Denying Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar entrance to Israel is troubling. They have been critical of Israeli policies towards the Palestinians, and US relations with Israel since their election to the House of Representatives. In the United States this is often viewed as being anti-Semitic.
Let’s be clear about the definition of anti-Semitism: “…hostility to, prejudice, or discrimination against Jews. It is considered a form of racism.” (Anti-Defamation League)
According to the Anti-Defamation League, hostility toward Jews dates to ancient times, perhaps to the beginning of Jewish history. Jews were criticized and sometimes punished for their unwillingness to adopt the values and way of life in the non-Jewish societies in which it lived.
The rise of Christianity greatly increased hatred of Jews. They were seen as Christ killers, even though it was the Roman Government that carried out the crucifixion. And let’s not forget that Jesus was a Jew. Fast forward ten centuries and once again Jews were persecuted and forced to live in all-Jewish ghettos. Misunderstanding and outright dis-information led to the torture and execution of Jews. Others were forced to convert to Christianity to avoid death and torture.
By the eighteenth century the Enlightenment lessened the religious hold on society and cultural hatred increased. Jews were deprived of civil rights and subjected to great hostility. At that time, a movement emerged to try and prove Jews were of a different (and inferior) race. This later became Germany’s justification for seeking to kill every Jewish person in lands occupied by Germany during WW II, whether they practiced their faith or not. One third of all Jews, over six million, were killed in the Holocaust, the zenith of anti-Semitism in human history.
In the years since WW II anti-Semitism has waxed and waned. It is on the rise again worldwide in these chaotic, economic and political times. In the United States, the rise of white nationalism and the inflammatory rhetoric of the occupant have politicized the legitimate questions about US relations with Israel and the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Ilhan and Omar exercised their right of free speech. They are pro-Palestinian and that does not, by definition, make them anti-Semitic or anti-Israel. These two duly elected representatives, who happen to be Muslim, are questioning the US policy of unconditional support for Israel.
The Israeli government continues to enforce harsh discriminatory restrictions on Palestinian human rights, restrict the movement of people, goods and services in and out of Palestine. The Human Rights Watch has long accused Israel of severe human rights violations. The United Nations repeatedly calls for the end of Israel’s occupation of Palestinian land.
When other countries have severe human rights violations, the United Stated imposes sanctions. The United States instead gives over four billion dollars a year to Israel. That’s over ten million dollars a day. Tlaib and Ohan were simply exercising their right to free speech, to criticize US foreign policy regarding Israel. This is not anti-Semitism.
Tlaib and Ohan protest the 2011 Law for Prevention of Damage to the State of Israel through Boycott. Amnesty USA explains:
“This law makes it a civil wrong to call for a boycott of any entity because of its affiliation to Israel or to a territory under its control, including entities operating in illegal settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. A 2017 amendment to the Entry to Israel Law prohibits granting an entry visa to Israel to anyone who knowingly published a call for a boycott as defined under the 2011 law. Both these laws contravene Israel’s obligations under international human rights laws.”
The occupant’s inflammatory rhetoric regarding their protest politicizes the issue and casts dispersions on the Democratic Party. It also furthers Islamophobia in the minds of those who do not understand the complex history of the US and Israel, the history of the occupation or the gross human rights violations.
We have a moral duty as human beings to stand up to unjust laws, to protest what offends our inner moral compass and act with equanimity regardless of politics.
Dissent is a time honored, constitutionally guaranteed legal form of protest in the United States. When dissent and disagreement are seen as disloyalty and duplicity, we are sliding further down the slippery slope of nationalism and totalitarianism.
From the Tea Party to the Civil War to Women’s Suffrage to Viet Nam, to Me Too, dissent is patriotic. We can and must love our country enough to protest its policies and costly political alliances. If we don’t stand for something, we will fall for anything. Stand for human rights, stand for the poor, stand for representatives who have the courage of their convictions. Stand for those who refuse to drink the Kool-aid. Join their number. Our country is counting on you.
The Irreverent Reverend 