Here I am, speaking once more out of ignorance.

I just heard a portion of Dara Horn’s appearance on Morning Joe. Dara Horn, a multi-award novelist and Harvard literature professor, has just published a book titled The Final Solution to the Jewish Question: a Love Story for the Living, her second book on antisemitism, following her People Love Dead Jews, published five years ago in 2021. I have not read either of these books (although I should), nor any of her other books. Hence, I am speaking out of ignorance.

I am also focusing on a topic I have focused on several times before, and it is the conflating of anti-Zionism and antisemitism. From what I gathered this morning, Horn is one of those many Jews (perhaps a strong majority of them), who believe that if one is anti-Zionist, one is antisemitic, and that calling yourself anti-Zionist is only a cover, because really you just hate Jews. If this is what she believes, and if this is what you believe, I disagree with you. Completely.

I say this as a supporter of Israel, and as someone who has played an active role in Israeli institutional support. And as someone who is Jewish and active in several domestic Jewish institutions. I have been a board member and officer of two synagogues, I have been a board member of a Jewish day school, I have led an organization dedicated to traditional Jewish burial practices, I have been a board member and officer of an organization that provides support to a major Israeli university, and I am currently the president of the Haberman Institute for Jewish Studies, as you know at least from yesterday’s post. I have also been a student of Jewish history and Jewish culture. And I have been doing all of this for many decades.

Many Jews can be very sensitive. This should not be surprising because of the tragedies of Jewish history, including the Holocaust. There are still several hundred thousand Holocaust survivors and there are millions who had parents, grandparents or great grandparents caught up in those terrible events. Many American (and European) Jews have relatives and friends in Israel, travel regularly to Israel, support Israeli institutions. Some of even lost friends or relatives in Israel’s many wars with its neighbors.

Some Jews have a very expansive view of what constitutes antisemitism. For some, if a gentile criticizes a Jew for any reason, that shows that that person is an antisemite, full stop. For some, if a gentile criticizes or questions any aspect of Jewish ritual or theology, that is enough to show that that person is antisemitic. For some, obviously, any criticism of anything Israel does, or any Israeli politician says, is another manifestation of antisemitism.

And, of course, many of these people don’t recognize degrees of antisemitism. For them, if a gentile criticizes anything about Israel (or about anything Jewish), it is a sign not only that that person is antisemitic, but a sign that that person wishes all Jews were dead and, if given a chance, would gladly participate in activities designed to bring about the death of Jews.

That is just the way some people think. And, as an aside, I used the term “gentile” in the description above, because while some of those sensitive Jews would ascribe the same description to Jews who fit into any of those categories (calling them, perhaps, self-hating Jews, a term I have never understood), others think that it is fair game for Jews to be critical of Israel, but not gentiles. An analogy, of course, to “I can yell at my relatives, but don’t YOU dare to.”

I should add that those who conflate anti-Zionism with antisemitism are not only Jews living in the diaspora. Jews living in Israel often feel the same way. But, and more importantly, Israeli political leaders, as a matter of strategy and policy, conflate anti-Zionism with antisemitism, and this is a significant part of the problem. From their point of view, if anyone who talks against Zionism is defined as an antisemite, it is a guarantee that Jews worldwide will be more likely to take anti-Zionist statements personally. And, to the extent that Jews abroad can identify with Israel, it is that much more likely that Jews will support Israel, no matter what.

The problem is that once you call someone antisemitic, you cut off all argument. You even cut off discussion. You just set that person out as your enemy, today and forever. How can anyone prove that they are not antisemitic? They can’t. The tag will stick on them throughout their life.

It goes beyond that, once you conflate antisemitism and anti-Zionism, you not only cut off discussion about antisemitism, but you obviously cut off discussion about Zionism. If someone confesses to be anti-Zionist, they are in effect demonstrating their antisemitism, and they aren’t worth even acknowledging them except as human scum.

There is an old saying attributed to Samuel Goldwyn, who said about some one: “He’s not even worth ignoring”. But the fact is, if you are Jewish and if you have feelings for the Jewish people (and there are about 8 million of them in Israel), you can not just ignore them.

Of course, there is one subject that this entire discussion has ignored. I am here talking about the definition of Zionism. What is it? What is it that anti-Zionists are against? Is everyone who is anti-Israel also anti-Zionist (as well as antisemitic)?

I am not going into the many possible definition of Zionism here; it would take up too much space. But, if someone says that they don’t like Zionists or Zionism, my reaction is: “What do you mean by that?” And I would expect that they would tell me what they mean, or they would express their own confusion about the definition of that term if they couldn’t precisely tell me. And then there could be a conversation. I would learn more about what they are thinking; they would learn more about what I was thinking.

Of course, you can’t do this with everyone. Many who are opposed to Zionism find it beneath themselves to have any one on one communication with a Zionist, or maybe even with a Jew. But with many, you certainly could, and maybe you could discover that on some topics regarding what is happening in the Middle East today, you actually agree. But once you call them an antisemite, the conversation ends.

One last thing. Does everyone who is anti-Zionist also define themselves as antisemitic? I think the answer to this is clearly “no”. And if “no” is the answer, but you think they are antisemitic but they don’t, what does that mean? That they are antisemitic, but don’t know it? Is that even possible? Or that those who think they are antisemitic are making assumptions that just aren’t accurate?

Are there red lines? Maybe. Maybe if someone says that Israel is illegitimate, for whatever reason, that is a red line. But even that is subject to discussion. What do they mean? Do they mean there should be one state “from the river to the sea” and the state should be democratic and perhaps be constructed to ensure that different types of its citizens are represented equally and not subject to discrimination? Or do they mean that the one state should be an “Islamic Republic”, where Jews are an underclass, or are forced out, or are annihilated? If they believe that the Jews have to leave the Middle East, that too may end the discussion, except for the inevitable “Where are they to go?”

One day, someone will come up with an answer to the Middle East. Calling everyone who might not agree with your thoughts on the subject an antisemite will simply put off that day. It’s a complicated problem to be sure. Why complicate it even further?