1,2,3 Hatikva!

When I was 10-years-old, I learnt how to sing Hatikva. For all you goys out there, Hatikva is the Israeli national anthem. I didn’t know most of the words, and their meaning still eludes me. But deep down, I knew – even at that young age – that singing the song meant that I was expected to unequivocally support Israel.

I’m Jewish. Well, it should be called something more like “Jewish-lite.” My mom is Jewish while my dad is Catholic. We aren’t a very religious family, either way. We celebrated Christmakkah before Seth Cohen coined the phrase, sing Die-Die-Einu at Passover, and can recite a few simple prayers. Still, I’ve always identified as being Jewish.

But it was only after taking a few courses related to the Middle East and doing some readings on my own that I realized that my perception of Israel as the region’s “only democracy” – as the poor, underdog surrounded by enemies thirsty for its blood – was bullshit. And, it was when I learned about the story of the Palestinians, the Indigenous population that (as is the case with most Native peoples) got fucked (and is still getting fucked) by the colonizers (in this case, Zionists).  “Land without a People, for a People without a Land,” right? Palestinians don’t fit into Zionist mythology, it seems.

Personally, speaking up against Israeli injustices hasn’t been easy. Self-hater and anti-Semite are just a few of the terms I’ve been so intelligently called. One guy even said that as an anti-Zionist Jew, I was threatening Israel’s very existence. I took it as a compliment; who knew I had so much power?!?

Another friend who I’ve known since childhood told me that “Gaza-U really got to [me],” referring to the humble Montreal university we know and love, Concordia. If “really getting to me” means becoming less ignorant, bigoted and racist, and standing up for human rights, then I guess I’m proud to have been brainwashed.

What’s with this clan mentality? Did George Dubya take a page out of the Zionist handbook when he said “You’re either with us or against us”?? Since when does loving one’s country mean closing one’s eyes to injustice, violence and murder perpetrated by that country? Israel is a highly (HIGHLY) militarized state. That alone is reason to start asking questions. Not about its legitimacy, but about the path it is currently on.

Since when did killing women and children indiscriminately become okay? Are Palestinians, or Arabs, sub-human? They must be, if Israel has made it okay to humiliate them on a daily basis, to control every aspect of their movement, to deny them access to healthcare, shelter and education and to murder them.

But it’s not okay. And whether you’re Israeli, Palestinian, Canadian, British, Martian, whatever, you should be able to say that IT’S NOT OKAY without fear of being labeled an anti-Semite, a self-hater or worse. We can’t remain blissfully ignorant to the realities of Israeli apartheid and aggression.

It’s time to stop singing Hatikva. Especially when you don’t know the words, or most importantly, what they mean.