Anti-Zionism at the dinner table...

Kelvin Browne in the National Post today on facing anti-zionism at the dinner table...

At a dinner recently, a friend made a comment about Israel that I said sounded anti-Semitic. A few years ago, this table of successful doctors and lawyers — mostly liberal types — would have agreed with me. Not today. I was rebuked for confusing being anti-Semitic with being anti-Zionist. Being anti-Zionist was okay, I was assured, as one couldn’t condone what Israel is doing, from the settlements to the flotilla. But the interchangeability in this conversation between Israeli and Jew made the distinction between anti-Zionist and anti-Semitic questionable.

I’m not going to pretend to understand the Middle East fully. But I understand who supported gay rights when few others would. Jews. Who supported AIDS charities before it was fashionable? Jews. Fine to have issues with Israel, but you can’t be openly gay anywhere else in the Middle East except Israel (although I’d choose Tel Aviv over Jerusalem). This fact should make the anti-Israel activists at Toronto’s annual Pride parades a conflicted group, though you wouldn’t know it from their militant slogans. Half my friends are Jewish. One of the reasons I can’t possibly tolerate anti-Semitism is that I identify with Jews.

I support Stephen Harper because of his unshakable commitment to Israel. This perplexes some of the people who know me, as the Conservatives often appear to appease a base presumed not to be gay-friendly. Supporting Harper even seems odd to a few of my Jewish friends who are skeptical of his conversion to Zionism; they continue to vote for the Liberals or NDP out of habit.

In any event, I’m not going to sit quietly and fail to confront what I believe is an increasing tolerance of intolerance. I still shudder that I nodded in fascination that night at dinner — but didn’t say anything — as it was explained to me that Israel has to be taught a lesson. No longer.