Shortly before Israel engaged in Operation Pillar of Defense, and college campuses erupted in a spate of anti-Israel rallies, Jonathan Spyer, a senior fellow at the Global Research in International Affairs Center in Herzliya, Israel, addressed an audience in a packed boardroom at McGill University in Montreal, telling them that the notion of anti-Zionism has become a cover for anti-Semitism, and that pro-Israel students on campus have a duty to debunk it.
“The mantra in the Middle East has become ‘anyone whom I do not like is a ‘Jew,'” Spyer said.
This culture, he claimed, is brought to North American university campuses, where it is used to promote anti-Semitic ideology in a way that is palatable to many on the left, who see Jews as the powerful and Palestinians as the powerless.
“Anti-Zionism is a lie,” Spyer said forcefully. “Anti-Zionism used in 2012 is an attempt to obfuscate that fact to pretend that the desire to destroy a people and a culture is a political philosophy challenge. If you have a political movement that wishes to bring a state into existence, then you can support or opposite it, but to seek to destroy it once it exists is an extremist demand.”
He elaborated on the nature of the extremism by saying that “the unique desire to destroy the only country in the world that is Jewish, after it was formed and ratified by the UN, is anti-Semitic.”
Spyer’s advice for Israel advocates on campus? “Get the truth out. It’s the best way to discredit them by proving that while we have historical knowledge, facts and intellectual rigor, the other side has a lie at the center of all its claims.”
He distinguished between criticizing the Jewish state and denying its right to exist, stating that, “It is legitimate to criticize the actions of the Israeli government, for example, if you have concluded that Netanyahu’s government has made wrong decisions, but if the person wants the state of Israel to cease to be, that is anti-Semitism.”
Spyer cited a Pew Research Survey that found that around 95% of people in Middle Eastern countries have unfavorable opinions of Jews. When students from these regions study on North American university campuses, he said, they often bring their hatred with them.
Despite the dark message that he brought to McGill, Spyer ended on an optimistic note. Ultimately, he thinks that the pro-Israel side is bound to emerge victorious:
“No lie can prevail for long,” he said.
McGill student Matthew Meland said that the questions that were asked following the presentation represented a wide range of views. “[They] were far from one-sided,” he noted, “This was an environment where Jews were able to question rather than having to be defensive by nature. Discussion is the only way middle ground could be reached.”
Ilana Donahue, president of McGill Students for Israel, found the talk refreshing. “He raised a very convincing and relevant argument that there is such a high degree of anti-Semitism in the Middle East that it is natural for [people] to not be okay with Jewish self-determination,” she said. Donahue added that she believes this sentiment is brought to campus disguised as anti-Zionism and criticism of Israel.
Spyer’s visit to McGill was arranged by The Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy (ISGAP). To find out more go to www.isgap.org].
