Reply #8: I Wish I Knew...

[iamjoy]

the answer to this dilemma. I don't think it is so much a feeling that the Holocaust gives Jews a free pass for brutality (although certainly it tends to heighten the paranoia). When Israel was formed, the Arab nations said it had no right to exist and vowed to "push it into the sea." Now that Israel seems to have the upper hand against the Palestinians (and a willingness to use it, often brutally) they are losing the propaganda war.

Anti-Zionism is confused with Anti-Semitism because many Jews feel Israel could not exist if it did not act as it did, for these Jews, Zionism has come to define their Jewish identity. Do these critics of Israel not see that if Israel did not act as it did, the Arab countries surrounding her would drive the Jews out? In many Arab nations, Islam is the official religion and there is no freedom to worship in other ways. Other nations may allow freedom of religion, but are so predominantly Christian or Hindu that it is an "unofficial state religion" Do they not think Jews have the right to the same? In this indirect logic, Anti-Zionism is Anti-Semitism.
:think:

Why is it wrong for Israel to brutalize Palestinians, but not wrong for other Arab nations to brutalize their own dissidents?
:shrug:

I have heard the situation when Israel was first given a parcel of land, supposedly driving Palestinians out. There is dispute about whether these Palestinians chose to leave or were forced out. People ask "Well how would you feel if the US government said Native Americans should have a home of their own, so you must leave yours because we're giving them your state." I would ask, "Well how would you feel if one (or more) of the Native American tribes suddenly said, 'you stole this land from us, America has no right to exist' and then they started blowing up our shopping malls and pizza parlors?"