National media and the Israel Lobby have their knickers in a knot over a Philadelphia bike ride. A group of anti-Zionist cyclists, Phillybike.onyourleft, have organized a ride highlighting a boycott of six specifically Israeli (not Jewish, as is claimed) businesses, which have in the past supported Israel and the IDF. Its poster slogan is “no business for Zionists.” Not no business for Jews.
You wouldn’t know if from the thousands of headlines denouncing it. Anti-Semitic they say. Another Kristallnacht, they say.The headlines embedded below are an example of lazy journalism. Or journalism that deliberately distorts the truth instead of probing it. None of the accounts I read offer an interview with any participant. Nor do they link to the group’s Instagram account and its statement.
It’s simply astonishing that Zionist Jews are so butthurt by a bike ride. What are they going to do? Run over customers? Smash their bikes into shop windows? Dump buckets of hummus? Are a bunch of bike riders a threat to Jews? Should they make them feel unsafe? Or is this merely performative outrage on behalf of Israel? I’ll let you be the judge, since the anti-Semitism mongers have lost their own sense of judgment.
This protest is entirely within the rubric of the BDS movement, which advocates boycotts against businesses which support support Israel and its crimes. Claims that Phillybike is targeting Jews or Jewish businesses are not only lies, but anti-Semitic, since they conflate Judaism with Zionism. This in turn burdens Jews with responsibility for Israel’s crimes.
Phillybike.Onyourleftresponds with a statement refuting the claims made against it. It reads in part:
We stand firmly against racism and oppression of all forms, including fascism, antisemitism, Islamophobia and colonialism…
On November 8, we will ride our bikes with Palestinian flags to show Palestinian in our community that we stand with them and their lives matter.
There are business owners in our community who have raised funds for the Israeli military, hosted Israeli soldiers, were praised by Benjamin Netanyahu, or expressed support for Israel…Political boycotts are a tool ordinary people have used for hundreds of years…Let us be clear: we are calling for a boycott of these businesses because of their support for Israel.
…Our ride has been grossly misrepresented. As a result riders…have received death threats and been doxxed…NO one should receive death threats for calling out racism or standing against genocide.
It’s astonishing, but unsurprising that in this day and age, when Israel is committing genocide, and when hundreds of thousands of Jews globally sympathize with the Palestinian cause and denounce Israel’s crimes–that a pro-Palestine action should be called anti-Semitic. It is not anti-Semitic to blacklist businesses who support a nation engaged in genocide. It is as American as apple pie.
The first such known boycott was in 19th century Ireland, against a British landlord. A million Irish died during the Potato Famine because these scum shipped their wheat to Britain, instead of feeding their own tenants. Nowadays, they’d call that genocide.
Famously, Martin Luther King led the Birmingham bus boycott, which targeted white-owned businesses. His goal was to reject centuries of violence and hatred against his people. Sound familiar? Well, it does to those bike riders. Was MLK an “anti-white racist?” If not, why the different standard for the Philadelphia protest?
In short, Jews are not (always) Israeli and Israelis are not (always) Jews. The two are not to be confused, either deliberately or unintentionally. And when protests are directed at Israel, Israelis or businesses they own, this has nothing to do with Jews or Judaism. It is, therefore, an entirely legitimate form of protest. If the Jewish federation has a problem with that, they should take it up with Israel, not a bike club.
The Lobby and the lie
The headlines play into the hands of the Israel Lobby, which thrives on this lie. As I’ve written here, Israel and Zionsim are tarnished brands. Anti-Semitism remains an issue that everyone opposes. Everyone finds it odious, and rightly so. But most people do not know what the term means: hatred of Jews. Not hatred of Israelis. Not criticism of Israel. Not support for Palestine. None of these are anti-Semitic.
It is urgently necessary to reject this conflation. It is not only wrong. It is dangerous. When there are deadly attacks on Jews by those who blame them for Israel’s crimes, it is precisely because of this false parallel. It is precisely because Zionism falsely claims it represents all Jews, both in Israel and the Diaspora–that those who bear a grievance against Israel, believe Jews are synonymous. In short, Zionism gets Jews killed.
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