To the editor,
M. Reza Behnam recent opinion column on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was a shameful attempt at whitewashing anti-Semitism. Marc Lamont Hill was not fired for calls for a “free Palestine,” but for calling for a “free Palestine from the [Jordan] river to the [Mediterranean] sea,” which is a slogan used by Hamas and other Palestinian terrorists groups that seek the violent destruction of Israel and all of its Jewish inhabitants. Representative Ilhan Omar’s comments that played on old anti-Semitic canards about Jewish money and influence in politics and also dual loyalty were utterly reprehensible. They were rightly condemned by many on both sides of the aisle. But, for Behnam, anti-Semitic conspiracy theories are just another way of “expressing facts.”
Of course—as is always the case when anti-Semitic tropes are being used—these “facts” are also not necessarily factual. AIPAC does not give money to political candidates. Congress is pro-Israel because Americans are pro-Israel. Americans are pro-Israel not, as Behnam seems to imply, because the citizens of our country are being duped by propaganda. Americans across the country from both parties understand that America and Israel share common values, and that Israel is indeed a like-minded democracy whose people enjoy the same freedoms we enjoy. Further, it is a small country under siege from enemies that want to destroy it, and it sits in a dangerous part of the world where America has few true friends.
We urge your readers to read the working definition of anti-Semitism that the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, an intergovernmental organization dedicated to Holocaust education, created in order to define, study and combat anti-Semitism. Behnam decries the Department of Education using these guidelines for describing anti-Semitism. After reading the short and common-sense definition, we hope your readers will question why it is so very bothersome for Behnam.
Daniel S. Mariaschin
B’nai B’rith International CEO
Washington, DC
M. Reza Behnam recent opinion column on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was a shameful attempt at whitewashing anti-Semitism. Marc Lamont Hill was not fired for calls for a “free Palestine,” but for calling for a “free Palestine from the [Jordan] river to the [Mediterranean] sea,” which is a slogan used by Hamas and other Palestinian terrorists groups that seek the violent destruction of Israel and all of its Jewish inhabitants. Representative Ilhan Omar’s comments that played on old anti-Semitic canards about Jewish money and influence in politics and also dual loyalty were utterly reprehensible. They were rightly condemned by many on both sides of the aisle. But, for Behnam, anti-Semitic conspiracy theories are just another way of “expressing facts.”
Of course—as is always the case when anti-Semitic tropes are being used—these “facts” are also not necessarily factual. AIPAC does not give money to political candidates. Congress is pro-Israel because Americans are pro-Israel. Americans are pro-Israel not, as Behnam seems to imply, because the citizens of our country are being duped by propaganda. Americans across the country from both parties understand that America and Israel share common values, and that Israel is indeed a like-minded democracy whose people enjoy the same freedoms we enjoy. Further, it is a small country under siege from enemies that want to destroy it, and it sits in a dangerous part of the world where America has few true friends.
We urge your readers to read the working definition of anti-Semitism that the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, an intergovernmental organization dedicated to Holocaust education, created in order to define, study and combat anti-Semitism. Behnam decries the Department of Education using these guidelines for describing anti-Semitism. After reading the short and common-sense definition, we hope your readers will question why it is so very bothersome for Behnam.
Daniel S. Mariaschin
B’nai B’rith International CEO
Washington, DC