Dan DeWalt, a frequent contributor to these pages and one of the founders of this newspaper, writes that if he didn't love his country, he "wouldn't spend so much time trying to get it to live up to its purported principles."
NEWFANE-Although tariffs have crowded out the Gaza genocide in Western media, the continuation of Israel's destruction of Gaza proceeds at a horrifying pace.
Sensing that they are close to realizing their dream of erasing Palestinians and establishing their apartheid state from the river to the sea, fervent Zionists have dropped all pretenses; they have now declared their intention to "conquer" Gaza and establish an ongoing military occupation, forcing some two million remaining Palestinians into concentrated camps in southern Gaza.
Millions of Palestinians are already suffering, and many are dying from starvation due to Israel's blockade of food and water. They still are subjected to daily attacks, killing men, women, and children, including doctors, journalists, and aid workers, and diminishing the chances for the return of the remaining Israeli hostages.
In Israel, weekly demonstrations shut down the streets in Tel Aviv, as protesters clamor for an end to the destruction of Gaza. More reservists are refusing to serve, saying that the campaign of annihilation is not compatible with Jewish values.
Families of the remaining hostages held by Hamas are furious that Prime Minister Netanyahu and his extreme right-wing allies in the government now openly don't care about the hostages' plight, choosing instead to focus on their dream of conquest or, in Netanyahu's case, saving his own neck from trial and conviction in Israeli courts, which cannot proceed while he stays in power.
Any human with a heart and a conscience, if fully informed, would be aghast and against these actions. Zionists realize this and have undertaken a cynical and desperate campaign to counter all objections.
* * *
Here in the U.S., people who speak out against the genocide and atrocities are being labeled as antisemites. Zionist groups ferret out the identities of protesters and feed that information to Trump's goon squads, who dutifully go break down their doors and arrest/deport/imprison them.
The fact that millions of Jews both here and abroad are opposed to current Israeli actions is dismissed as either "false news" or the actions of "self-hating Jews." Non-Jewish voices are labeled "radical leftists" poisoned by "wokeness," to be ignored and vilified.
Then these groups sound the alarm about how they are endangered and being persecuted by our "hate."
They have presented a stark ultimatum: Get behind them as they exterminate the Palestinians, or you will be condemned as an antisemite and prosecuted accordingly by this new, lawless police state that is unfolding in America.
This is as ridiculous as trying to claim that opposing white supremacy and Christian nationalism is anti-American, is unpatriotic, and makes you an "enemy of the people." No thinking person accepts that propaganda line and no one should accept the Zionists' twisted logic either.
By positing themselves as the only true representatives of the Jewish faith and the only true defenders of the Jewish state, these zealots are forcing more and more people to be falsely defined as antisemitic. And, in exasperation, more people are starting to say, "So be it."
At a time when real antisemitism is rising among white supremacists, the last thing we need is a vicious, narcissistic cabal that does its best to turn the world against Jews.
* * *
It's hard to imagine anything more cynical than this, but Trump's behavior does them one better.
Under the guise of preventing antisemitism, Trump is attacking every institution of independent thought in America. He is using his bullying tactics to intimidate spineless law firms and universities into groveling before him and into doing his dirty work for him.
This from a man who has nominated Ed Martin - who has been exposed as a cheerleader for notorious Nazi sympathizer and white supremacist Timothy Hale-Cusanelli - to be the top federal attorney in Washington D.C.
Trump doesn't care one iota about antisemitism. It is just another tool to manipulate as he continues his quest to wrest all power of the state away from the legislative and judicial branches of government as he cements his power grab.
The administration is now floating the concept of extending these lawless assaults to all American citizens if they have the temerity to exercise their First Amendment rights about the genocide, apartheid, and ethnic cleansing.
But, like Maine Gov. Janet Milne (and unlike our own cowardly governor, Phil Scott) we will not be cowed or goaded by Trump or by the Zionists.
We must never allow our resistance to genocide in Gaza and our advocacy for the right to freedom for the Palestinians to be twisted to fit their narrative of dominance, conquest, and victimhood.
And we will never condemn an entire population or ethnic group for the heinous actions of those who hold power over them.
Trump, like all bullies, backed down when challenged by Maine, and now he is about to find out that Harvard won't bend to his will, either.
We must all recognize and exercise our right to express our conscience, to support the rule of law, and to utterly condemn with full-throated vigor actions that are unconscionable and unconstitutional.
This Voices Viewpoint was submitted to The Commons.
This piece, published in print in the Voices section or as a column in the news sections, represents the opinion of the writer. In the newspaper and on this website, we strive to ensure that opinions are based on fair expression of established fact. In the spirit of transparency and accountability, The Commons is reviewing and developing more precise policies about editing of opinions and our role and our responsibility and standards in fact-checking our own work and the contributions to the newspaper. In the meantime, we heartily encourage civil and productive responses at [email protected].