I have made the argument in the past that to support Israel's crimes—and occupation of Palestine—is precisely anti-Israeli. What Israel is doing is bad for Israel. This is also the judgment of a long list of former (it's always former) heads of Israel's intelligence community and high-ranking military officers. (Watch the documentary The Gatekeepers for an interesting set of interviews by Israeli intelligence and military elites.) Are these former heads of Shin Bet self-hating Jews? Are they anti-Israeli? Because they too conclude that the occupation is bad for Israel.
Is expressing sympathy with the suffering anti-Semitic? A prominent figure in Jewish history, Hillel the Elder (110 BC–10 AD), was once asked if he could summarize the Torah while standing on one leg. The rabbi responded: “What is hateful to yourself, do not to your fellow man. That is the whole of the Torah and the remainder is but commentary. Go study it.”
So, there you go. Hillel the Elder was an anti-Semite. Fascinating.
Celebrities have always shown breathtaking cowardice toward the Palestine-Israel conflict. They're good about expressing sympathy for cats and dogs and getting their pictures taken in Africa. But Arab suffering? That's best avoided.
Some mumble gibberish, like Gal Gadot (see my May 19, 2021, open letter I published), while some seem blithely oblivious (Scarlett Johansson), and some even get cranky and pathetically throw tantrums when the subject is brought up (Thom Yorke of Radiohead).
Some have shown backbone: Musicians Annie Lennox and Roger Waters, producer Brian Eno, actors Viggo Mortensen, Danny Glover, and Mark Ruffalo, street artist Banksy, and activist Bianca Jagger.
Good on you, Emma Watson. Hillel the Elder would be proud.
