According to the ACLA, “Anti-Palestinian racism operates to silence the Palestinian experience and expressions of solidarity with Palestinians, including characterizing those who defend Palestinians and are critical of Israel’s policies or conduct as antisemitic.”
First of all, no one - and I mean no one - tries to "silence expressions of solidarity against Palestinians." It is a straw man. The people who style themselves as "pro-Palestinian" invariably cross the line into a seething hatred for Jewish nationalism and often against Jews themselves, and that is what Jews oppose.
But more insidiously, the ACLA is saying that non-Palestinians can be the victims of "anti-Palestinian racism" - based not on national origin or ethnicity or race, but purely on their political opinions!
So they are not only defining certain treatment of Palestinians themselves as racist, but also pointing out that anti-Zionists who are practicing antisemitism is also part of anti-Palestinian racism. Anyone can be a victim of anti-Palestinian racism - based purely on their political beliefs.
That is a breathtaking expansion of the word "racism."
Up until now, those who tried to declare Israel guilty of racism depended on an ICERD definition that they take out of context that discrimination based on "national origin" is also racism. Palestinians themselves are not a race. They define themselves as part of the Arab people, even though many of them can trace their ancestry not only to the Arabian peninsula but also to traditionally non-Arab areas including Turkey and Kurdistan. They do not have a single national origin. Israel treats Arab citizens differently from Arab non-citizens, which proves that race has nothing to do with this. Palestinians and their supporters of all races together are certainly not a race. Perhaps realizing this, the ACLA decided to expand the definition of race to absurd lengths. So they now say that members of a political group can be victims of racism - and the only reason they redefine racism is to call Zionists racists.
Why is calling anti-Zionists antisemitic "racist" but calling Zionists racists cannot be antisemitism?
By saying that criticism of political positions is racism, this means that the ACLA will have to admit that people who discriminate against Zionists are racists as well! Zionism is no less a defined group of people as anti-Zionists are.
If those who call anti-Zionists antisemitic are racist, then you must also say that those who call Zionism "racism" are racist as well.
It is an absurd redefinition that has only one purpose: to tar any Zionist as a racist. And - by their definition - calling people haters is itself an act of hate.
No doubt they would argue that the case of Palestinians is different than any other, and there are unique reasons why political Zionists are by definition racist but political anti-Zionists are by definition oppressed victims of racism. Yet those double standards are yet more proof that they are themselves bigots.
Thanks, Arab Canadian Lawyers Association! By your rules, you are a bunch of racists.
