gaza, happening right at this moment.
But we also know that part of the Jewish community—and mainstream Jewish organizations—continue to support the genocide (as does the U.S. Administration). One of its main points of attack is accusing the movement for Palestinian justice of antisemitism. This attack is an act of desperation. It always has been, and that is true at this moment, too.
There is nothing remotely antisemitic in holding a nation-state — including the Jewish nation-state — accountable for egregious abuses and violations of human rights. There is nothing antisemitic in standing against a genocide happening in real time. There is nothing antisemitic in protesting U.S. complicity in that genocide. And there is nothing antisemitic in protesting Jewish organizations standing on the wrong side of justice.
Letters: Why blame Israel alone and cast no criticism on Hamas atrocities?
For this Jew, I consider it my obligation in every part of my being to join with Palestinians and others across the world who are saying no to the unconscionable destruction of Palestinian society and no to the enormous brutality against the Palestinian people of Gaza.
Pro-Palestinian protests miss the point: Israel is fighting for its existence
At this moment, Israel has killed close to 35,000 Palestinians and is deliberately starving the population in Gaza. Israel has destroyed Gaza’s healthcare system, its basic infrastructure, its cultural and academic institutions, and its humanitarian aid distribution systems. Just recently, the bodies of over 400 Palestinians, showing signs of torture and executions, have been uncovered in mass graves at hospitals in Gaza. This alone should stop the world in its tracks. Does it not seem obvious that hurling charges of antisemitism at those protesting this brutality reflects a breathtaking level of inhumanity?
Donna Nevel, a community psychologist and Jewish activist living in South Florida, is co-director of PARCEO, which has created a curriculum on antisemitism from a framework of collective liberation.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: I'm Jewish. Wanting Israel to stop its Gaza genocide isn't antisemitic
