When I was walking down the library steps this past Wednesday, I was shocked and disturbed to see posters for Hillel's Jewish Queer Students at Tufts' then?upcoming event "God vs. Gay? The Religious Case for Equality" defaced with stickers saying "apartheid" in Hebrew.
It was even more disheartening to later find that the posters put up to replace the vandalized ones were defaced in the same manner. "God vs. Gay?" was an event about the intersectionality of religion and queerness and has absolutely nothing to do with Israeli politics or LGBT rights in Israel. There is a well?defined line between being critical of Israel and being anti?Semitic, and it is important that people on this campus are conscious of this distinction.
It is totally acceptable for students to criticize Israel; if individuals believe that the best word to describe Israel's political system is apartheid and want to spread that message on campus, it is their right to do so. Being critical of Israel is not the equivalent of being anti?Semitic. Although Israel is a Jewish state, Israel does not represent the Jewish faith, and people should feel free to criticize Israel without the fear of being labeled anti?Semites.
However, the line between criticizing Israel and being anti?Semitic is blurred when one confuses Israel and Israelis with anything Jewish and all Jews respectively. The defacing of these posters is a perfect example of blurring that line; it is unacceptable when someone decides that a poster in reference to Judaism is an opportunity to make a political statement about Israel.
We are certain many others were offended by this person's actions. We would like to emphasize, however, that that is exactly what this incident was: one person's actions. As a community, it is important that we make sure not to extrapolate one person's actions to describe an entire group of people, while simultaneously calling to the forefront something that needs to be addressed.
Outside of this specific incident, we would also like to remind people that there is a clear distinction between talking about Israelis, Israeli Jews and Jews in general. One must not confuse these terms, as they are not interchangeable. The term Israelis includes Israeli citizens of all faiths and ethnicities, and, although the term Israeli Jews is more specific, one must not portray an entire people as having a monolithic opinion and message.
We have heard several individuals use the general term "Jews" when referring to acts undertaken by the Israeli government against the Palestinian people. We have also had several friends who are involved in Tufts Hillel tell us stories of being attacked on campus about Israel's treatment of the Palestinians. Many of these friends readily admit they do not know enough about the Israeli?Palestinian conflict to have a solid opinion, yet they were verbally assaulted simply because someone associated their involvement with Hillel with a specific position on the Israeli?Palestinian conflict. These actions do not tread the line of being critical of Israel and being anti?Semitic; they cross it.
The vast majority of students on this campus who have strong opinions on the Israeli?Palestinian conflict are dedicated to having a productive dialogue. Most of these people understand that proper language should be used when framing this conversation. However, it is clear that the vandalism of these posters is not a single isolated incident. Students need to think about the consequences of their actions and their words before they act upon them. By using a different word or recognizing when the dialogue is appropriate, one can completely change the meaning and tenor of one's argument from one of hostility to productive discourse.
At an institute of higher education, we should all feel comfortable and encouraged to critically discuss contentious and complex issues in the modern world, such as the Israeli?Palestinian conflict. There are many acceptable and productive frameworks in which we can engage these issues, but defacing posters of a Jewish event with political rhetoric about the Israeli?Palestinian conflict crosses this clear?cut line. The person who defaced these posters decided to target Jewish life on campus, and in this specific case, a gay Jewish program. To us, this feels anti?Semitic.
--
