Israel lobbyists have opened a new front in their effort to characterize Palestinian solidarity as “antisemitic.” Now that two House members and leading human rights groups have said Israel practices “apartheid,” Israel’s friends want to shut down the discussion. It’s a good battle to have, as even mainstream groups say the shoe fits Israel.
Israel suffered a P.R. disaster in the last Gaza attack: western media for once openly questioned the reasoning and morality behind yet another murderous onslaught on an imprisoned population, the fifth in the last 12 years. Even the NYT runs an op-ed saying that “legitimate resistance” to violence is a Palestinian right. Pro-Israel voices in the media are pushing back by saying sharp criticism of Israel is antisemitism.
The “apartheid” accusation against Israel from leading human rights groups had a very serious intention: to change the western understanding of what is taking place in Israel. There is only one state between the river and the sea, the occupation is 54 years old and Israeli leaders have no intention of reversing it, so Israel must grant equal rights to all under its governance. But western media and liberal Zionists are determined to make the charge disappear, as they cling to the fantasy that there can still be a Palestinian state in the land east of the green line, and a “Jewish democracy” to the west.
Israel’s onslaught on Gaza is a p.r. disaster, with broadcast hosts accusing the country of war crimes. Reform Jewish leader Rabbi Rick Jacobs says it’s time for American Jews to stand up for their Israeli siblings and counter the bad press and “raise the voice of solidarity and love.”
Park Avenue Synagogue’s Rabbi Neil Zuckerman expressed worshipful feelings about his Israeli soldier son’s M16 because it represents the “miracle” of Jewish power.
Rep. Rashida Tlaib’s courageous encounter with President Biden on a tarmac in Detroit yesterday, demanding action against Israeli war crimes, is already having an effect. Biden, who is on the defensive from the progressive wing of his party, told Netanyahu today that he “expects ‘a significant de-escalation today on the path to a ceasefire,” NBC reports.
Don’t look now, but mainstream Democrats are defying Israel over the Gaza attack. Chuck Schumer calls for a cease fire, joining 30 other Senators, and Gregory Meeks, chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, called for a hold on a $735 million sale of missiles and bombs to Israel that the White House approved May 5 — till he backed down today. But liberal Zionist J Street group is for all military aid continuing to flow to Israel.
Enabled by Human Rights Watch’s April finding, mainstream media figures are coming out and saying that Israel practices apartheid– lately Ali Velshi, John Oliver explain the Gaza onslaught by saying the a-word. And Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez also said “Apartheid states are not democracies” over the weekend.
Chuck Schumer once called for Gaza to be “strangled.” Now the NY senator is silent as progressive Democrats decry Israeli onslaught and Schumer’s potential adversary in 2022, AOC, brands Israel an “apartheid state.” The other leading pro-Israel Democratic senator, Robert Menendez, has called for accountability for Israeli attacks on civilian targets and media outlets in Gaza. Even Paris Hilton is calling Israeli attack a “genocide.”
The US press is finally making room for Palestinian voices, with a stunning op-ed by Refaat Alareer in the NYT about how it feels to be pounded by missiles in Gaza. And Rula Jebreal tells MSNBC that Palestinians inside Israel experience “Trumpism on steroids.” But Israel supporters fight back, with Bari Weiss saying that killing innocent children is the price of having a state.