The American Tensions of Israel and Palestine

Almost everybody in America has an opinion about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In the age of social media, a seemingly innocuous criticism of either side can be latched onto and spun as anti-semitism and Islamophobia, leading to a vicious cycle of accusations.

Historically, the United States has been an ardent supporter of the state of Israel. President Truman recognized the country on its first day of existence in 1948. This support continued through Israel’s history and tended to be bipartisan. Israeli support was also strategic, both in getting the Jewish vote and as an American ally in the Middle East.

There has always been a vocal minority of course. Some critics of Israel believed that the Jewish people did not deserve a homeland. However, separate from anti-semitism, a new wave of anti-Israel sentiment has been growing louder on the far-left. This disapproval of Israel has been popularized by rising leftist Democrats such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Their criticism stems from the Israeli government’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, and its inhumane treatment of Palestinians. Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, the first two Muslim women in Congress, both publicly support the BDS movement, which calls for boycotts of, divestment from, and sanctions on Israel.

The American political establishment’s support of Israel has yet to waver.The city of Jerusalem has long been contested as the capital of both Israel and Palestine, and thus the US embassy has always been located in Tel Aviv. If an embassy were to be in Jerusalem, it would signify that the country believes the capital belongs to Israel. However, in 1995, Congress passed the Jerusalem Embassy Act near-unanimously, mandating that the US Embassy be relocated to Jerusalem. Every president since had put off the move to avoid stoking the conflict, but in 2018, President Trump finally executed the relocation to Jerusalem, sparking outrage from progressives.

Representative Ilhan Omar has always been a vocal critic of Israel, particularly on her social media. Last February, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy threatened Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib with censure over their comments on Israel and BDS. In response, she tweeted that “it’s all about the Benjamins, baby” in reference to the hundred dollar bill. Later, she clarified that she was referring to AIPAC. Immediately after, Omar was bombarded with accusations of anti-semitism. Debates sprung up over whether Omar had a point, or whether she was merely peddling in an old anti-semitic trope.

AIPAC, or the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, is a lobbying organization that pushes for American support of Israel. It is most notable for hosting an annual trip to Israel for all members of Congress. Like hundreds of other lobbying organizations in Washington DC, AIPAC often tries to leverage its rewards like the trip and supporters’ money to bolster support of Israel. There’s no denying some of its influence over Congress, but as outlined above, America has always solidly supported Israel. Omar has frequently spoken out against the role of money in politics, especially from organizations like the National Rifle Association, in tandem with many Americans finally waking up to its ill effects.

The allegations of anti-semitism stem from Omar claiming that American support of Israel was because of money from a Jewish organization. In the Middle Ages, Jews often worked as moneylenders as many Christians were forbidden from such occupations. The stereotypical association with money has followed Jews throughout history and contributed to barrages of anti-semitism. There was a widespread belief that Jews controlled the money and the media, which justified them being used as scapegoats for all sorts of disaster in society. When Omar connected the influence of Jewish money as controlling America’s connection with Israel, intentional or not, many Jews saw it calling back to hurtful tropes of the past. It also wasn’t a great look that David Duke, former Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, publicly supported her remarks.

However, the problems truly began to accelerate after Republicans latched onto this criticism, and publicly condemned Omar. Many Republicans already had ill will towards Omar because of her radical leftist positions and her outspoken Muslim identity. They saw an opportunity to weaponize the accusations of anti-semitism and give legitimacy to their previous negative positions.

This is merely an interpretation, of course, but Republicans are not well-known for being bastions of equality and civil rights. Their hypocrisy is most evident in their reaction to a member of their own party making offensive remarks. Representative Steve King has stood by his numerous racist remarks since he was elected in 2003, such as saying “that every culture is equal [is] not objectively true. He built his political career on his white supremacy, and yet it was only in the past year that he was pulled from congressional committee assignments, without much fanfare. Furthermore, several weeks after Omar’s infamous tweets, a poster hung in the West Virginia state house during a Republican-sponsored event, linking Omar to the terrorists behind 9/11.

Meanwhile, Democrats found themselves in a bind. They disapproved of the Omar’s remarks and the implications of anti-semitism, but also the hypocrisy of the Republicans. If they spoke out against Omar’s remarks, they would be accused of Islamophobia. If they spoke out against the implications of Islamophobia in Republicans’ targeting of Omar, they would be accused of anti-semitism. In the House, a resolution against anti-semitism was discussed, but it was eventually watered down to include all forms of discriminations and its passing was met with apathetic reception.

Omar’s tweets were quickly isolated and spun out of control. From the start, what she actually said on the topic didn’t matter as much as the controversy around the reactions to what she said. The scandal died down after a couple of weeks, but the cycle has been repeated. In May, Rashida Tlaib was similarly targeted for her ahistorical but taken out of context and misleading comments about Israel’s founding on the Yahoo News podcast.

The attacks from Republicans were often thinly veiled Islamophobia, pouncing on a stray, hurtful comment and blowing it up. The intentions of their exposes don’t diminish the insensitivity of Omar and Tlaib’s comments, and Democrats should not deny that. It is also important to take the context of the attacks into account and acknowledge their blatant hypocrisy.

Another important fact to acknowledge is the fundamental divide between American Jews and the Israeli government. According to polls from the Jewish Electorate Institute, two-thirds of American Jews identify as Democrats, and Israel ranks last in their list of political concerns, preceded by progressive domestic concerns. Israel’s government is currently led by the right-wing Benjamin Netanyahu, and his refusal of a two-state solution with Palestine is discordant with most American Jews. American Jews care deeply about anti-semitism, of course, and the Democratic Party would do best not to alienate a core part of their base by falling straight into the Republican trap.

Claims also circulated around the equivalence of being anti-Israel vs. being anti-semitic. They are one hundred percent different. It is easy for them to overlap, especially outside of America, but it is simply a correlation. Anti-semites only help to conflate the two by covering up their offensive comments with the weak excuse of it being solely about Israel. Israel is a country, not a monolith for the Jewish people, and it would be a gross violation of free speech to refuse somebody to speak out about the nation’s flaws. Critiquing anti-semitism also shouldn’t cross into critiquing anti-zionism.

Social media makes it easier for society to cherry pick controversial statements and begin this cycle of bigotry as outlined above, ruthlessly prolonging the issue for their own self-interest. It’s important for politicians to think critically about what they post to such a huge platform, but controversy is inevitable when opponents have eagle eyes, ready to swoop in and accuse them of anti-semitism.

The manipulative Twitter cycles and controversies ostensibly about foreign policy in actuality obfuscated the original issue and transformed into a manifestation of polarizing American political tensions. Take a look at the big picture: the true existential conflict is between Israel and Palestine, and it is one that is less and less likely to ever be solved.

by MIRIAM ABRAMS