Israel Has Become a Burden to the Jewish People

Odeh Bisharat

Haaretz. May 8, 2024

Sometimes I wonder why we don’t see demonstrations in America against Russians because of Russia’s aggression on Ukraine, or why we don’t see demonstrations against Chinese because of China’s designs on Taiwan. The first thing that comes to me, and this of course is a partial answer, is that Chinese-Americans don’t support the Chinese regime and the same goes for Russian Americans. These citizens are not the address for protests against these countries and their regimes; on the contrary, they are part of the struggle against them.

When it comes to the Jews of America, the situation is different. The Jewish leadership there is intimately connected to the government of Israel and supports its policy. It contributes, lobbies and acts as a mouthpiece for the government of Israel, which for the past 60 years has been occupying the Palestinian people with everything that entails, including cruel oppression. This leadership is also almost completely synchronized with the two components of the American political establishment – the Democratic and Republican parties. Can one imagine what American support for Israel would look like without the influence of the Zionist lobby?

For years, public opinion in the world embraced the Jews, who were presented – and rightly so – as the victims of the Nazi monster and antisemitism in Europe. In the early years of the state, young people from the United States and Europe flocked to moshavim and kibbutzim to lend a hand to a people that had been extracted from the horrors of Nazism. (On the way, somehow, the crimes against the Palestinian people were forgotten.)

But why go so far back in history? It suffices to look to the first days after Hamas’ criminal attack on October 7. Israel received public support in the U.S. and Europe, mostly from the usual backers. But that support evaporated rapidly, as those same people were not willing to accept Israel as the victim at the same time as its warplanes were slaughtering tens of thousands of Palestinians.

The wheel of life is cruel. Once, back in the day, if you just said Israel, the figure of the Jew rising as a hero from the ashes and building an exemplary state would be conjured up. Now the world sees the people that rose from the ashes destroying the lives and futures of another people.

In our world, myths change fast and the days when Israel was seen as a David fighting Goliath are long gone. Today, it is the Palestinians who are David, facing an Israel armed to the teeth, but also America, Germany, Britain, France – countries with a glorious imperialist past, and in addition rich Arab oil giants. All of them have united behind the symbols of ethnic cleansing who hold positions of power in the Israeli government – Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich. All of them have united against the poor Palestinian people.

The solidarity with the Palestinian people is more than just political or human solidarity. It expresses the spirit of justice that beats in the hearts of young people around the world. But the Israeli leadership backed by the Zionist establishment in America refuses to come to terms with this revolution that has taken root slowly for years. Thus, Israel, which was once a source of pride for Jews across the world, has become a burden for them.

What is encouraging is that this too is changing. Many of the young generation of Jews in America have released themselves from the shackles of the Zionist leadership and are speaking out against occupation and repression. They were the first in America, and perhaps in the world, to launch mass protests against Israel’s actions in Gaza – and New York’s metro stations bear witness to this. What a wonderful generation it is that says the massacre in Gaza is not in our name. These young Jews are restoring past glory; the Jews in Europe and around the world were always on the liberal side in the difficult moments of history.

And one more thing: Antisemitism can’t be defeated when people are supporting the Smotrich-Ben-Gvir government.

[https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/2024-05-08/ty-article-opinion/.premium/israel-has-become-a-burden-to-the-jewish-people/0000018f-5429-d209-a79f-542914fc0000]