Nora Gold: What do people mean when they say, “I’m not anti-Semitic; I’m just anti-Zionist”? Photo by Reuters
Since the beginning of the Gaza war, many Jews in Israel and the Diaspora have been shocked by the virulent anti-Zionism – also known as anti-Israelism – that has exploded online. Extending far beyond the legitimate act of critiquing Israel’s wartime decisions, many recent blogs and social media posts have been full of hatred toward Zionism, Zionists and Israel. Because of this, some Israeli and Diaspora Jews feel that what were once friendly online social spaces for them have now become unpleasant, threatening, even unsafe. One woman blogged about how, in order to cope with this, she had “unfriended” many of her Facebook “friends.”
As a result of this online climate, some people have begun asking themselves questions they hadn’t considered before: When did “Zionism” become a dirty word? What do people mean when they say, “I’m not anti-Semitic; I’m just anti-Zionist”? And is this loathing for Israel really just because of the war and the occupation?
This article was originally published by Haaretz. For the full article, click here. http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/the-jewish-thinker/.premium-1.612817
Dr. Nora Gold, writer, editor and activist
Nora Gold’s book, Fields of Exile, is the first novel about anti-Israelism on campus. It was mentioned by The Forward as one of “The 5 Jewish Books To Read in 2014,″ and has received enthusiastic reviews, as well as praise from Phyllis Chesler, Thane Rosenbaum, Irwin Cotler, Steve Stern, Nava Semel, Naim Kattan, Alice Shalvi, and Ann Birstein.
Gold is also the author of the acclaimed Marrow and Other Stories, the creator and editor of the prestigious online literary journal Jewish Fiction .net, a blogger for “The Jewish Thinker” at Haaretz, the Writer-in-Residence and an Associate Scholar at CSWE/OISE/University of Toronto, the organizer of the Wonderful Women Writers Series, and a community activist.
Get in touch with Nora by sending her a message or following her on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
