Letter to the Editor: Antisemitism Is The Big Tent For Fools

The following letter was sent to Yellow Scene Magazine. As with all Letters to the Editor, the views expressed are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the publication.

Antisemitism is rising. I read this almost daily, and I have no reason to doubt it, and I am sad to see it occurring. And though, importantly, Palestinians are Semites too, the common interpretation is that this is negative, and even deadly opinions and actions taken against Jewish people. While people may misunderstand that term’s definition, throw in anti-Zionism and discussions become heated and too often adversarial.

I’m here for it. To be clear, this is a response to Wynn Howell’s letter to the editor titled “The Socialism of Fools.”

According to Wikipedia, “Zionism[a] is an ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in late 19th-century Europe to establish and support a Jewish homeland through colonization in the region of Palestine.” The definition, from the same source, for antisemitism is “Antisemitism[a] or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews.”’ Importantly, anti-Zionism is defined, again by Wikipedia, as “opposition to Zionism,” or an opposition to “an ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in late 19th-century Europe to establish and support a Jewish homeland through colonization in the region of Palestine.” And based on that definition, one needs to know the definition of colonization is: “the act or process of sending people to live in and govern another country,” and such people are described as “settlers.”

For those who missed it, almost exactly a year ago an Egyptian man showed up and viciously attacked people participating in a Run for Their Lives weekly demonstration. Without labeling the attack that killed an 82-year-old woman any of the above, I hope everyone reading this can find the heart and logic to call it an awful, vicious, and cruel murder. Full stop.

Where arguments begin, and go on and on, though, is, at least for me, when people like Howell try to label this an act of antisemitism. I left my church in Boulder because they joined many other houses of faith in Boulder and called it just that, exactly as Howell has done. And Howell and these houses of faith are far from alone, because, from District Attorney Dougherty to Boulder chief of police, the politically connected can hardly wait to assign this term to the attack.

According to reports, the man who committed the attack and will now serve a life sentence, “he learned of the Run for Their Lives walk after searching for ‘Zionist’ events online, according to the 12-count indictment.” I challenge anyone reading this to find a quote in which he expressed Jew-hatred, because he was clear: he wanted to kill Zionists, and yes, he shouted “free Palestine,” which the ADL and any virulent supporter of Israel’s response to the October 7, 2023 attack will tell you is antisemitic. Certainly I would expect Rachel Amaru, the organizer of Run for Their Lives, to say this. If ever there was a Zionist, it is Rachel Amaru.

People like Amaru, Dougherty, and far too many others, including Wynn Howell, ignore what the man who murdered an innocent woman said, in order to label this attack antisemitic. They have to, because if the killer’s stated motivation is part of the conversation, their label fails. And, no doubt, some, like perhaps Dougherty and Howell, have good intentions: they see the rise in antisemitism, recognize the historic danger of such beliefs, and speak out.

Unfortunately, their efforts are misguided, so much so that these efforts are leading, arguably, to antisemitism.

Tell someone that if they believe Palestinians, driven from their homeland in 1967 during the Nakba, or, according to Wikipedia, “the ethnic cleansing of Palestinian Arabs by Israel through their violent displacement and dispossession of land, property, and belongings, along with the destruction of their society and the suppression of their culture, identity, political rights, and national aspirations,” that claiming any critique of Israel is antisemitic, and you have laid the seeds to foment actual antisemitism. If I am told that critiquing Israel’s slaughter of children, families, and innocent people in Palestine is antisemitic, often by Zionists, if I am not paying attention, it becomes easy to become anti-Israel, or worse, anti-Jew. Lord knows I have read some articles about the horrific actions of Israel in the last few years and wept and prayed to God to not let me descend to hating Jewish people. Thankfully, my experiences have included working with some incredible people of that faith in Boulder, and I know how deeply committed they are to truth and justice for even the least empowered, such as people experiencing homelessness—Rachel Amaru included. That they lose all objectivity when tasked with showing the same objectivity and empathy towards Palestinians is sad but plainly apparent.

Despite the detestable reactions of such people, I choose, and hope you, dear reader, do too, not to let the acts of even what appears to be a majority of Jewish people in supporting Israel’s genocidal acts towards Palestinians lead me to sweeping negative beliefs about Jews, who include those who practice the religion and those who simply identify as a Jewish person, separate from religion.

On this, Howell and I may agree. But that is where our agreement ends. They wrote in their letter to the editor, “Right now, though, I am both disturbed and disappointed by some of my fellow lefties, who have become the unwitting tools of White Christian Nationalists by crossing the line into clear antisemitism. Some have even gone so far as to embrace such a misguided worldview that they’ve convinced themselves that hostility toward Jews is morally justified.”

If “lefties” are “convince[ing] themselves that hostility toward Jews is morally justified,” then I would agree with Howell. But because I have attempted to debate them online about the difference between antisemitism and anti-Zionism, and was blocked from the Colorado Working Families Party, probably by Howell, I have a strong basis to believe they are pointing at people like myself. People who challenge their big tent definition of antisemitism, who would point out that what they are really saying, if not intentionally, is that they are all in for colonization.

The sad thing for me is that this big tent definition of antisemitism, the one that says any critique of Israel’s genocidal actions against Palestine is antisemitic, is very likely causing antisemitism. When any critique of Israel murdering children is deemed antisemitic, such as Ms. Rachel, a children’s educator, who simply makes statements in support of the dignity and value of all children and gets attacked as a result as antisemitic, some people may choose not to pray to keep them from feeling ill will towards Jewish people. Some people may, lazily and with great risk of resultant harm, begin to hate Jews. That is, being told your opinion is that of a Jew-hater because you in fact hate seeing Palestinian children like five-year-old Hind Rajab slaughtered in cold blood by the Israeli military will inevitably lead to some of those people feeling a hatred for Jewish people.

To do so is wrong, but certainly an understandable human emotional response. Fight it.

But also, fight people like Rachel Amaru, and even possibly well-intentioned but extremely off-the-mark critics such as Howell. Many of them call any Jewish person who is willing to expose themself to vicious attacks by critiquing Israel “self-hating Jews.” If antisemitism is defined as a Jew-hater, such labeling of Jewish people who dare to cite their own religion in calling out Israel’s genocidal acts against Palestinians conveniently labels even such Jewish people as antisemitic. It’s a big tent, designed too often to shut down any criticism. Don’t fall for it.

Each of us is presently answering the question: what would I have done during the Holocaust? For myself, I will not be silent, and I will not let a perhaps well-intentioned person like Howell distract me from objectivity with labels designed to impugn my character. They should worry about their own.

Darren O’Connor

He/him/his