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Emma Watson, 'solidarity' and anti-Semitism
By Josh Levs
Emma Watson (ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images)
Recently, the Instagram account of actress and activist Emma Watson posted an image of a pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel rally, with a message of "solidarity." It's unclear what relationship Watson herself has to the Instagram post. Her account says it "has been taken over by an anonymous Feminist Collective." (I messaged her on Twitter and emailed what is apparently her talent agency, but did not immediately hear back.)
The responses predictably fell into two camps. Many people praised the post and attacked Israel, while others called out the post for what they saw as anti-Semitism. Among the latter was Danny Danon, the former Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, who included a joking reference to Watson's work in the Harry Potter franchise: "10 points from Gryffindor for being an anti-Semite." In return, he was assailed by people claiming that he and other Jews falsely call things anti-Semitic in order to stifle support for Palestinians.
What incredibly few people did is ask what might be anti-Semitic about the post. Had they done so, here's what they could have learned: Supporting a free, peaceful, independent Palestinian state alongside Israel is not anti-Semitic. But the post did not specifically call for that. Instead, it expressed solidarity with a movement whose leaders, with much public support, call for the slaughter of Jewish civilians.
The Instagram post, reposted from the Bad Activist Collective account, superimposed the words "solidarity is a verb" over a cropped photo of a Chicago rally last May. While it's difficult to tell exactly which signs people are holding in the cropped and partially covered image, some people online pointed out that the rally itself included people waving Hamas flags, holding signs falsely accusing Israel of "genocide," and invoking Nazi imagery — a preposterous comparison that many nations including the United States include in the definition of anti-Semitism. Those of us who saw these images at the time — including one highlighted by the Anti-Defamation League — were well aware that anti-Semitism was part of the rally.
In Gaza, where Hamas rules, and the West Bank, where Fatah is in charge, the Palestinian government officially and openly supports killing Jews. They pay terrorists' families and still hold official celebrations for the Munich Olympics terrorists. Hamas has long called for slaughtering Jews, and constantly launches rockets aimed at civilians. (Israel drops leaflets and makes phone calls warning civilians of attacks on Hamas positions. A UN official had to flee Gaza for his own safety after acknowledging that Israel's attacks in last year's deadly fighting were "precise.")
People who often cite Human Rights Watch in criticizing Israel conveniently ignore what HRW says about Palestinian leadership, including that Hamas rocket attacks constitute war crimes.
Opinion polls have found that majorities of Palestinians support terrorist attacks. In 2013, Pew found that 74% support suicide bombings often (37%), sometimes (25%) or rarely (12%), while only 16% opposed them. In 2015, the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research found 72% of young Palestinian adults support attacks on civilians, including those in Israel. In 2019, 17-year-old Rina Shnerb was killed, and her father and brother were seriously wounded, in a terrorist bombing at a natural spring outside the West Bank settlement of Dolev. A few weeks later, the same Palestinian polling group found that 61% support such attacks.
Last June, a majority of Palestinians (53%) said Hamas is "most deserving of representing and leading the Palestinian people." Hamas is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union, and other nations. (One would think that Palestinian support for Hamas despite its raging sexism and homophobia might show a "feminist collective" that a great many Palestinians are certainly not in solidarity with them.)
Obviously, there are many Palestinians who want all the bloodshed to end, seek peaceful co-existence, and would accept the existence of Israel as a Jewish state — the only way to ensure Jews have a place on Earth to defend ourselves and fight for our existence. (The idea that many Muslim nations are fine but one tiny Jewish country is an affront to humanity is obviously anti-Semitic.) They absolutely should have an independent, free state.
Unfortunately, many supporters of Palestinians insist that the entire cause is about nothing but peace, acceptance and freedom from occupation in the West Bank and Gaza (whether "occupation" applies to Gaza is contested). This willful ignorance creates a loop of circular reasoning. First, people deny any anti-Semitism in the Palestinian movement. Then, they say Jewish people who point to the anti-Semitism are crying wolf. Then they say they don't need to listen to Jewish people about anti-Semitism because we cry wolf. And the cycle repeats. (Yes, some pro-Palestinian activists are Jewish, but 85% of American Jews recognize that anti-Zionism is a form of Jew-hatred.)
With anti-Semitic attacks on the rise in the United States and around the world, Jewish people need allies. Anyone seeking to be a true ally should know that becoming one starts with listening. Hear what we have to say. Learn. That would be an act of solidarity.
Levs is a communications consultant, activist and author.