Criticism of Israel seems off limits

[MatthewG.]

3. My father was Israeli Air Force and I criticize Israel all the time, as does he.

Last edited Thu May 13, 2021, 10:09 AM - Edit history (1)

My grandparents moved from the Soviet Union to Israel in 1950, back in those days when the two were, while not exactly allies, on relatively decent terms (and back when the American Government still practiced an even-handed approach to the conflict.)

My father served in Israel’s Air Force, as required, before moving to the United States.

I criticize Israel all the time, as does he. There’s a lot to criticize; the treatment of Palestinians has historically been deplorable and continues to be (yes, I think it’s an apartheid state, at least outside of the green line.) There’s also been an import of some of the uglier aspects of American-style conservatism combined with demographic shifts that favor religious orthodoxy, and while of course there are many decent and kind Orthodox Jews, there are also many who subscribe to ugly fundamentalist strains of Judaism.

Nations are not usually moral actors. They’re self-interested entities and governments should normally be viewed with suspicion. Israel’s government is in a somewhat fraught position, despite its relative regional strength, because of the widespread hostilities to its very existence - and while that may make its cruel treatment of Palestinians somewhat understandable, that doesn’t make it forgivable.

The only caveat I’d add is that as progressives we should resist the temptation to ascribe negative stereotypes to Jews generally; there’s been a woeful increase of anti-Semitism on the internet (at times, I can barely say anything about the Middle East conflict without having someone hurl an ethnic slur at me) which I suspect has left many Jews more reticent to criticize Israel than ever, and may have rendered many Gentiles reticent to speak on the subject at all.