Yes, anti-Zionism is anti-Semitism

[Ken Burch]

90. I NEVER said that anti-zionists(most of who are NOT "Jew-haters")were the ONLY ones

trying to hold the Israeli government(btw, the Israeli government is NOT synonymous with "Israel" as a collective entity, btw) accountable. And I am not personally an anti-zionist, just a person who believes in fair play and an decent level of discussion and debate.

ALL that I said was that antizionists cannot be automatically called antisemites...a faction of them are, and I condemn that faction as does every decent human being on the planet, but that doesn't represent antizionists AS A GROUP. And focusing on demonizing antizionists (a group that will never decide the outcome of the I/P dispute in any case) rather than on taking the steps needed to actually END the conflict, is a colossal waste of time. The antizionists are NOT the people who matter here. It's the Israelis and Palestinians themselves who are. Antizionists are nothing more than people who disagree with you. They don't deserve to be treated as if they're a bunch of Nazis, and you make yourself look hysterical and paranoid when you obsess on them(and Hamas) to the exclusion of all else.

There are Israelis and pro-Israeli people who hold the Israeli government accountable(most notably, heroes of the cause of peace and justice like Uri Avnery and Rabbi Michael Lerner). They are just as pro-Israel as YOU are, shira, but they speak out about the truth of the situation and they speak truth to power, both in Jerusalem AND in Washington. Those who defends the Occupation and continued settlement expansion, however, as you do, are neither trying to do that OR cares about creating a just future for the Palestinians. If you defend the Occupation and continued settlement expansion, you are AGAINST peace, because those things make peace impossible. Peace Now is VERY clear on this points, and disagrees with YOU on almost every issue in the debate.

The I/P dispute is about real grievances, not prejudice. Pretending it's about prejudice, pretending that the side you cheer for is made up purely of sainted victims, while the other side is nothing but bloodthirsty maniacs, is just an excuse to avoid trying to work for a just and humane resolution to the dispute, and an excuse to simply preserve an untenable status quo simply for the SAKE of preserving it. It's about avoiding dealing with reality. You're a better person than to settle for denial as an organizing principle.

Will you at least agree, if nothing else, that there is no possible justification for making any of the settlements ANY larger than they are now? That the current settlement size and population is ENOUGH? That's a bare minimum thing to agree to, shira.