Being pro-Palestinian is antisemitism only to the state of Israel. Plus of course, Israel’s propaganda succeeds in convincing many that to acknowledge Palestine is to be against Israel. It is just not true and not right.

Historically, people have given the Israeli government the benefit of the doubt, and given them leeway in the shadow of the Holocaust. But now Israel is squandering its credibility and Israeli intentions are extreme and criminal. The state of Israel is hurting the Jewish people, be they in Israel or around the world.

America and Israel have long been in bed together, but as bombing continues, so does the prospect of a divorce, at least with American people. This is influencing the upcoming election and America’s world standing. This is a forever stain on humanity.

When you are for a people (or at least okay with them), it doesn’t mean you are against another people. So, pro-Palestinian is not antisemitism. If you think or say that Palestinians deserve to be afforded the same rights as any other people, you are not being antisemitic.

Israel’s victimization claim has turned inward on itself

Their orchestrated division is only one trait of the fascism that the Israel government displays. Israel is horrifying the world through the Gaza atrocity. The push back is not against Jewish people. Many Jewish people are among the detractors of the Israeli state.

Israel is adept at manipulating people for the good of the state and its political agenda. But their formidable propaganda machine is sputtering loudly and they are acting barbaric. Israel is sitting in the Middle East powder keg playing with fire, so people are paying attention. This scenario does not bode well for Israel, or the world, if they blunder on.

Conversely, antisemitism is antisemitism. Sadly, there is antisemitism in the form of someone displaying ill-will or prejudice against someone because that person is of the Jewish faith. But beyond any “natural” antisemitism, powerful Israelis get job security by producing antisemitism. Antisemitism, as contrived and manipulated today by Israel, is antisemetic, in that it hurts the Jewish people.

Another Pro-Palestinian Jew

The state of Israel works hard to deny and suppress pro-Palestinian Jews. In fact, there are many, especially among Jewish youth. Rene Lichtman is an eighty-sixty-year-old pro-Palestinian secular Jew. Unlike most others who are intimidated, he does speak up.

Rene has been a Detroiter since the 70s, where he landed after the Vietnam war. He is a secular Jew, who has always leaned socialist and left. He has been a long-time spokesperson for Jews and Israel, largely due to his being a childhood Holocaust survivor. For twenty years he gave presentations and led discussions at the Zekelman Holocaust Center in metro Detroit. Recently, the administrators removed him from the list of scheduled speakers, because he participated in a pro-Palestinian demonstration. 

Some people say Rene Lichtman is over-the-top or a little bit angry on current Israeli issues. Lichtman says Jewish youth are being victimized, sacred Jewish values are being abandoned, and antisemitism is being abused and manipulated. Understandably, he is against the Israeli action in Gaza and the West Bank. Plus, he is pro-Palestinian in the sense that he has Palestinian friends and interactions.

Rene is well read and quite ready to share his perspective. His views are supportable, even if others who share them might not be so brash. I find him credible and will follow up with him on the following list of items I heard from him while preparing for a recent interview (see minutes 25-105).

Interesting Points Raised by Rene:

• Israel makes money off of antisemitism, and it ramped up markedly about two years ago. It is cynical that Israel does this given the denigration it heaps upon the Holocaust.
• Holocaust lessons, as he taught to countless classes at the memorial center, have gone by the wayside when you consider what Israel is doing in Gaza. Israelis are using the same techniques (examples: food deprivation, calling people animals, separation of families) as was applied to them by the Nazis.
• Under unbearable conditions, Hamas Palestinians in Gaza strike against the oppressors, even if they know they will die, just as the Jews did in concentration camps.
• Israel and the Nazis have/had the same general goal: move people out.
• The killing of children by Israel is like Himmler’s pep-talk direction to Nazis; preventative murders, so they cannot come back later as avengers.
• Israel promotes itself as victims so much that the culture has spawned a hierarchy of victimhood. Israel says the Gaza war came about because Israel is a victim of demonic rage and evil imposed by Hamas. The war is just another dimension of Israeli victimization, according to the state.

On the lighter side, among Detroit Arabs and Pro-Palestinian Jews, there has been speculation that they are all probably hereditarily interconnected, a mixing of tribes from days of old. Who would agree to a DNA test? Wasn’t one of Abraham’s sons sent off to create another people?