Confession of an Anti-Semite
There is much talk at the moment about antisemitism. I am critical of Israel for avoiding a two-state solution, so does that make me an anti-Semite? If there is such a thing as antisemitism, there must be a thing called Semitism. You can’t be anti-something if it doesn’t exist. I decided the first step was to look at the definition of Semitism. According to Merriam-Webster: 
Semitism (noun)
1 a: Semitic character or qualities
b: a characteristic feature of a Semitic language occurring in another language
2: policy or predisposition favourable to Jews
That leaves antisemitism as being opposed to a policy or predisposition favourable to Jews. It seems I fit into that category. My main opposition to Jewish policy is their rejection of the two-state solution with Palestine. Perhaps a bit of history might put my position into perspective. In the late 19th century, a movement called Zionism arose in Europe. The goal was to form a Jewish homeland in the Palestinian area. In 1882, the first immigrants started to arrive, and by 1905, some 25,000 Jews had settled in Palestine. In the following decade, 1904-1914, another 35,000 would arrive. The local Arab settlers started to feel uncomfortable that the immigrants planned to displace and dispossess their society. They lobbied the Ottoman government, but nothing happened. Under the secret Sykes-Picot Agreement of 1916 between Britain and France, it was envisioned that most of Palestine would become an international zone not under direct French or British colonial power when freed from Ottoman control. Shortly thereafter, British foreign minister Arthur Balfour issued the Balfour Declaration, which promised to establish a “Jewish national home” in Palestine. The motivation was to get the support of Jewish Industrialists in fighting the war. The Declaration contradicted the 1915–16 Hussein-McMahon Correspondence, which contained an undertaking to form a united Arab state in exchange for the Great Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Empire in World War I. This was led by Lawrence of Arabia, who convinced the Arabs that they were fighting for their own land to be granted after the war. After WWI, the Ottoman Empire was broken up, and the area that is now Israel was placed under British control and called Palestine under a mandate from the League of Nations. Large-scale Jewish migration occurred, mainly from Eastern Europe and Britain. By the 1920s, there was wide-scale unrest and riots. In 1923, the lines on the map were changed when France traded the Golan Heights for the Northern Jordan Valley. 
During the 1930s, migration increased as Nazism rose in Germany. Quotas for migration set by the British were ignored. Objections by the Arab leaders, including the Grand Mufti of Palestine, were dismissed, and Britain sent in 100,000 troops to quell the riots. It is estimated that 10% of the adult Palestinian male population were killed, wounded, imprisoned or deported. In 1937, the British Peel Commission recommended dividing Palestine into two states, one Arab and one Jewish. The Jewish leadership thought the area was too small and rejected the proposal, while the Arab leadership supported it. There were two militant Jewish groups, Hagenah and Irgun. They acted as Jewish Settlement Police and Special Night Force. They attacked Arabs and British alike. Britain wanted out as it was draining financially and militarily. In 1948, the UN voted 33 to 13 in favour with 10 abstentions to partition the country into two states. The Jewish leadership accepted the plan, but the Arabs rejected it. In 1948, Ben Gurion took control of the new country of Israel. Egypt and Transjordan seized the areas designated as Arab states, and a war resulted in Israel taking over the Arab areas nominated initially as the Palestinian state by the UN. At this point, what had been an Arab nation only half a century earlier had been through a recommendation to split into two states by the Peel Commission, a resolution to become two states by the UN, and a war. What was once an Arab state, to be divided into Israel and Palestine, was now a total Jewish state. Various wars followed, but Israel, with the help of America, had become a force no Arab country could defeat. Israel now controls Gaza, the West Bank and the Golan Heights. Israeli tactics have changed, and they play the long game. Settlements, declared illegal by the UN, have been set up in the occupied territories. By restricting goods entering the areas, they use economic levers to suppress the Palestinians. Palestinians who want permits for buildings or businesses suffer long delays or rejection. Now Gaza has been destroyed, and the Israelis and Trump suggest the Arabs move into neighbouring countries to live in migrant camps. Gaza is to become a US-controlled state. Does anyone see something unfair about this? Should we be surprised that a generation or two has grown up under Israeli occupation, wondering when they can have their own country back? Are they terrorists or freedom fighters? Probably a bit of both. I come back to my question of whether I am anti-Semitic. Am I opposed to a policy or predisposition favourable to Jews? Absolutely. Until Israel agrees to a two-state solution, I am an anti-Semite. I am not going to go out and attack synagogues or spray paint cars, but I will speak out against the Jewish occupation of a country they should never have occupied. I will call out disproportionate retaliation against civilians. I will condemn Hamas but still wonder how far I would go if someone took away my country. Yes, according to Merriam-Webster, I admit to being antisemitic.