Anti-Semitism is getting pretty scary. A friend sent me a link the other day to a rally that happened in San Francisco during Israel’s incursion into Gaza last month. There were some signs calling on Israel to pull back. Mostly, however, were signs berating and degrading Jews. There were swastikas and there were calls for Jews to go back to the ovens (a reference to the Holocaust).
I could not believe that this protest took place in America!
I am pretty passionate about Israel, so I come with my own set of biases. But I do believe that anti-Israel sentiment is the new Anti-Semitism. Israel can do no right. The terrorists, somehow, gain Americans’ sympathy … the same terrorists whom danced on 9/11.
I was speaking at McDonogh the other week, talking about being a journalist in Israel to 565 teenagers. When I finished, though my goal was to give a message that any reporter can have an impact, the questions were almost all about the war against Hamas. One student asked me if I thought Israel’s closing its Gaza border had too severe an impact on the Palestinian population.
I answered him that Israel keeps its borders closed to prevent heinous attacks against Israeli civilians. I also mentioned, of course, that Israel has let thousands of tons of humanitarian aid across the border to help the Palestinians – both during the Gaza offensive and today. Of course, Hamas steals much of that aid, so the innocent Palestinians don’t see all the benefit.
I think the Palestinians need to choose – choose new leaders that don’t use them as human shields and that don’t fire rockets and mortars at Israeli civilians. Maybe if Israel had a partner for peace, there would be peace.
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