,
15 tweets,
3 min read
Read on Twitter
I'm not going to defend @IlhanMN. Her tweet was ill-considered. But it is vitally important we distinguish between criticism of Israel and anti-Semitism. And we also must recognize the massive response against Rep. Omar for what it is--a spasm of fear about our changing times.
The entire infrastructure that has been built over the years to advance the interests of Israel in the U.S. is quaking in its boots--not because of the badly developed arguments of a rookie Congresswoman--but because of the coming generational change in U.S. views of Israel.
Rep. Omar destroyed her own credibility by embracing an old anti-Semitic trope. There is no place for that in American politics. But even as she should be condemned, her views of Israel need to be heard. There is no reason American views on a foreign gov't should be in lockstep.
Quite the contrary, Americans who seek to protect and advance our interests, should no more reflexively embrace the views of the Israeli government than they do those of a pro-Brexit British government or an anti-refugee Italian government.
Israel's defenders would like the relationship to be deemed so important that it must not be criticized. This echoes the position, say of the Saudis in the wake of the Khashoggi murder. And it is just as indefensible.
A growing number of Americans realize that. Indeed, a growing number of Jewish Americans feel the positions of the Netanyahu government are both contrary to U.S. interests and contrary to the values of Judaism and thus the rationale for the existence of a Jewish state.
No one, in fact, has done more to damage the standing of Israel than a Netanyahu government that has actively waged war on the Palestinian people, denied them their rights, responded disproportionately to threats and refused to acknowledge their own wrong-doing.
The malfeasance and abuses of the Netanyahu government are every bit as great a threat to how Israel is viewed by Americans or to the degree to which it is supported by Americans as is anti-semitism. We must, of course, be very careful to distinguish between the two.
But if we stand for what is best about America and hope for the best for Israel, then we must welcome those who would criticize Israel's government not as our enemies but as the true to defenders of the Israeli idea and of America's deep investment in the promise of that country.
With that in mind, we must be careful that we do not allow the justifiable aspects of the critique against Rep. Omar to lead to a reflexive position where we silence active criticism of the Israeli government or the worst actions of the state of Israel.
Judging from comments in the media about her that pre-dated these statements, & comments about Rep. Rashida Tlaib, & comments about the "left" becoming anti-Israel, in my view we are in the midst of a pre-emptive push to combat the coming rethinking of the US-Israel relationship.
It will seize upon the fact that some elements who offer the critique of Israel are in fact anti-semitic or tap into anti-semitic rhetoric and traditions in order to tar with the same brush those who legitimately disapprove of the behavior of the Israeli government.
That would be a mistake. Because it would not only silence a debate we need to & deserve to have,but it would undermine the ability of the US to be a force for positive change in Israeli policies-change that is necessary to the future of Israel and to US interests in that region.
We must combat the anti-semitism. But we should also combat those who have no tolerance for democratic processes or who would seek a political purity test for politicians based on narrowly-defined, traditionalist, out-dated guidelines.
The future of the U.S.-Israel relationship...and the future of Israel and the Palestinian people and peace in the region...depends on our willingness to look past biases of all sorts to the facts on the ground, to the justice that is required and to our interests going forward.
