CRITICAL BUT NOT RACIST
Washington Post, 7/6/02
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A30749-2002Jul5.html
As an American Jew, I am outraged by Abraham Foxman's irrational
conclusions from the Anti-Defamation League's poll on anti-Semitism in
Europe [op-ed, June 27]. Although attacks on synagogues are undoubtedly
troubling and cause for concern, Foxman's assessments of the trends
associated with these attacks are so contrived as to be utterly puzzling.
If 45 percent of those Europeans polled think that most Jews have a strong
loyalty to Israel, they are right -- from an early age, we are taught that
Israel is a homeland to Jews, and thus most Jews develop a strong
connection to it. This perception being accurate, how is it that those who
have noticed can be categorized as anti-Semitic?
By the same token, Foxman reports that 62 percent of those polled see the
outbreak of violence against Jews as a result of anti-Israel sentiment, not
anti-Jewish feelings. Yes, criticism of Israeli policies is on the rise.
But how is this tantamount to anti-Semitism? If I criticize the government
of Zimbabwe, am I somehow a racist?
Many Jews, myself included, are highly critical of Prime Minister Ariel
Sharon's policies, as they feed into an endless cycle of violence that
threatens Jewish and Arab lives. We are long overdue for a serious
intellectual inquiry as to how the president of a leading American Jewish
organization can falsely equate criticism of Israel with anti-Semitism, or,
as I prefer to more accurately call the phenomenon, anti-Jewish sentiments.
Our cousins the Arabs are Semitic too.
-- Nicole Dannenberg Sorger
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