Sir, – In attempting to define Zionism, there is no mention in Patrick Smyth’s article that for many Jews, it simply represents the notion of a guaranteed homeland, the locus of an ancient, religious and cultural connection, one which does not exclude Palestinian self-determination (“Characterising criticism of Israel as anti-Semitism shuts down debate”, Opinion & Analysis, December 23rd). Counterintuitively, most Jews and Palestinians live outside the territory and do not, in fact, wish to return there, a nuance also omitted.
Referencing the fallout from the US Congress House committee on education and the workforce involving the presidents of Harvard, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Pennsylvania, there is no reference to the current, often violent intimidation of Jewish students on those campuses. For Jews, the chant of genocide is not a hypothetical.
On the subject of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of anti-Semitism, the single biggest flaw lies in its design as a metric to assist governments in measuring levels of anti-Semitism; it is not legally binding and is therefore toothless. It was used in the debate within the British Labour Party but the “anti-Semitic tendencies” are no longer “alleged”, as your writer contends, but were fully substantiated by a report of the Equality and Human Rights Commission.
He ends by suggesting that comparing Israeli policy to that of the Nazis is not illegitimate debate. This comparison has a single purpose: to delegitimise Jewish suffering and propriety of the Holocaust. Otherwise, why choose the Nazis as the comparator?
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Lastly, the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement calls for the end of the State of Israel. That is an incitement to hatred, by definition.
The article lacks consideration for the profound effects of anti-Semitism on Jews, for whom the Holocaust remains its ultimate murderous expression, and still in living memory.
The Holocaust is not immune from exploitation by malevolent actors who wish to leverage grief for their own interests. Binyamin Netanyahu is one of the worst offenders in this regard. But to describe the struggle over the definition of anti-Semitism as a diplomatic sideshow which supporters of Israel use to muzzle critics of Israel ignores the reality that anti-Semitism is also at play in some quarters where criticism of Israel is levelled.
As Patrick Smyth suggests, such a subject is perilous to write about. I agree. – Yours, etc,
OLIVER SEARS,
Holocaust Awareness Ireland,
Dublin 2.