This is a flier that I've used in the past and will hand out, inshAllah, on Saturday at our weekly Synagogue Vigil.  Every Saturday for going on 12 years, a small group of Jews and others have gone to a local synagogue with signs telling Jews that if they support The Jewish State, they must take responsibility for its atrocities.  I'm making a special sign for this week, inshAllah, showing a "scorecard" of the weaponry of Isra-hell and Palestinians, the death and wounded count, property damage, next to another sign saying, "It's only logical:  If the Jewish State commits atrocities, then all Jews are responsible."  I hope I get called an "anti-semite," so I can offer the following:

So, you say we are “anti-Semitic”

Well, that’s interesting.  We wonder what you mean by “anti-Semite” and “Semite.”

We’re here—as Jews and non-Jews who respect the high ethical calling of Judaism—because we urge American Jews to recognize Israel’s continued violations of human rights and international laws, and take action to stop them. 

You obviously do not agree that Israel is committing such offences, and/or that people should not act to stop them, and because we are, that we are “anti-Semitic.”

So, what does this reveal about your definition of “Semite” and “anti-Semite?”

Is it “Semitic” to violate the clear prohibitions of the Fourth Geneva Convention against collective punishment, seizure of lands, destruction of property, transfer of citizens to live in occupied lands, interfering with medical aid, and using heavy armaments against defenseless civilians?

                  If so, by that definition, yes, we are “anti-Semitic.”

Is it “Semitic” to continue an Occupation—or to support it—that dozens of United Nations Security Council resolutions have demanded Israel cease, and that dozens of others have demanded that Israel live up to its obligations as the “Occupying Power” under the Fourth Geneva Convention?

                  If so, by that definition, yes, we are “anti-Semitic.”

Is it “Semitic” to blame the victims of Israel’s occupation and senseless killings when a tiny minority of them use violence to express their despair and rage with suicide bombings?  Is it “Semitic” to marginalize and discount Palestinian suffering and act as though only Jewish lives count?  Is it “Semitic”

                  If so, by that definition, yes, we are “anti-Semitic.”

Is it “Semitic” to be comfortable with injustice and ignore the commands in the Torah and the Prophets to be just:

“You shall not wrong a stranger or oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.”

(Exodus 22:20)

“You shall have one standard for stranger and citizen alike:  for I the Lord am your God.”

(Leviticus 24:22)

“…I the Lord act with kindness,/Justice, and equity in the world;/for in these I delight—declares the Lord.” (Jeremiah 9:23)

                  If so, by that definition, yes, we are “anti-Semitic.”

But, of course, all of the above is the opposite of “Semite,” which, in this context refers to being a Jew, a follower of Judaism, a religion which calls its adherents to high ethical standards and a commitment to the well-being of all peoples, not just themselves. 

And this makes us who vigil PRO-Semites, because our concern is for the integrity of Judaism, the safety of Jews everywhere, and, because Arabs are Semites, too, justice for Palestinians.

By the same token, it is the present Israeli government and, especially, the Occupation itself that are profoundly ANTI-SEMITIC.

Please stand with us.