Opinions and Anti-Semitism

 A few days ago in Jewish History, we talked about what it means to be Anti-Semitic in relation to your opinions on the state of Israel. Aaron (my Jewish History teacher) reminded us all that disliking things that the Israeli government is doing is vastly different from thinking the entire Jewish state should be pushed into the sea. That is a viewpoint that I wish more people would share.

Yes, I'm aware that a good number do, but it's the loud minority of fanatically pro-Israel people who convince the ignorant that you have to support everything about the state of Israel or risk being thought an Anti-Semite.

I definitely see Aaron's point, and I'm glad that I'm not the only one who thinks so. After all, there have been several things that the Israeli government has done over the course of my time as a person aware of world issues. For instance, I really wish that Netanyahu hadn't recently released so many prisoners for the sake of peace talks – especially since letting go of some settlements (and putting much fewer people in danger) would have worked just as well. The prisoners were locked up for a reason, after all. At the very least, someone should have made sure they weren't dangerous before releasing them out into the world. I don't really see how that opinion could be labelled as “anti-semitic”, do you?

There is lots of debate over whether various American politicians' expressed opinions on Israel could be considered anti-semitic or not. The opinions that I speak of are mostly along the lines of Israel not deserving to exist, and that sort of thing. It's the claims that Israel needs to be obliterated, wiped off the map, shoved into the sea, etc. that are anti-semitic. Disagreeing with something the Israeli leadership has done – and saying so – is not. The mistake that I believe people (especially politicians) too often make is blaming a country for it's leader's actions.

Basically, what I'm trying to say is that disliking a government is different from disliking a country. It's okay to disagree with the decisions of some high up politician, even when it's in the Holy Land. After all, we do it all the time in the States. What it's not okay to do is wish the entire country dead because of it.