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We believe the May 30 column by members of the Maine Coalition for Palestine is full of half-truths, but we’ll just tackle the assertion that the accusations of antisemitism “couldn’t be further from the truth.”
Really?
One form of antisemitism is denial or distortion of Jewish history. The authors give us an example: “For those who see themselves behaving morally during a Holocaust, do they also believe that the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising of 1943 should have been a peaceful protest and not disrupt any business or schools from operating as usual?”
This is nonsense. The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising was not about civil disobedience through disruption. It was a suicidal armed uprising by Jews who all knew that they were already condemned to be killed.
Why would the column’s authors make such a ridiculous and horrendous comparison between this suicidal uprising and their own self-proclaimed right to have a disruptive protest? Was it simply to diminish and distort Jewish history? Were they trying to say, “See, our disruptive protests are just like what the Jews did, so therefore, we can’t be antisemitic?”
Whatever their intent, the result is fuel for antisemites who redefine Jewish history in order to threaten Jews. Distorting Jewish history is common in the peace movement, keeping many Jews away.
We support peace activists in Israel and Palestine who recognize that theirs is a land of two peoples who are not going anywhere. It is a disservice to the cause of justice and peace to promote one side’s narrative and negate the other.
Barbara Kates
Sol Goldman
Bangor
