Nope, No Antisemitism Here

One could be a cynic, and say that the behavior of Gaza solidarity protesters is to quote (not Tallyrand),* "Worse than a crime, it is a mistake," but in this case, I will not be cynical and say that, the demands of the protestors at Drexel Univwersity  that Hillel, Chabad, and other Jewish groups be expelled from campus is flat out religious bigotry.  (It's also really stupid, but you don't get this stupid without the antisemitism)

Following the start of the Gaza Solidarity Encampment, which was established just after a documentary screening discussing the events of Oct. 7, Jewish students expressed concerns over the rhetoric used by protestors and demands by the Drexel Palestine Coalition to disband Jewish organizations on campus, including Hillel and Chabad.

Among the encampment’s many demands include terminating both Jewish organizations on Drexel campus, Hillel and Chabad. The coalition claims Hillel’s primary purpose is to “facilitate birthright trips to Occupied Palestine” and claim Chabad should be banned for “welcoming an ex-IOF soldier into the Drexel Community.”

………

Drexel Palestine Coalition did not get back to The Triangle for comment on the demand to terminate Hillel and Chabad. They responded to The Triangle via email with an updated “Communique” of the encampment’s disbandment.

“Early in the morning of Thursday, May 23rd 2024, the Gaza Solidarity Encampment at Drexel University launched a strategic retreat from campus,” the Communique stated.  

………

The soldier with “horrific war crimes and human rights violations” referenced by the demands, refers to an ex-Israeli Defense Force soldier who visited campus on March 14 to share her story of how she survived the Nova festival massacre. She attended the festival after finishing her army service as a yoga instructor for soldiers.

I am not going to use this incident to argue that all of the Gaza protesters are antisemites, I'm not even going to argue that all of the Gaza protesters at Drexel are antisemites, but this does make it clear that all of the Gaza protesters at Drexel are either antisemites or fellow travelers, and this applies to the protestors at the University of California Santa Cruz (go banana slugs) who have made similar demands.

Anti-Zionism is not is not necessarily antisemitism, but frequently it is.

The fact is that modern secular Zionism, and the existence of the state of Israel, are a direct indictment of the modern west.

Zionism's origins began with journalist Theodore Herzl reporting on the Dreyfus Affair, after which he concluded that Jews were not safe in the west, and thus needed a homeland as a refuge for when (not if) their lives are threatened by virtue of their heritage.

Subsequent events proved Herzl right, and this is an indictment of western society.

^*While this quote, "Cest pire qu'un crime, c'est une faute, is generally attributed to Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, he did not say this. It was likely either Antoine Boulay de la Meurthe or Joseph Fouché.