A friend accused me of being Anti-Semitic for my condemnation of Netanyahu and the rightwing parties in Israel

[Chasstev365]

I was dressed down about how horrible Hamas was and how Israelis live in constant fear of terrorist attacks. I said nothing as he continued to talk about the rise of Anti-semitism around the world and how the Israelis had the right to defend themselves. I did not dispute any of his points.

Finally it was my turn to talk. I simply said, "the difference is that I care just as much about a Palestinian child in Gaza in 2025 as I would have cared about Polish Jewish child in Warsaw in 1942." "You obviously don't."

He had no answer and walked away.

I don't blame the entire Israeli public; that would be like presuming every American is a Trumper. However condemning Netanyahu and his government does not make me an
Anti-semite.

[choie]

1. Been there.

Last edited Thu Aug 14, 2025, 07:55 PM - Edit history (1)

My friend called me a self-hating Jew.

[electric_blue68]

43. Oh, dear... : (

{hug} Sure that hurt.
(not Jewish, but live in NYC, lived in 2 Jewish neighborhoods, lots of Jewish friends for a lot of my life)

The Jewish friend I have now is against what Netanyahu has ended up doing so we're sympatico.
Another (RIP way too young, dear friend) did a lot of Amnesty Intl work, and probably would be against Netanyahu, as well.

Stay strong.

[choie]

50. I live in NYC too, in Manhattan.

Where abouts dp you live?

[electric_blue68]

51. 👋 In The Bronx...

Spent many years in western middle, upper Washington Heights.

[malaise]

2. Meh

I have it out with one of the BILs more often than I can count. I am anti-Zionism. I know war crimes. That is all.

[lostincalifornia]

12. So do you think Israel should exist as a Jewish state?

[hlthe2b]

15. Three words: TWO-STATE SOLUTION.

[lostincalifornia]

16. and that is how it was created. A Jewish state and an Arab State. My question still remains, is Israel a

Jewish state, because that is how it was created?

That is perfectly compatible with a two-state solution, which is how it was formed by the UN from the British mandate.

[hlthe2b]

17. YOU need to learn some history. Israel WAS indeed created as a country in 1948. A Palestinian state was NEVER

created--leading to the rehashing of historical conflicts continuously ever since. Like I said, I'm not anti-Israel or anti-Zionist. I AM for a two-state solution as has been promised to the Palestinian people since 1948--the ultimate deception.

[lostincalifornia]

26. Excuse me. Where did I say a Palestinian state was created? I specifically said the partition was divided into

TWO STATES. A Jewish state, and an Arab state. The Arab's rejected it, which led to the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, and resulted in Israel becoming a Jewish state.

Multiple wars followed by the Arab neighbors to try and destroy Israel each time, and after each war, the Palestinians living there lost more land.

The last recent claim for Palestinian autonomy came with the OSLO accords, which the Clinton Administration used as the foundation for their middle east peace plan near the end of his term, and unfortunately Bush won the 2000 election, not only refused to continue where the Clinton Administration left off, but completely disregarded the Hart/Graham report on the threat of al qaeda, 9/11 occurred shortly after, and all progress from the Carter to Clinton administration in the middle east was put on ice.

VP Harris campaigned on a two-state solution, effectively using the Oslo Accords as the framework for Palestinian self-rule, but elections have consequences, and here we are.

[hlthe2b]

31. Technically true, but that was not your insinuation.

Are you unable to give the innocent Palestinians the same grace that is expected and warranted for those Israelis who do NOT defend Netanyahu's intent to exterminate for his own political (and self-serving corruption defense) goals? I hope not. Those who cheer on Netanyahu's grotesque, indiscriminate horror deserve zero benefit of the doubt.

[lapucelle]

35. "What you say is true, but I'm going to dispute it anyway."

[Eko]

39. Here is a better timeline.

The Arabs rejected Resolution 181 and Israel declared itself independent and a state on May 14, 1948. The 1948 Arab-Israeli War started the next day on May 15,1948. The war didn't start because the Arabs rejected Resolution 181, it started because Israel declared itself a state and had already acted before that to secure the area militarily and areas near it. Plan Dalet implemented by the Israelis in early April 1948 violently expelled more than 250,000 Palestinian Arabs. On April 9th part of the Plan Dalet involved the Deir Yassin massacre, killing at least 107 Arab villagers, including women and children. The Arabs by this time also had moved troops into this area and had started some military actions as well. Obviously all of this was one big powder keg and the US withdrew its support for the partition plan. One can argue, and I would agree that the Arabs should have accepted the Partition plan but one can also argue that Israel had decided in advance that they would take that area militarily if they had to regardless of what the UN, the US or anyone else thought. I say all of this because of this "The Arab's rejected it, which led to the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, and resulted in Israel becoming a Jewish state. " which you stated in your post. The correct timeline would be "The Arab's rejected it, Israel declared itself a state which led to the 1948 Arab-Israeli War."

[malaise]

22. Same three words

Two State Solution

[lostincalifornia]

27. Do you know what Zionism is? Hint, it is NOT being against a two-state solution.

[choie]

65. Are you for real?

You can be ant-Zionist and still think there should be a "Jewish state".

[yardwork]

3. Really.

Your parting shot was definitely antisemitic, imo.

I don't know what else you said but if it was along the lines of your parting shot, you might want to do some self-reflection.

I'll share what I've learned, as a non-Jewish person observing what's gone down since October 7, 2023.

Not antisemitic: Criticizing Netanyahu and his government for their actions; criticizing Israeli citizens who voted for and support Netanyahu.

Antisemitic: Accusing others of "not caring" about Palestinian children because they state that Israel has a right to defend itself. Bringing up the Holocaust as a gotcha - especially bigoted if you're "owning" a Jewish person and you're not.

Jmho

[Chasstev365]

5. I totally disagree with your assessment!

[yardwork]

7. I'm sure you do.

[EdmondDantes_]

29. Could you explain the logic? Yardwork explained their logic

It seemed very reasonable and well thought out. What about it do you disagree with?

[Kali999]

4. I agree

And i was late to enter those conversations here. I feel no need to explain myself. I read history a lot of history. I follow Josh Marshall. I like the liberal jews. zionsts not so much. And my cousin has worked at the 92 street Y for years.

[Mossfern]

9. Hmmm.....

There are many many "Liberal" Jews who are Zionist.
You must not have heard of the Zionist Labor Movement.

Reconstructionist movement statement on Zionism:

The relationship between Reconstructionist Judaism and Zionism dates to the founding of the Reconstructionist movement by Mordecai Kaplan. Kaplan was a strong supporter of the Zionist movement and thus the Reconstructionist movement has historically supported Zionism.[1] All rabbinical students of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College are required to spend a summer studying in Israel.[2][3]

In recent years, due to the political liberalism of the Reconstructionist movement, some individuals affiliated or formerly affiliated with the movement have begun to become more critical of Zionism. Unlike Orthodox and Reform Judaism, the Reconstructionist movement has never historically had a significant anti-Zionist faction. According to Reconstructionist rabbi David Teutsch, the movement has displayed a "striking uniformity" of loyalty to Zionist principles throughout its history.[4]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reconstructionist_Judaism_and_Zionism#

[yardwork]

10. But their cousin works at the 92 St Y. For years.

I don't think you're giving that enough weight.

[Kali999]

42. I'm rural

So i don't know many Jewish people. But i know this has been a nightmare for years
https://www.zinnedproject.org/materials/rachel-corries-letters-and-questions/

[Mossfern]

46. It's possible to research the history of the area

To claim that Jews don't care about Palestinian children is kind of outrageous. I won't post links to Jewish groups aiding Palestinians - if you're interested in learning about that you can do the same research I would do. Google is your friend. Remember, many of the people tortured and killed on October 7th were those who had a history of assisting Palestinians.

[choie]

66. And there are many Jews who are not Zionists.

I am one of them, and I'll be damed if I let anybody call me a self--hating Jew.

[mike_c]

6. because genocide is so pro-semitic

[JT45242]

8. agreed -- saying that it is illegal to kill civilian children and bomb food lines does not make you anti-Semitic

I too have been accused of this.

Both groups of civilians deserve to be able to live in peace with enough food to et, water to drink, and safety.

Both groups of leaders (Hamas and Netanyahu's cabinet/military leaders) are criminals who have violated international law.

I can weep for the innocent on both sides and still want the leaders of both sides to rot in jail for the rest of their lives.

That does not make you anti Semitic it makes you pro the rule of international law that is supposed to prevent civilian massacres and racial genocide.

[Mossfern]

32. Woah!

What are you inferring with that statement?
It looks like you're saying that Jewish people don't care about all human life.

If you don't mean that, then maybe you can express yourself with different words that better express your opinion.

[choie]

67. Netanyahu and his supporters

do not care about Palestinian lives. Period.

[yardwork]

33. I can't recall ever being called antisemitic.

I care a lot about human life. So your statement is proven false.

[Paladin]

11. You're correct. Shouldn't be too hard to find a better friend. (nt)

[eppur_se_muova]

14. Every now and then, one needs to take inventory and re-count one's friends. Occasionally, one turns missing.

Perhaps this should be a New Year's tradition, like making resolutions.

I don't want people to think I get my morals or philosophy from comics, but Jerry Seinfeld (whom I do not otherwise 'get' all that much) once remarked that "someone who is nice to you and rude to the waiter is not a nice person". This clarified my thoughts re. someone I know who was "trying not to get involved" in ongoing antagonism by one of their friends against me. It wasn't a matter of taking sides to the extent of saying "you're right, he's wrong" but just a matter of recognizing that one of use, and only one, was being a total dick about it for no clear reason other than a streak of dickishness which seemed an essential aspect of his character. If you're his friend, you're not my friend, so I lost a friend then. A shame, really, because it was someone with a lot to admire otherwise.

[Paladin]

41. I've broken off ties with "friends" who went with trump.

No regrets whatsoever.

[yardwork]

19. If I were that friend, I'd sure be doing so.

Friends don't tell one another "you don't care about Palestinian children" and then bring up the Holocaust as a gotcha.

It's hard to imagine a more offensive statement. In my opinion.

[hlthe2b]

13. Gee, where have I experienced that recently?... Just ask them how that is different from accusing an

-American of being an 'enemy of Israel' if they oppose Trump (given he and Netanyahu are two peas in a colluding/enabling pod).

Disagreeing or deriding a country's policies/politics does not equate to hate toward its people. PERIOD

[iemanja]

18. That's a tired insult they use since they have no substantive defense for the evil they promote

You did well in that discussion. They simply do not care how many children die. Someone who thinks that way isn't worth your energy.

ETA: the notion that observing someone doesn't care about Palestinian lives is not antisemitic. It's an observation of fact. While there are many Israelis who stand up to genocide, many others have been systematically brainwashed to believe Palestinians aren't human. Many of us have seen video clips of Israelis saying Palestinians don't have a right to live in Gaza or the West Bank, or that their lives don't matter. They accuse children of being terrorists. We see the same views reflected among American right-wingers. I've seen people justifying the starvation of children because 19 years ago 1/3 of the population voted for Hamas. How is that anything but not caring about human life?

Also, this notion that the only genocide in history was a holocaust is false. The Holocaust is the most horrific and severe genocide in recent history, but there were genocides before and after it: Armenia, Rwanda, etc. Pointing that out is a factual observation, not antisemitism.

[yardwork]

21. Accusing others of not caring about dying children is a grave insult.

So is bringing up the Holocaust as a gotcha.

Two very serious insults.

[iemanja]

23. I edited my post to directly disagree with you

just now.

[yardwork]

24. I'm honored.

[choie]

68. Accusing others of not caring about dying children is a grave insult.

And is meant to be.

[malaise]

28. Rec. Rec Rec

That is all

[Mossfern]

37. The discussion wasn't about

children - it was about the right of Israel to defend itself.
Just who doesn't care about how many children die?

The Palestinian tactic of targeting children is not new, but tragically there are many recent examples: In 2011 Hamas launched a heat-seeking missile at an Israeli school bus, killing a 16-year old boy. In 2010, Palestinian terrorists associated with the PFLP murdered five members of the Fogel family, stabbing to death two small children and decapitating a 3-month old baby. In 2008, a Palestinian gunman open fired on children studying in a Jerusalem school library, murdering eight. In 2004, Gazan terrorists affiliated with Islamic Jihad shot at point blank range and killed Tali Hatuel, eight-months pregnant, along with her 4 young daughters aged two to ten. And on August 23, a Hamas mortar killed 4-year old Daniel Tragerman as his father struggled to usher him into a safe room.

Palestinian terrorists have long detonated suicide bombers in pizza shops, buses, weddings, bar mitzvah celebrations, and malls to inflict the most casualties as possible on the defenseless. Many Hamas terror tunnels uncovered during the current war contained entrances near Israeli kindergartens. Like the reaction to the June kidnappings, outrage from the Palestinian community for these atrocities is rare, if expressed at all.

The Palestinian assault, however, is not limited to Israeli children. Palestinian children, too, are exploited as weapons of war: Pictures abound of Palestinian babies dressed as suicide bombers and brandishing arms. Children's TV programs, many sponsored by the Palestinian Authority itself, preach jihad, advocate genocide against Jews and infidels, and glorify martyrdom. A young girl on a program recently aired on Hamas TV was encouraged by the host to be in the police when she grew up so that she could "shoot Jews … all of them."

After years of being educated with incitement, Palestinian pre-teens are then pressed into service by "popular committees" to engage in riots and violent confrontations with Israeli soldiers. Older kids are sent to hurl firebombs and slingshot projectiles. Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and Fatah's Martyrs Brigades enlist teens to be suicide bombers and to commit other atrocities against Israeli civilians. Even rock-throwing, which has often been deadly, puts Palestinian minors at risk for arrest and jail time. The horrific and reprehensible murder of 16-year old Mohammed Abu Khdeir was also exploited by these committees to incite teens to engage in violent rioting and mass destruction of property.

https://www.un.org/unispal/document/auto-insert-181056/

[womanofthehills]

69. Wrong - killing and injuring tens of thousands of kids is not defending yourself

And our country is complicit and needs to bring these injured kids to America for treatment. Click link

Link to tweet

?s=46&t=YZgyyp4w_z7vW3neKxa6cQThe

[Mossfern]

70. Hamas is killing all those children

All they need or needed to do was to return the hostages and surrender.
They could have done that on October 8 2023. They know they can't win and you are complicit by
believing and repeating their propaganda - even when you have been shown that the death of innocents - women, children and the elderly are merely pawns (or 'martyrs') - Hell, they've openly declared that.

Yes Israel is being brutal, a brutality I do not support, but that doesn't excuse Hamas' disregard for Palestinians and
putting them in harms way.

Golda Meir was correct in her assessment:

“When peace comes we will perhaps in time be able to forgive the Arabs for killing our sons, but it will be harder for us to forgive them for having forced us to kill their sons. Peace will come when the Arabs will love their children more than they hate us.”

― Golda Meir, A Land of Our Own: An Oral Autobiography

[Nigrum Cattus]

30. your friend was just regurgitating RW talking points

They are claiming that any protests are anti-Jew.
That's the excuse they are using to extort University's

[Mike Nelson]

34. I see that often...

... even on sites frequented by people like the people here. Another label is "Anti-Israel" - used routinely by FOX "News" and their ilk. I attended a "Black Lives Matter" protest, but I was not into looting or burning down cities. "Blue" cities. "Red" cities. I'm not for killing a crowd of civilian Palestinians. I'm not for killing a crowd of civilian Israelis.

[Jilly_in_VA]

36. I used to be a Zionist

Not so much any more. I stopped in the 90s over Israel's Lebanese incursion and the Sabra and Shetilah camps when I saw how much of what they were doing then resembled what the creators of the original Israeli state had fled. At that point, my late ex expressed it perfectly when he said, one night after watching the news about that, "Israel has lost its soul." I had a very dear Israeli friend (now deceased, may his memory be eternal) who had made aliyah in 1964. He had served in the IDF and lived in a kibbutz in the northern Negev which was on very friendly terms with the local Bedouins. He hated Netanyahu and everything the right wingers stood for. I really believe that he is probably spinning in his grave these days!

ISTM, and I could be wrong about this, not really being up to date on Israeli politics as I used to be when my friend was alive, that a lot of the militancy and land-grabbing stance can be tied to two things. One is the unchecked reproduction of the Haredim (ultra-orthodox) who won't fight in the IDF for the most part but still have an awful lot of political power due to their numbers---my friend and the political party he belonged to wanted to make military service a condition for voting. The other is the influx of Russian Jews in the 90s, which happened as the result of the destruction of the Iron Curtain. They're pretty much right wingers politically, even though a lot of them are secular. And of course the third thing is Bibi's refusal to loosen his grip on political power because he knows he faces some rather large number of political and other criminal charges should he do so.

All of which does not mean I am anti-Israel. I am not, any more than I am anti-American. I am, however, 100% against what they are doing in Gaza and their expansionism.

[Autumn]

38. Same happened to me. I unfriended that person.

[Dan]

40. The only thing that I can say on this subject

Is that I have some friends from the Middle-East and a Palestinian friend - and they hate Israel with the passion of the heat of the sun. Just from reading my friends - unless there is a solution, it will only be a matter of time until there is hell to pay.

[Mossfern]

47. What does the fact that she happened to be Jewish have to do with it?

Maybe I'm misreading?

[lostincalifornia]

55. No you aren't, and why I am throughly disgusted with what seems to have become all to prevalent here, and I think it

is time for me to go.

There has been an undercurrent here for a while, but now it has been brought out in the open, and it has nothing to do with being critical of Israel, but a palpable animosity one step further.

It occurs in other areas also, such as antagonism against what some is referred to as "establishment Democrats",etc, but what is happening now is far more hurtful and destructive in my view.

Good luck.

[Mossfern]

62. If you go

then it's one more voice that has been silenced.

Some people think they can inoculate themselves by claiming that they've been called "antisemitic" expressing their moral indignation at that. What I've witnessed in this thread just proves to me the wisdom of the saying "If it walks like a duck ....."

Mind you I have NEVER called any poster here an antisemite or a Jew hater, but what I've been reading lately
from a few posters makes me wonder. And if anyone wonders if I'm referring to themselves, maybe they should look at what they've been posting from a different perspective.

For me, it's a prime example of "The lady doth protest too much."

[WhiskeyGrinder]

60. The fact that she was Jewish has nothing to do with anything. What the fuck is this shit here.

[yardwork]

61. The implication is that the Jewish nurse deliberately withheld care.

Resulting in the death of the poster's partner.

Yes, I would call this shit. I'd call it some other things too. And the fact that it has survived numerous juries - I'd call that something.

[Kali999]

45. hmmm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rachel_Corrie

[Mossfern]

48. The second time today

that Rachel Corrie was brought up.
Is this a trend?

[Initech]

49. Netanyahu is a terrorist. He needs to be dealt with the way we used to deal with terrorists.

[Picaro]

52. A thousand recommendations

These kinds of accusations madden me.

Netenyahu and the Likud fascist party are war criminals.
They view all Palestinians as subhumans who can be killed without restraint.

Hating them and their noxious racist ideology is not anti-semitism. Caring for their helpless victims is not anti-semitism.

[Mossfern]

71. But telling someone

that Jews don't care about children's lives comes pretty damn close.
I hope you can see the difference.
Believing that Israel has a right to defend itself does not equal wanting children to die, nor are all Jewish people Israeli.

[MrWowWow]

53. Lest We Forget: For years, NutJobYahoo propped up Hama$

Last edited Thu Aug 14, 2025, 12:13 AM - Edit history (5)

For years, the various governments led by Benjamin Netanyahu took an approach that divided power between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank — bringing Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to his knees while making moves that propped up the Hamas terror group.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/for-years-netanyahu-propped-up-hamas-now-its-blown-up-in-our-faces
.
https://www.972mag.com/netanyahu-hamas-october-7-adam-raz
.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/10/world/middleeast/israel-qatar-money-prop-up-hamas.html
.
https://www.wionews.com/world/explained-how-netanyahu-helped-grow-hamas-which-became-the-frankensteins-monster-for-him-651336
.
https://theweek.com/politics/why-israels-netanyahu-encouraged-suitcases-of-cash-for-hamas
.
https://www.analystnews.org/posts/how-israel-helped-prop-up-hamas-for-decades
.
Here’s a list of credible sources detailing reports and analysis on NUTjobYahooo's role in enabling Hamas’s growth and how that strategy affected the prospects for a two-state solution:

https://www.972mag.com/netanyahu-hamas-october-7-adam-raz
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israeli_support_for_Hamas
https://www.politico.eu/article/benjamin-netanyahu-hamas-qatar-money-war-israel-gaza-palestine
https://www.thenation.com/article/world/why-netanyahu-bolstered-hamas
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/benjamin-netanyahu-israel
https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2024/01/19/israel-financed-hamas-to-weaken-the-palestinian-authority-josep-borrell-claims
https://politics.stackexchange.com/questions/82836/how-did-israel-support-hamas-precisely
https://www.tortoisemedia.com/2025/03/13/october-7-findings-put-netanyahu-under-fresh-scrutiny
__________
NUTjobYahooo did allow and even facilitated significant Qatari cash deliveries into Gaza, fully aware that Hamas, particularly its military wing, would likely benefit. Think about that as the Palestinian "Trail of Tears"to Sudan gets underway.

[DiverDave]

54. I guess I am too.

For the same reasons.

[David__77]

56. Israel's recent actions have done great harm to Jewish people.

[AntiFascist]

57. I'm sure that most people who care about Israel fear the rise of anti-semitism around the world...

and they should also realize that Netanyahu is only continually making the problem worse every day with his actions in Gaza.

[fujiyamasan]

58. I don't see anything you said as anti semitic

I don’t know if your friend is Jewish or not, but sometimes comparisons to the holocaust are problematic and perhaps unintentionally offensive. Perhaps he or she interpreted your comment about Jewish suffering in Poland during WWII as a comparison of October 7th to the Warsaw uprising (a terrible and ill fitting analogy).

The bigger problem I see is he or she is basically refusing to believe there is great suffering in Gaza, and that shows a warped reality. At what point can this endless death, destruction, and starvation finally be considered genocide? At the minimum aren’t calls for forced transfers considered ethnic cleansing?

I refused to admit for a long while that those were the proper terms to describe what is happening but it has been obvious that even with Hamas crippled, Israel doesn’t seem interested in deescalating this conflict. Instead the Israeli government’s plan seems to be to keep this going until either there is no one left in Gaza, or until it basically becomes uninhabitable.

[pansypoo53219]

59. drives me up the wall. netanfuckyou is damaging israel AND jews.

[Johnny2X2X]

63. As Democrats, I feel it is our duty to condemn the Far Right Extremists who have seized control over Israel

The Conservatives took power in Israel and BiBi is their own version of Trump in that he's totally corrupt and a criminal.

When Far Right Extremists gain power, too often genocide follows. It can happen here too.

[Iris]

64. I don't have time to find it now but Mandy Patinkin has made a statement about this

The situation has gone beyond accusations like your friend made to someone (you) who appears to be expressing basic humanity and conscience.