Protesting

THE TERM "SEMITE" refers to Arab ancestry or ethnicity, to anyone whose ancestors originated within the Arabian peninsula. Therefore, technically, ironically, Arabs and Jews derive from the same ancestry, are closely related, close cousins if you will. Jews, alas, are Arabs. Whereas the phrase "anti-Semitism" is always used to describe anyone hostile to the Jewish faith, it could be construed to refer to all arabs. And although there are people who have a negative attitude to Arabs in general,it is the Judaic religion, not the ethnicity, with which misanthropic folks take issue. And, lest we become confused, anti-Semitic attitudes, which reamin quite extant, as is quickly becoming evident not only in these United States but in Europe and other places in the world, is, overwhelmingly, a product of the Christian faith. It is Christians who tend to promulgate and perpetuate anti-semitism. This too is ironic, in that the Christain faith is an offshoot of Judaism, its holy scriptures inclusive of the Hebrew scriptures. The offshoot, casting off its historical parentage, even while embracing the nation state, Israel, which carries on formally its own Christian cultural roots. A bit schizophrenic, perhaps. Even more ironically, the term "Palestinians", which always is used to refer to people who live in the land area historically called "Palestine", actually references people with Arab ancestry. Hence, Palestinains and Jews are both Semitic, although, again, any use of the term "anti-Semitic"never is used in reference to Palestinains, who by and large embrace the Islamic religion. Two features of the ongoing "pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses all across America's fruited plain, stand out. The first is that the protests are not necessarily "pro-Palestinian": in the sense of supporting Hamas in its current conflict with Israel, nor are they necessarily motivated by anti-Semitism. What the protestors demand is an end to the conflict, a permanent cease fire, and that the Palestinian civilian population be spared from the enroaching genocide being enacted on it by the Israell "defense forces". This seems a reasonable basis upon which to conduct a protest movement. Most of the protestors would most likely be highly supportive of the establishment of a national Palestinian homeland, a true nation-state, with formal bounderies, government, and international recognition. Argaubaly, all this is not only reasonable, but quite in keeping with the traditional, historical position of most of the global community. Secondly, and perhaps more surprising, is that the campus protests are almost exclusively the project of American liberals, "progressives". Perhaps, however, its not so surprising. The political divide in America is such that American conservatives tend in large numbers to be supportive of Israeli aims, including that country's foreign policy objectives, and that progressives tend to be much more amenable to Palestinian concerns, including its supprssion since 1948. Most public protest movements are valid, most advocate for just and admirable causes. Arguably, the current one is no different. And most such movements, at least in the United States, are manifested from within the progressive community. Conservatives, being grounded in tradition, tend not to advocate for the kind of rapid change which underlies most protest movements. Viet Nam, women's suffrage, civil rights, gay rights, among others, provide proof of this. It is the libs who tend to take to the streets. One must always be cautious in generalizing. And although the current campus disruptions are being called "pro- Palestinian", among the generally well intentioned students and professors who are dutifully carrying signs and shouting slogans advocating fair play for Palestine, there are among them, insiputably, anti-Semites. This is to be expected, as inevitable. This proves the point; it is not always the progressives who advocate exclusively for "progress". Interspersed among them, in what one hopes are small numbers, are bigots whose hatred is directed not only against injustice, but, alas, against members of the Jewish faith.