I agree with columnist Maddy Raymond’s statement, “Palestinian liberation does not mean Jewish destruction” (Recorder, July 13.) It is another way of saying that to champion the rights of Palestinians is not anti-semitic. However, I worry that Raymond sometimes conflates Jews with Israel or criticism of Israel with antisemitism. And I disagree that antisemitism “runs rampant in the left.”
I applaud Raymond’s willingness to wade into turbulent waters to speak her truth, and I trust that she is open to continuing to expand her vision of what will bring justice to Israel and Palestine. I have been wading in these waters for 20 years, and there is a lot to learn. I have learned to appreciate the Jewish yearning for a safe haven. I have also learned to distinguish between Jews and the state of Israel. The state of Israel pursues a policy called Zionism, which calls for the expulsion of Palestinians from their homeland in order to have a state exclusively for Jews, and this is a political posture, not a religious one.
The practice of Zionism by the state of Israel is what Palestine opposes, and what the American left opposes. I have been on the left my whole life and not found antisemitism in the causes I have worked for, among them abortion rights, low-income housing, welfare rights, civil rights, and Palestinian rights. I am not saying that there is no antisemitism on the left but it does not characterize the left and certainly not the pro-Palestine left. The Palestine liberation movement has not been hijacked by antisemitism. We are against the Israeli state occupation of Palestinian land and lives. The Palestinians I have met over many visits there are not seeking Israel’s destruction; they are seeking equality and freedom, not at the expense of Jews but hopefully alongside Jews.
Anger towards Israel is wrongfully labeled antisemitic, though the pro-Israel lobby would have you think otherwise. For a Jewish narrative that opposes Zionism, I refer you to Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), a national activist organization, and to the recently published, “A Land With A People, Palestinians and Jews Confront Zionism,” Monthly Review Press, 2021.
Raymond is re-visiting her connection to the “land of Israel,” but confuses it with the State of Israel and its policies. Jews do have a historical and spiritual connection to Palestine, but Zionist leaders have mistakenly chosen to impose that connection on others who live there. That is what needs correction, without denying everyone’s right to safety — Jews and Palestinians.
Sherrill Hogen lives in Charlemont.