re: #505 NJDhockeyfan

Well, as long as not being afraid of admitting this is happening, we really do need to examine why it is happening, why it has been happening. A large part of it is because of the simple background of antisemitism in our culture at large; Jews have been the target of European and American hate and fear for so long, there are well-established treads for this kind of shit to fall into.

Another part of it is because Israel is a militarily active nation, and is fighting against guerrilla fighters and terrorists. The casualties are immensely lopsided: far, far, far more Palestinians have died in this conflict than have Israelis. That ratio carries no moral meaning whatsoever, but for a naive person it does, the fact that Israel kills a ‘disproportionate’ amount of Palestinians seems outrageous to them. Furthermore, the events of the previous decades, where Israel was attacked with the clear view to its annihilation, are receding into the past. To the large portion of anti-war left, the fact that Israel is a highly militarized and active state is an automatic negative.

But we really have to admit the effect that politics has had on this, as well— that the tight embrace of Israel attempted by the GOP has worked way too well in many cases, and the GOP has tarnished Israel by association; this has been made much worse by a far-right government in Israel, by repeated violation of settlement agreements that every US administration has protested against, etc.

So there’s a lot to look at. It’s comfortable for no one. No one comes out of this looking good.