Dyanoosh Youssefi

There is nothing more controversial and divisive in the Western world right now than the Israel-Gaza war. Nothing gets progressive people (a group to which I belong) more riled up than this particular war. Not the Trump trials; not climate change; not police abuse of power; not the ongoing displacement of over 3 million people in Sudan, or over 6 million people in the Congo; not the atrocities in Yemen, where 400,000 people have been killed since 2015; not Russia’s attack on the Ukraine; not the radical Islamic threat and violence in Nigeria and Sudan; not the horrific violence and murder caused by radical Islamists in Burkina Faso, Mali, Nigeria, Sudan; not any war crimes committed by states or militaries around the world; and not the continued gender apartheid against millions of women worldwide, which includes executions, rapes, “honour killings,” female genital mutilation, state or religion-condoned violence by male partners, and the overall subjugation of girls and women.¹

The Israel-Gaza war does demand our attention and indignation.  The horrific massacre committed by Hamas (and continued through the months, with their holding on to the hostages) as well as the war waged by Israel which has killed tens of thousands, leveled entire neighbourhoods, and internally displaced over 1 million Palestinians, absolutely require a concerted, international effort to bring about the end of this bloodshed.  Additionally, Israel’s tolerance for, and, too often, its active support of settlers’ horrific mistreatment of Palestinians in Hebron and the West Bank demand condemnation and action.  So, too, does the continued perpetuation of antisemitism and the celebration of Jewish and Israeli deaths among many Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. Taking to the streets, to advocate for a viable solution for peaceful co-existence is both morally justifiable and imperative. 

But that has not been the message, nor the goal, of the protests.

There is nothing inherently wrong with protesting against the Israeli government— hundreds of thousands of Israelis have been doing so for months.  There is nothing wrong with advocating for Palestinian statehood— many Israelis have also stood up for this cause.

What is problematic is that Israel, as a country, a state, and a nation, is uniquely and relentlessly singled out for fierce, often virulent criticism, when dozens of states with far worse policies, actions, and human rights violations are ignored. What is biased, is the special kind of venom that is reserved for Israel, when its human rights violations, while wrong and unjustifiable, pale in comparison to the atrocities committed by its despotic neighbours, including Hamas, and by far too many states around the world.

What is problematic is that critics of Israel attack its very existence as a country, a state, and a nation.

What is problematic is that, too often, criticism of Israel is conducted in a political and historical vacuum, or at least, a distorted one.  Israel, with all its problems (and there are many), is a democratic country, with hundreds of thousands of people peacefully engaging in protests against its current government, with judges, doctors, and others in high positions who come from different ethnic backgrounds (including those who identify as Palestinian-Israeli.) Israel generally embraces and values democratic and civil rights, as well as peaceful coexistence with its neighbours, while it is surrounded by governments and states that are largely antisemitic, ruled by autocrats, or democratic in name only, and while Hamas’s aim continues to be the destruction of Israel.  Israel and its actions cannot be fairly judged without this context. 

What is problematic is that critics of Israel overlook, or worse, legitimize the genocidal, antisemitic, or unjust policies of Hamas.  What is problematic is the false representation of Hamas, as merely freedom fighters, as opposed to a (terrorist) group which is focused on eradicating Israel and killing Jews, that has stood in the way of Palestinian progress, and has diverted money to make millionaires of its leaders, many of whom live luxurious lives in Qatar, while many Palestinian people live in poverty (for which Israel is blamed.) 

What is problematic is the utter disregard for truth, when it comes to judging Israel and its actions.  Gaza has long been called an open-air prison, but this allegation was, at best, inaccurate. Yes, there were parts of Gaza that were extremely overcrowded, and where people lived in poverty (not the same as a concentration camp.)  But other parts of Gaza were filled with villas, fancy restaurants and malls, and a fair bit of wealth. Several Hamas leaders lead lavish lifestyles as millionaires and billionaires, while many people suffer, yet this is not a matter of concern for those who purportedly care about the Palestinian people.

This disdain for the inconvenient truth applies to the war, as well, where the deplorable practice, by Hamas, of using civilians as human shields is disregarded.

What is problematic is that the solution to Palestinian statehood and independence is put squarely on Israel’s shoulder, while Jordan, which was, in fact, part of British-mandate Palestine, is not only not expected to give up land for a Palestinian state, but still holds many Palestinians on the land as refugees, even if they are technically naturalized.

What makes criticism of Israel as a Jewish state vituperative is that critics ignore, or worse, declare as false, the real, documented, historical and psychological connection of Jews to that land, a connection that goes back thousands of years. Never before has the indigeneity of Jews in the land of Israel been under such false attacks.

What makes the singular and venomous criticism of Israel unfair is that it holds Israel to a higher standard than other nations, declaring it responsible for what followed after Israel was attacked by Arab nations in 1948 and 1967, and then advocating for an end to Israel. The same protestors do not advocate for the end of any other country, despite the fact that many countries in the world have come into existence after war and bloodshed (Israel came into existence after a UN Resolution.)  Show me the justice-seekers who are calling for an end to Iran, Sudan, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Myanamar, Russia, China, England, or Canada!  Many of these countries commit human rights violations on a much larger scale; and they do not have self-defence as justification.

It is this differential treatment of Israel: the calls for its elimination as a Jewish state, the disregard for history and geo-political context, combined with the fact that this tiny nation is the only Jewish nation in the world, when Jews around the world have and continue to face persecution and antisemitism, that render the scornful criticism of Israel antisemitic.

So-called progressive protestors, groups, and nations, expect Israel to stop being the only Jewish state in the world, even though it is one that gives equal rights to nearly 2 million Palestinians (over 20% of the Israeli population), and even though, despite its many faults, it is a freer, more democratic, and more accountable state than every single surrounding state.

Otherwise progressive and inclusive persons, groups, and political parties demonize and condemn the Jewishness of Israel, while they treat with respect, or, at least, neutrality, the 23 countries in the world who, in their constitutions, declare Islam as the country’s religion, and who routinely mistreat minorities.  Critics seek to topple Israel’s Jewish (though multi-cultural and democratic) identity, even though it is only 21,000 square km, a mere 0.3% of the Arab and Muslim nations surrounding it in the Middle East (and that’s not counting North and Eastern African countries, other than Egypt.)

Protestors and progressive critics of Israel want to turn it into a state that may be run by Hamas, which not only wants the destruction of Israel and teaches hatred for Jews, but also restricts freedom of speech, limits women’s rights, and punishes homosexuality, and, doesn’t believe in elections; leaving no safe place for Jews or other minorities.

Israel is decried as one of the worst human rights violators in the world, while Syria is not held to account for the more than 500,000 people it killed, including thousands of Palestinians, women, and children; and while no one is marching against the atrocities in Yemen, where the astounding number of people dead, over 400,000, is 2000% more than in Gaza, and the number nearing starvation, 24 million, is 12 times the entire population of Gaza.

This is why the hyper-focused, persistent, and sometimes misleading criticism of Israel feels and is, too often, antisemitic. The problem is not that Israel is criticized.  It is that the criticism is relentless, hateful, often based in falsehoods or half-truths, imbalanced, and that the criticisms go to the core of Israel, its Jewishness and identity, its very existence.

The differential treatment of Israel also betrays another reality: the anti-Arab/anti-Muslim undercurrent of protestors. When Palestinians, Muslims, or Arabs are under attack by other Arabs or Muslims, the progressive left is silent; it shows no concern for the hundreds of thousands of people killed, the millions displaced or living in abject poverty.  Listen to the hush of the progressive western world, when Pakistan decided to kick over 1 million Afghan refugees in the arms of hell; their impotence when Iran executes children, young women, and people who are gay. Progressives in the west do not want to be complicit in genocides, war crimes, or crimes against humanity, yet they are not taking to the streets to protest the ongoing persecution of Yazidis, or the treatment of the Uyghur.

Is the blood of Nigerian girls, still held captive by Boko Haram, less worthy than that of Palestinians?  Are the lives of millions of Sudanese, Congolese, Cameroonians, and Yemenites less valuable that those of Palestinians? Of course not.  So what explains the difference?  Is it that the west is vilely racist, and believes that Muslim lives don’t really matter, as long as they are killed at the hands of other Muslims? Or that African lives don’t matter, if they are killed at the hands of Muslims or other Africans? 

What conclusion do we draw, when self-proclaimed justice-seekers and human rights advocates, thousands upon thousands of protestors, make nary a peep about the atrocities occurring on such larger scale?

The only sad conclusion we can draw is this: the suffering of Palestinian people only matters because the perpetrator of violence is the Jewish state. 

And now, Jews around the world are expected to unequivocally condemn and denounce Israel; not just some policies or actions, but the very state.  If we do not, we are called pro-genocide. One cannot be a Zionist (believe in Israel’s right to exist), and still be a decent human being.  There is no room to discuss, learn, or grow. There is no nuance, only hatred and vilification.  The ability to hold multiple truths, to examine the subtleties of a conflict, to be able to condemn the actions of a government, while also condemning the actions of its enemy, these otherwise valuable traits are dubbed as immoral, genocidal. 

We are back to the Bush era of “You’re either with us or against us,” a maxim which was once used against Muslims and Arabs, but is now used by many Arabs and Muslim against others.

The grossly asymmetrical treatment of Israel is present among our political parties, as well.  It means that progressive people like me, who criticize Israeli policies, but are also Zionists who believe its right to exist, have no political home.  (This fate is also shared by a few Palestinian activists, who want a Palestinian state and an end to the occupation, but also condemn October 7 and believe that Israel has a right to exist.) Let me give you an example:

Last fall, Pakistan declared that it would expel about 1 million Afghans who had taken refuge from the Taliban.  This expulsion sends Afghans back into the hell of the most notoriously anti-woman, cruel, despotic and authoritarian regime in the world.  Some time after Pakistan made this announcement, I raised the issue at a meeting of the leaders of the federal party with which I am affiliated.  I was concerned that our party had not yet made a statement about what was going to be a humanitarian disaster.  The response of my leader was that the issue was important, but that we just didn’t have time to deal with it, or to write a press release.  I was asked if I would write a press release, even though this was not my portfolio, and even though we had and continue to have a foreign affairs critic.  But the party has since published 7 press releases on the Israel-Gaza war, and none on Pakistan, Russia, Congo, Sudan, Iran.  This is another example of an imbalanced focus and criticism of Israel, which leads many to believe that the reason behind such criticism is, in fact, antisemitism.

With the sentiment of the modern progressive community so turned against Israel, it’s political and social suicide for a progressive person, like me, to declare that they plan to march in this year’s Walk for Israel.  So why am I making this declaration?  Why take the risk, when my position will gain me few friends, and surely create more enemies from all sides?

That is because now, more than any time in recent history, it is essential to fight for Israel’s right to exist.  More than ever, it is crucial to distinguish between a country and a people’s right to statehood, self-determination, and the right to exist without the constant threat of annihilation, versus that same country’s government and its actions and policies, even when those actions or policies must be condemned. More than ever, it is crucial to point out that no other country in the world faces the same level of scrutiny and attacks, nor does it face calls for its eradication as a state. More than ever, it is plain to see that the western “progressive” world subjects Israel to a double-standard, rooted in antisemitism.  More than ever, there is increased unfair and imbalanced isolation of Israel in the international community and among the circles of people with whom I am usually onside on most other issues. 

This is why I, a progressive Jew and a human rights advocate, who is critical of many Israeli government policies and actions, plan to march in this year’s Walk for Israel.²

1. This is not an article about the tremendous suffering of the Palestinian people during this war, nor about the horrific suffering of those killed, taken hostage, and otherwise impacted by the Oct 7 attacks. It is not about the devastations of the war, the horrific number of people injured and killed, nor about those in the Israeli government who hold despicable views against Palestinians. My hope is that readers can make room for conversations about how the war is seen and treated in the West, and they can remember that such conversations do not mean that we care less about the death and destruction of war. ↩︎
2. Edit (added June 8): I plan to join the walk, itself, and not the solidarity festival taking place afterwards. While I understand the reasons for holding the festival, I am not comfortable with it.
   It should also be clear from this essay and my statements on social media and elsewhere that I do not support the extremist actions, policies, or views of the current Israeli government, and that I adamantly denounce human rights violations by Israeli forces (police, army) ↩︎

Read my pledge to not overstay as your Councillor at City Hall here: https://dyanooshyoussefi.ca/pledge/