The Worst Thing

 

It’s official, I have now been labeled the worst possible thing that anyone can be labeled and anyone who thought I was a decent enough chap, will now do their best to stay away from me. Thanks to my internet troll, I am officially an “Anti-Semite.”

 

The label of “Anti-Smite” isn’t just an ordinary label like being called a “racist” or a “sexist” or even an “ageist.” This label has consequences. I can, probably, kiss goodbye all my aspirations of being “someone” in the financial industry and should I be in any Western European country or America, I better keep my head low lest someone dig up my insignificant blog and use it against me.

For the record, I am not particularly pro or anti any particular party. As a matter of disclosure, I have family that is Jewish and at the same time, my career highlight has been due to the Arabs (working for the Saudi Government in 2006 for the visit of the late Crown Prince Sultan to Singapore and later covering the IMF meeting in Singapore for Arab News, that very same year). If you read what I actually write, you’ll notice that what I have said is not particularly new and pretty obvious.

So, what happened? How did I end up with this dreadful label tied to my name. Well, the answer is simple. I have written a few pieces that have been critical of Israel’s actions in the Gaza strip and also the Western world’s unconditional support. That action, as a former Egyptian ambassador once told me, “Is very dangerous.”

So, why is being labeled an “antisemite” such a bad thing? Well, if you look at the way the term is used, it is taken to mean that one is “Anti-Jewish,” and given that the Jews suffered one of the worst holocausts known to humanity, nobody should want to be known as “hating” the Jews. However, if you look the way that where this term is used most often, its often used to talk about anyone who is critical of Israel and her policies.

However, whilst this term is used to describe anyone who is “Anti-Israel” and “Anti-Jewish,” is it really right to use the term is such a manner? Does it actually help anyone, including Jews and Israel that the term is slammed around whenever the topic of Israel is raised?

Let us start with, what do we understand by the term “Semite.” How can you be an “Antisemite” if you don’t know what a Semite is in the first place. There are several facts that describe a Semite like the fact that the Semites are defined as “decedents of Shem, one of the sons of Noah (He who built the Ark).” Then there’s the simple definition as provided by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary:

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Semite

 

 So, if you look at this definition, its clear that Semite refers to an “ethnicity” (race) and not a particular “religion.” Then, there’s the understanding that Arabs and other people from the Middle East are also Semites. So, in the strictest definition of the term, an “Antisemite” doesn’t “hate Jews” specifically. That term is only accurate when describing someone who hates anyone with Hebrew, Arab, Phoenician blood.

Then, there’s the issue of how “Semitic” are the Israeli people? Well, if you were to do a simple Googe search as to where do most Israeli’s get their DNA from, you’ll find that around half of Israeli Jews are decedents of European Settlers.

https://www.google.com/search?q=where+do+israelis+come+from&sca_esv=26ee9b68140196fe&ei=YWwkZ5yLKO6W4-

 

 Then, let’s look at who the Palestinians are. A simple Google search defines the Palestinians as sharing a common Canaanite Ancestry with the Jews of the Bible.

https://www.google.com/search?q=Palestinian+relationship+to+Ancient+Hebrews&sca_esv=26ee9b68140196fe&ei=plckZ-v4Mu2t4-

 

 

So, once again, if you look at the strictest terms of what defines a “samite,” its clear that the Palestinians have a stronger term on the term “Semitic” and the consequential “anti-Semite” than the Israelis do.

Hebrew and Arabic actually share the same roots. The simplest example comes from the common greeting and reply of “Salaam Alaykum” and “Alaykum Salaam” in Arabic, which is “Shalom Aleichem” and “Aleichem Shalom” in Hebrew. Talk to enough Jews and Arabs, and you’ll find that minus the extremist, neither side has a particularly irrational hatred of the other.

https://www.jpost.com/opinion/peace-will-only-come-when-the-faiths-of-jews-and-arabs-are-acknowledged-643082

 

 The potential for Israel and her Arab neighbours to be a powerful force in the world is there. Israel has the technology and the know-how. The GCC has plenty of money and there are plenty of people willing to work in the Palestinian territories as well as in the poorer parts of the Arab world, willing to provide cheap labour.

However, what everyone who watches Fauda (An Israeli TV series) and reads Haaretz (An Israeli newspaper) will tell you, one group is literally being screwed over by the other. Temperatures are so high that it would be political suicide for any Arab leader to voice anything friendly to Israel.

You cannot claim to be a supporter of the Jewish People or Israel if you throw inaccurate and meaningless labels like “Anti-Semite” at anyone who points out that the side with all the power needs to bring down the temperatures so that the problem gets solved. Refusing to do so makes you an “anti-Semite.”