Do you love Israel?

A t-shirt I bought in the West Bank near the Salt Sea (aka Dead Sea)
(was I in Jordan? Palestine? or Israel?)

When I visited Israel in January of this year, I often was asked, "Do you love Israel?"

Shopkeepers in the Jewish quarter of Old Jerusalem, vendors at the Dead Sea, passengers on the bus or metro--everyone posed this question.

Clearly the right answer was "Yes," but I wondered what this declaration of loyalty meant.

Now I know that it has a corollary: If you don't love Israel and don't support the Netanyahu government and all of its policies, you hate Israel.

Anyone who supports Boycotts, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) is considered to "hate Israel."

It's as if a parent were accused of hating a child when he/she punishes bad behavior.  Or as if I were accused of hating a Trump-supporting friend because she/he cheered "Lock her up" or "Send them back."  The parent does not hate the child.  I would not hate the friend, but I would need to make clear that I do not support the choices of that friend.

I love Israel, but I also support the Palestinians in their desire for free movement within Israel and a return to their homes or at least the towns and neighborhoods from which they fled in 1947-48. 

But the president of the US is not capable of understanding this distinction, or worse still, he chooses to erase the difference between concerned love and hate--for his own political advantage. 

Our president successfully pressured Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to ban two Muslim members of Congress from visiting Israel.  He tweets and shouts at rallies that Representatives Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar "hate Israel."  

He agrees with the far-right wing of Netanyahu's supporters that those who advocate a boycott of Israel are "haters of Israel."  See the reference to Bezalel Smotrich in today's NY Times article titled "Law Invoked Was Passed 2 Years Ago."

Anyone who doesn't support Netanyahu and his oppression of Palestinians hates Israel, according to the US and Israeli far right.  

No, we love Israel and want it to be a better place for all.  We want peace in Israel, and true peace includes justice.

 Netanyahu "bows before a tweet" said Columnist Bari Weiss in today's NY Times

And today Netanyahu reversed his government's decision to ban Representatives Tlaib and Omar--if they sign a statement that they will not promote boycotts while visiting.  

Of course, Representative Tlaib said she could not visit Israel or her 90-year-old grandmother in Palestine under that restriction.  Just to walk down the street of Bethlehem would be a tacit call for boycotts.  Her grandmother, who lives in a Palestinian village near Ramallah, has already faced a "global political storm," according to NY Times reporter Isabel Kershner.

"If You Think Trump Is Helping Israel, You're a Fool" writes columnist Thomas Friedman.  When the current president is ancient history, the Democrats in power will be less likely to give Israel the blind support that dt did.