Responding to international concerns with respect to the recently declared massive hunger strike held by Palestinian prisoners, the Israeli ministry of foreign affairs declared: “The Palestinian prisoners are not political prisoners. They are convicted terrorists and murderers. They were brought to justice and are treated properly under international law.” Amitai Ben-Abba counts no less than seven lies in this statement.
All over the world people who challenge Zionism are being accused of antisemitism. You might imagine the one group of dissidents who are safe from this kind of delegitimization is the Israeli Jews—they are not. This cruel irony, when exposed, may actually play a productive role in decoupling antisemitism and anti-Zionism. As actual antisemites take positions of power in the US government while maintaining a pro-Israel stance, the need to oppose the false accusations of antisemitism becomes ever more vital.
“Bro, are you out of your mind? Do you wanna get hurt?” the Israeli military bulldozer driver said.
“You know that they don’t have running water in this village?” I asked.
Amitai Ben-Abba shares a story from a day of activity with Ta’ayush, a group of Jewish Israeli solidarity activists who accompany Palestinian villagers in their struggle to survive under military law in the West Bank.