Israel Endangers Jews

"As a Jew, I believe that Israel now puts my life in danger because it incites hatred against me and fuels anti-Semitism worldwide," Rony Brauman tells us. He comes from a long line of Zionists, and he was shaken by the suffering of the Palestinians, so much so that he suddenly realized that the narratives he had believed in were a lie. Since the attack of October 7, Brauman believes that "the Zionist project, which had originally been meant to protect Jews, has totally failed" and backfired.
The former president of Doctors Without Borders was born to Zionist parents. Brauman’s father fought in World War II and became a military instructor in France, training Jews who had fled Central Europe before sending them to fight and expel the Palestinians. The year of the Nakba, his father came to Palestine to fight for the establishment of the state of Israel. Rony Brauman was born in Jerusalem, and he grew up believing in the discourse that the existence of a Palestinian people was just an empty slogan. The Arabs, he believed, have 22 countries and vast territory, and relocating a few people from one area to another that is nearby was a terrible thing to do. It was only after the First Intifada of 1987, when Brauman saw young children throwing stones at Israeli soldiers in their insurgency, and dying for Palestine, that he believed that this nation did indeed exist and had rights in this land.
“The blindfold was suddenly torn off"... Brauman, who returned to France with his family at the age of five and gravitated towards liberation movements, joined protests in support of Vietnam before becoming a doctor because of his desire to serve humanity. Nonetheless, Palestine was not something he thought about. It did not trouble him in the slightest, until his late twenties. His father had raised him to believe that victors ultimately impose their narrative and vocabulary. Israel triumphed in 1948 and 1967, enhancing its standing and allowing it to impose its narrative. He stopped questioning it, so much so that he traveled to the ends of the Earth for work but never thought of visiting his place of birth.
Brauman is not among those who disavowed Zionism recently. However, he presents an ideal case for understanding how the massacres in Gaza have changed how Jewish people around the world see Israel, especially young people. Indeed, many Jewish youths are saying that they have woken up to truths that had been hidden from them, and their number grows after every major juncture.
One trend has begun emerging in recent years in parallel with the rapid rise of the Israeli far-right and its shocking rhetoric. Sylvain Cypel, an experienced expert in Israeli society who has worked for "Courrier International" and then "Le Monde," is part of this wave. His book "The State of Israel Against the Jews" seemed provocative when it was published two years ago. It levels harsh accusations against Israel, and Sylvain Cypel believes there are now two Judaisms: the Judaism of Israel and its supporters across the globe, who are influential and powerful, and the second is an “evil” Judaism that includes anyone who directs the slightest criticism of successive Israeli governments, their racism, and colonialism.
Thus, the Palestinians and every Jew who deviates from the official narrative are subjected to violence and repressed, as French-Israeli sociologist Eva Illouz tells us.
For forty years, Israel has been governed by an alliance of the Likud and racist far-right-wing parties. "In the face of this (criminal) and (suicidal) evolution of Israeli society, critical thinking seems paralyzed." And "Those in power exploit the memory of the Holocaust to terrorize critics." The Jewish writer Sylvain Cypel complains of a legal arsenal established to this end, whereby associations calling for the expulsion of Palestinians are supported and in countries allied with Israel, boycotts are banned, even if those boycotting are Jews. Human rights organizations are made to register as "foreign agents" if their funding does come from within Israel. Moreover, the Knesset has passed a "cultural loyalty" bill to prevent artists from criticizing the state. "It is also working on another bill that guarantees immunity for any soldier or member of the Israeli special services suspected of committing a crime on duty". The author of the book considers this a "license to hunt and kill Palestinians."
Let's not forget the Nation-State Law, which grants every Jew the right to reside in Israel and recognizes it as their land- a right denied to the Palestinian residents of the country. Thus, apartheid has become an undeniable legal reality.
The increasing influence of fanatics and the certainty that the future will be worse, have driven thousands of Israelis to migrate and terrorized some of the Jews residing abroad, who are aware of the danger that the actions of a government thousands of miles away, which is seen as to represent in the in world’s eyes, puts them in. In the United States, nearly half of young Jewish voters feel that Biden’s support for Israel is excessive, according to a survey conducted a few days ago, but this sentiment is not necessarily shared by their elders.
More importantly, American Jews are extremely concerned about anti-Semitism. 96 percent of them agree that it is a serious problem in the United States. Youths are as worried about the spread of Islamophobia in their country as are of anti-Semitism, indicating that their aversion encompasses all forms of racism.
An overwhelming majority, 91 percent of American Jews, refuse to be silenced and banned from criticizing Israel. That reminds us of Sylvain Cypel's claim that "the American Jewish community is freeing itself from the Jewish state and paving the way for other possibilities." Sylvain, also agrees with Brauman’s assessment "that Zionism is undeniably failing."
"It has given rise to a totally abhorrent apartheid regime, based on the lie that is systematically pushed by the state, and it is backfiring on Israel and the Jewish people."