To those carrying heavy hearts,

I know how hard it is to live today. In the past weeks, we’ve watched our own government tear itself apart with a shutdown that held our most vulnerable citizens as pawns. We’ve watched our world cross its first ecological red line as climate warming seems to saunter past a probable point of no return, threatening massive diebacks of coral reefs and irreparable sea level rise. For many, the past years have awoken you to the absolute lack of empathy and intentionality in our society’s position. In 2023, many wised up to the atrocities perpetrated by the Israeli state, notably after the tragedy on October 7, which spurred the latest leg of the ongoing genocide Israel had started.

Many were taken aback by Israel’s response, and for those who are exposed only to American media, this doesn’t shock me; our political and media spheres are dominated by pro-Israel sentiments after all. But for Palestinians, and in reality for Israelis, Israel’s response to the October 7 attack was no surprise. I, for example, grew up watching The Israeli Network on channel 9911, hearing about Hamas hiding in tunnels and Arabs perpetrating terror attacks and bombings, but alongside those details that might have reached American ears, the Israeli media did not hold back in sharing more. Israeli bombing campaigns that destroyed numerous residential areas were commonly reported. In areas where warning leaflets had been dropped, civilian movement was often met with Israeli Defense Forces’ (IDF) fire. Water and electrical infrastructure were often the main targets of attack.

From a neutral perspective, collective punishment of this kind is indefensible, but Israeli media need not hide the reality of its state’s actions from its citizens. Deeply entrenched in Israeli hasbarah (lit. “explaining”; i.e., propaganda) from childhood, Israelis are taught that there is no such thing as a Palestinian: that there is no difference between a citizen and a combatant. I’ve heard these phrases echoed by my own family members, with “rampant population growth,” widespread genocidal intent among Palestinians and “replacement” (sounds like some antisemitic tropes I’ve heard), commonplace talking points.

Last week, The Bowdoin Orient published three Letter to the Editor submissions from two alumni and a student advisor. I am grateful to hear the perspectives of our community members, particularly Rabbi Lisa Vinikoor, a person whom I respect deeply and whose persistent desire to support healthy and productive communication I profoundly admire. However, I was not appreciative of the general implication of these pieces: that Faculty and Staff for Justice in Palestine’s  (FSJP) condemnation of the Israeli state and their recognition of growing anti-Zionism on campus are in some way antisemitic.

One author wrote: “Many faculty at my alma mater apparently see no place in the world for one country alone: Israel, a sovereign nation with flaws like all others,” but Israel isn’t like any other state; it is executing a campaign of mass displacement, ethnic cleansing, starvation, etc. (what many would call genocide) on Palestinian people. Another wrote: “Given the worldview of many who educated Mr. [Zohran] Mamdani at Bowdoin … perhaps we should not be surprised that the anonymous 40-plus members of the FSJP are now contributing to an increase in antisemitism at Bowdoin,” a scalding comment on the moral positioning of FSJP, a group that is not only composed of several Jewish professors but also welcomes Jewish students with open arms. A final perspective shared was that a particular “hyperfocus on and vilification of Israel and Zionism could foment antisemitism.” This remark hurt the most deeply as I understand the pain with which it was written. The struggle of being Jewish, wanting the best for Jewish people and trying to engage healthily and productively with the complex feelings Jewish people feel about Israel is a struggle. So what do we do?

One common thread exists between these three Letters to the Editor. They claim that singling out Israel as unique in a world filled with violence and abomination is what makes anti-Zionism antisemitic. Do they have a point here? In many ways Israel is not unique; civilian starvation, mass displacement, invasions and ethnic cleansing are not solely linked to the Israeli state, after all. Over 12 million Sudanese people have been displaced since the start of the Darfur crisis. Russia continues to bomb civilian infrastructure as it continues to push further into Ukraine. People in the Democratic Republic of the Congo continue to endure sexual violence, mass displacement and murder. Chinese Uyghurs continue to undergo forced sterilization, the separation of families and forced labor in camps. But none of the villainy perpetrated in other countries changes the fact that Israel is engaging in many of these same atrocities. No amount of evil can erase the injustice of any other evil. Israel does not get to be excused by claiming itself as a Jewish state.

Zionism is indeed becoming increasingly unpopular on Bowdoin campus and in the world more broadly, but is this because of antisemitism? I would argue not. America is chock-full of antisemites, and I am so very aware of that. Jewish people have been utilized as a scapegoat throughout history and even today, blamed for societal collapse, plagues, bias in media and manipulating international affairs as some “global elite.” But the reality of the matter is that the majority of people’s issues with Zionism are Israel’s war crimes and the increasingly mainstream knowledge that the goal of Zionism is the establishment of an ethnostate—not for Jewish people—but for a specific, particularly white subset of Jewish people (remember the spraying of Mizrahi Jews with DDT and the ionizing radiation of the ringworm affair). Most particularly, Americans are beginning to realize that no humanitarian crisis on the planet is being sustained by their tax dollars more so than the genocide in Gaza carried out by Israel. Bowdoin’s endowment contributes to weapons that are used to kill innocent people, so of course, Bowdoin students care about this issue.

The primary misjudgement these Letters to the Editor perpetuate is a conflation of Israel with Judaism. Israel is not the Jewish people. Criticism of Israel is not criticism of the Jewish people. If you are a Jewish person and you support Zionism, you are just as deserving of criticism as any Zionist. You may be a victim of antisemitism, but anti-Zionism is not an attack on you.

– An ever-evolving and tired Jew

Asher Feiles is a member of the Class of 2027.