The problem is that actual antisemites jump into the debate and work to linguistically push legitimate criticism of Israel into real antisemitism. You can see it right here, all over Lemmy, and presumably this thread. It's incredibly obvious, and it's also incredibly obvious that those people want to short circuit this conversation by making the issue black and white.

That's why many people are very hesitant to engage with this even if they do have real concerns over how Israel operates.

I think the requirement for “have to be stated it as a political position” caveat is rooted in malice which has historically skewed the discussion in favor of controlling the narrative in the interest of the agenda at hand, in this case is blind support for Israel.

I remember having to use the same set of qualifiers back in the day during the “War on Terror”, when arguing that mass bombing campaigns would only lead to more extremism. I’d have to state that I didn’t “support terrorism” and the idea was to have an objective discussion around the policies in question.

It’s a tact to suppress valid criticism and garner support.

It was apparent then and it’s apparent now. We cannot have open discussions in the interest of actual progress when folks are implicated into a myopic tribal view of the situation for having an opinion that goes against the common narrative.

It’s no more antisemite to object to Israel’s actions than it is to be pro genocide to vote for Biden. But this is what the Trump trolls have chosen for everyone to be upset about now.

It’s this every four years. There’s always something to not vote over.

Yeah, you would think that it would be pretty simple and straightforward for most people to grasp, yet, the need to condition being pro-not-killing-innocent-Palestinian/any civilians with a disclaimer of not supporting Hamas and not being antisemitic within the same breath exists in conversations with most folks. It's absurd. It's like being against both what was done to innocents by Hamas on October 7 and what Israel is currently doing to innocents is impossible for many people to wrap their minds around (or at least, that's how the national conversation is framed in the US). Neither action is an acceptable means of achieving goals (stated or otherwise), but Hamas and Netanyahu have long been in a toxic codependent relationship. My favorite is the look on "pro-Israel" peoples' faces in instances where they're informed that the person they just called an antisemite for daring to be against the bombing of innocent children and others is Jewish (whether by religious practice or genetics). It's bullshit.

But it makes money for defense contractors. How can it be wrong? — Several governments

I also hate me some interracial marriage brother /s

Same here. I am partly jewish. My great grandmother died in the Holocaust. And I am very anti zionist. And definitely not antisemitic. I have a ton of books on jewish life and history.

The only people confusing the issue want to make it an issue.

This is key.

There are people who are anti-Semitic, and there are people who are islamophobic, and those people all view the opposition as sub-human. They will don't want peace because they want to win.

And then there are the people who benefit from the conflict, and will stoke the fires on both sides. They don't care who wins, who dies, who suffers, because while there is violence and death, they can benefit themselves.

Any progressive engaged in a discussion needs to recognize whether they are talking to a zealot or a profiteer. The former might be reasoned with. Supporters of Israel or Hamas might be shown the error in their thought process.

equal opportunity hatred is real progressivism

but instead condition Palestinian statehood on Fata or PA taking over while simply utilizing the military forces committed to invasion to defending the narrow border.

But the whole point of Israel nurturing Hamas was to destroy the authority of Fatah and the PA so they WOULDN'T have to negotiate for an actual two-state solution.

Just worth pointing out: the Israeli government are anti-Semitic. Many Jewish people (especially outside of Israel) are opposed to this genocide.