Fear In The Air

I’m going to start this rant, and it is most certainly a rant, talking a little bit about former President Obama. And Israel. Near the end of Obama’s time in office he allowed a UN vote to proceed that seriously reprimanded Israel for their ongoing actions of apartheid and prejudice against the Palestinian people. It was an atypical case of “doing the right thing” but too little and too late. Now we are seeing the consequences of the decades long US propensity to turn a blind eye to Israel’s bad behavior. Israel is on the brink of war with both Syria and Iran, the US remains silent while Russia pleads publicly for restraint from all sides.

Meanwhile US Progressives; not Democrats because as a party they are not Progressive – pile on the condemnations of Israel. And I would fully concur, but not when so many don’t stop with expressing their dismay with the state of Israel, they extend it to Jews. Often they bury it under the term Zionism. A word that merely means that Zionist Jews claim the land of Israel as their ancestral home. PERIOD. FULL STOP. Just as some Christians and some Muslims as well as others have twisted a tenet of their religion to justify horrible behavior, the same is true of some Jews and Zionism.

But even that is not the reason behind this rant. Over the past 6 months I have seen posted almost weekly on Facebook a list of prominent Americans that are identified as having dual citizenship in the US and Israel. The post usually goes on to point out that these people cannot be trusted due to their dual citizenship. Amazingly, about 99% of the list are Jewish politicians. The implication is clear, and to any Jew, terrifying. Singling out people as enemies of the nation they are serving echos tactics of Nazis. And remember, the people posting this are usually open-minded Progressives. They stand up and salute BLM (so do I); they cheer as the LGBTQ community steps closer to equality (I cheer as well); they are proud of the #MeToo women (I am as well); they get mad that the Democrats don’t put it on the line for the Dreamers (As they should); they condemn Jews and I get mad. Let me explain.

The list is not true. Those people do not have dual citizenship. They are Jewish, and the state of Israel has what is called the Law of Return. Any Jew from anywhere can go to Israel and claim citizenship, and just like the small print on any special offer – some restrictions may apply. Numerous times I have tried to explain why the writers of the list are saying that every Jew in Congress has dual citizenship. It is because of the Law of Return. And, by perpetuating this myth over and over. More than just myself have pointed out why this is not true, and I have yet to read once, even once. “Sorry, I didn’t know that”.

I find that lack of respect for Jews to happen so consistently that I have to regretfully inform anyone that believes such anti-semitic crap to unfriend me. And believe me, this list is only one example. Just because Israel is a Jewish nation and most Jews support it’s right to exist does not mean we all support the way it exists. And I can say the same for the US, and that is something Progressives would agree with me, except in the case of Israel.