Thread by @MindfulMajority

🇮🇱🇮🇱THREAD ON ANTI-SEMITISM & ISRAEL🇮🇱🇮🇱

Those who conflate opposition to unquestioning support for Israel with anti-Semitism are like #JussieSmollett: they cheapen the experiences of actual victims of anti-Semitism

https://twitter.com/CNNPolitics/status/1102077903649554432

Let's be clear, anti-Semitism is real and, sadly, it's on the rise in the U.S., especially since the 2016 election. According to the Anti-Defamation League, there was a 60% increase in anti-Semitic incidents from 2016 to 2017.
adl.org/news/press-rel…

The massacre at the #TreeOfLifeSynagogue last fall was the deadliest attack on the American Jewish community in U.S. history. And it was committed by an anti-Semitic white nationalist.
nytimes.com/2018/10/27/us/…

And we must never forget #Charlottesville, where tiki-torch-carrying neo-Nazis marched in the streets, chanting "the Jews will not replace us." This is the same group who Trump called "very fine people."

Last week, @RepEliotEngel accused @IlhanMN of a "vile anti-Semitic slur" when she questioned the influence of groups that lobby "for allegiance to a foreign country." Rep Engel's conflation of a foreign policy disagreement w/ anti-Semitism is what is vile. washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/…

Support for the Government of #Israel's political policies, which impact U.S. national security interests, is AN ENTIRELY SEPARATE TOPIC from the need for Americans to uniformly protect and uphold Jewish people across the globe.

Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, a Jew and a Republican, said it best when he proclaimed that THE U.S. SHOULD SUPPORT #ISRAEL'S SECURITY, BUT NOT ISRAEL'S CONQUESTS.

Last month, after Ilhan Omar tweeted what critics called an anti-Semitic trope about Jews and money (she later deleted the tweet and apologized), Republican leaders quickly pounced.

.@GOPLeader McCarthy quickly condemned Ilhan Omar, but failed to acknowledge his own anti-Semitic trope last fall when he accused 3 Jewish billionaires of trying to buy the elections. McCarthy issued this tweet not long after Soros received a pipe bomb from the #MAGABomber:

Similarly, @realDonaldTrump called on Ilhan Omar to resign b/c of her alleged "anti-Semitism." This is the same Donald Trump who labeled neo-Nazis in Charlottesville "very fine people," and who proudly accepted support in 2016 from admitted white supremacists like David Duke.

Last week, @IlhanMN's spokesperson rightly pushed back: "We must distinguish between criticism of a particular faith & fair critiques of lobbying groups."

We should treat #AIPAC as we do the NRA, ALEC, & every other powerful lobbying group: with a healthy dose of skepticism.

Currently, the right-wing Government of #Israel, led by the eminently corrupt Benjamin #Netanyahu, is pursuing a policy of apartheid against Palestinians. While most Israelis want long-term peace, Netanyahu's gov't is systematically making peace unlikely.

Life in ever-dwindling Palestinian territories has become a proverbial hell. Settlement expansion in the West Bank, along with proliferating checkpoints, have wholly humiliated Palestinians and made them prisoners in their own lands. #Israel #Palestine

While Palestinians have certainly brought some of their misery upon themselves, a permanent two-state solution is needed where Palestinians can live in self-government. Settlement expansion has turned their lands into a block of Swiss cheese. #Israel #Palestine

Unfettered support for #Israel has become an article of faith in the GOP. This is in part due to #Evangelical belief of Israel's key role in bringing about Armageddon and "the Rapture," NOT because of the right's admiration for the Jewish people. It's a marriage of convenience.

BOTTOM LINE:

1) The #Israel-#Palestine conflict is an incredibly complex situation with many dimensions.
2) Anti-Semitism is vile and is on the rise.
3) Questioning the U.S.'s unfettered support for Israel, & the influence of pro-Israel lobbying groups IS NOT ANTI-SEMITISM.

Americans can disagree with Israeli policies while vigorously supporting its right to security. One can oppose #Israel’s occupation and exploitation of Palestinian lands while respecting the Jewish faith.

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