Both ‘left’ and ‘right’ pose a threat

While the “left” and “right” are often at odds, they both make some good points, but both give cause for concern.

The “right” correctly calls attention to a growing anti-Israel climate on some college campuses and on left-wing internet sites where there are many who demonize Israel and call for boycotts, sometimes straying into overt anti-Semitism. They ignore or excuse the long, often vicious, Arab rejection of any Jewish state, and sometimes excuse or justify Islamist extremism, even terrorism. They can disrupt pro-Israel events and oppose “normalization” or Israeli-Palestinian cooperation. Such groups promote polarization and make it harder for those seeking reconciliation, compromise and peace.

The “left” correctly calls attention to growing right-wing extremism both in Israel and the U.S., intolerant of diverse views, willing to appeal to and justify overt racism. This, too, makes the work of those seeking peace more difficult. In Israel the right-wing often dismisses not just Palestinian interests, but increasingly is demonizing dissenting opinions even against fellow Jews. The right-wing newly designated U.S. Ambassador to Israel supports expanding West Bank settlements and denying Palestinian rights, policies that can only help bring about more violence and terrorism, feed anti-Semitism, and erode both Israel’s world standing and its internal democracy. Here, Jewish reporters critical of [Donald J.] Trump have endured anti-Semitic slurs from our right-wing while Jews, too, have been victims in an upsurge in hate crimes. When neo-Nazis celebrate, when bigotry flourishes, when civil discourse unravels, when diversity is under attack, when huge rallies consider tolerance a weakness, this cannot be good for Jewish interests. Though we are not now the main right-wing target, we can well wonder who will be next.

Despite extremists, I think the moderate mainstream Jewish community, including the Jewish Alliance of RI, has it mostly right. Without overstating the threats, it is both resisting the boycott-Israel movement and seeking to shore up Jewish values in academia while working to counter the anticipated onslaught from our incoming administration against civil rights, the social safety net and environmental quality. Our community is also largely correctly steadfast in still supporting a negotiated two-state solution in Israel-Palestine, still the only plausible way to achieve long-term security, peace and prosperity for the people there.

BARRY SCHILLER lives in N. Providence. He is speaking for himself here, but he is a member of the Community Relation Council’s Israel Task Force