Memba McCarthyism? You know, when people (usually left-leaning) were accused, publicly smeared, and investigated of being communists. Remember, when various state and private institutions used harassment, intimidation, threats of unemployment, and even arrests to silence dissent and opposition? Against child labor? Communist! Pro-unions? Communist! Insist your children learn to share their toys? Communist!

Actually, that never really went away, just the mass hysteria isn’t as powerful, or wide-reaching as it was back in it’s prime fear-mongering days. But holy shit, if you have something critical to say about Israel, well that makes you not just ant-Semitic, but a terrorist sympathizer. You’re giving aid and comfort to enemies of the United States which makes also makes you an anti-American traitor!

Maybe it’s my media bubble, but I’ve seen more condemnation of valid, good-faith criticism of Israel as anti-Semitism than I’ve seen condemnation of actual anti-Semitism or even calls for genocide. The government of Israel is committing acts of terror throughout Gaza and West Bank, but if you dare to point that out, or even modestly criticize the increasingly high civilian death toll, well you just hate Jewish people. If you unironically believe this, that criticism of Israel, or Zionism, are inherently anti-Semitic, then I’m sorry that the public school system failed you as it has failed so many, but it could also be you have cognitive deficits that lead to you failing the public school system. There’s no shame in that, we all have our strengths and we can’t all be thinking individuals capable of nuance and empathy.

What we’re seeing now is the weaponization of anti-Semitism, just as anti-communism was weaponized, to silence the opposition and handwave away dissent. While we haven’t reached the same fever pitch as the Red Scare, and hopefully we wont, it’s clear some people want us heading down that road again either because they’re idiots, or evil.

I’ve previously mentioned that even before the siege of Gaza, there are multiple US states that have unconstitutional anti-BDS laws essentially requiring contractors to sign a loyalty pledge to Israel.
Ilhan Omar was smeared as an anti-Semite because she tweeted “It’s all about the Benjamins, baby” in regards to AIPAC, an Israeli lobbying group that attempts to buy influence in Congress. Which is what lobbying is. The intentional liars, or genuinely stupid, believed she was saying Jewish people are trying to buy influence, or only care about money – which are anti-Semitic tropes. But, for the illiterates among us, she never mentions Jewish people, she’s criticizing a lobbying group for doing what lobbying groups do, this one just happened to be Israeli. And for those keeping track at home, not all Jews are Israeli, and not all Israelis are Jewish. In fact, this purposeful conflation between Israelis and Jews -and as well see later Zionists- is far more anti-Semitic than Omar’s comments, but is a recurring theme both here in the US and abroad which has only increased in both frequency and absurdity since Israel began turning Gaza into rubble.

Shortly after her comments, but totally not targeting her, Congress passed a resolution condemning anti-Semitism and other forms of bigotry. More recently however, for some reason, this dark-skinned Muslim woman was targeted by Republicans and removed from the Foreign Affairs Committee because of those same comments. Meanwhile, they vociferously defend anything and everything some people say. Imagine if she said MAGA was poisoning the blood of our country.

Greta Thunberg released a picture of herself and a few friends holding signs in support of Gaza, but beside her was something insidious: a plush octopus. Thunberg, famous for her climate activism, isn’t well know for her links to white supremacist’s, use of Nazi rhetoric, or generalized anti-Semitism, but clearly her use of an octopus is a Nazi dog-whistle. While the image of an octopus whose tentacles wrap around and seize control of the world has a long history in political cartoons, including Nazi propaganda, it seems far more likely it’s just a plush octopus. In fact, she even explained that it’s used as a tool by some autistic people to help convey emotion. She apologized and took down the original photo, which she shouldn’t have because any one sincere in their belief that she used this as a Nazi dog-whistle is truly deluded, and anyone intelligent wasn’t acting in good-faith.

Taking it down wasn’t enough, however. She, and all those who identify with her, were labelled as a terrorist sympathizers by an Israeli military spokesperson. Israel even responded on the website formerly known as Twitter by saying Hamas rockets aren’t made with sustainable materials – implying she’s supporting Hamas, despite they’re lack of commitment to environmental issues.

Rashida Tlaib called for a ceasefire, but she also used the phrase “From the river to sea, Palestine will be free.” Tlaib explained, in addition to a ceasefire, she was calling for a single-state solution where both Palestinians and Israelis enjoy equal rights and protections under the law. Although that phrase predates Hamas, sure, you can make the argument that she shouldn’t use that it since they’ve coopted it – and when Hamas says “from the river to sea” they’re giving off major genocide vibes for sure.

But thankfully, the US House was able to put partisanship aside and come together in condemning her calls for peace and unity.

The US House also passed a bill condemning anti-Semitism, which is great, but that same bill also equates anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism, which is less great, in fact it’s so not great its been condemned by Jews as anti-Semitic. Zionism is essentially the belief and movement that there should be an official Jewish State and that state should be the ancestral home of the Jewish people. It doesn’t sound so bad at first. But an official state for Muslims, or Christians would be bordering on, if not explicitly, a Theocracy. An official state for any ethnic group, say white people for example, would be an ethnostate. Then there’s the question of where are the borders of this ancestral homeland of the Jews? Depends who you ask. Some Zionists believe in making Israel whole which includes the West Bank and Gaza, some believe in a Greater Israel which includes land claimed by other nations; regardless there’s already people living in these places. Of course we can’t forget about the Christian Zionists who believe Israel needs to be remade whole in order to fulfill a prophecy about the End Times which is a super healthy, normal, and not at anti-Semitic belief that requires no further examination.

Israel has thousands of political prisoners, including children, activists, and protestors who will receive a military trial. Also the IDF has killed a truly shocking number of journalists and sometimes their families too. Like if anybody else killed that many journalists you’d probably start to think that maybe, just fucking maybe it was on purpose. Here at home, we’ve also had protestors arrested while also being smeared as terrorists, and the Anti-Defamation League even wrote an open letter to Universities urging them to investigate protests and student groups for “materially supporting terrorism.” At least one University in DC has called on the FBI to investigate the bold and heinous acts of poster vandalism while others have dissolved student groups opposed to the mass killing of civilians.

Are there bigots out there who support Hamas because they hate Jews? Obviously. But no one with any real significance or power is doing that. While members of Congress and the Israeli government get a free pass to deny civilians exist in Gaza and call for the entire strip be turned into a fucking parking lot– amongst other genocidal rhetoric easily recognized as such if it came from someone like Putin- anti-Semitism is being weaponized by individuals, organizations and even the State to deflect any and all criticism of Israel’s war crimes.

We can have a debate over where the limits of free-speech are, whether or not you should lose your job, be kicked out school, censured by Congress, or investigated by the FBI for simply saying something, but it sure as shit ain’t calling for an end to ethnic cleansing.

~David T.K.~