The Iraq War is lost, but the invective continues. Or that's what it seemed like down on Route 9 and 9D on our Saturday peace vigil.
Like usual, the few of us were waving at the many, driving by and giving us peace signs. Then a young man stopped for the light, saw us and started shouting about John Kerry. We just laughed, waiting for the light to turn again. Infuriated, he yelled that we were "Islamo-Fascists." Frustrated by our lack of interest, he finally screamed, "anti-Semites" and drove off.
Our signs were the usual stuff. Peace on earth. Nothing about Israel or Gaza, or the plight of the Palestinians. But to this young man, our standing in a peace vigil meant that we hated Jews.
The charge of anti-Semitism has been used for so long to cover up Israel's barbaric treatment of the Palestinians, that it has come close to losing its meaning. It has become a slur to shout at anyone who would question the right wing's war machine in either Israel or America. The Christian Zionist movement compounds the problem. Its wholesale support of Israel's military annexation of Jerusalem means that anyone supporting peace is similarly anti-Semitic.
The suffering of Jews for two thousand years should not be used in this way, to excuse racism, military aggression, and right wing Christian fanaticism about a coming Messiah. Our goal should be to eliminate all forms of racism, not to use one type to cover up another.
