I sent the following letter, probably unpublished, to the Boston Globe in 2007, where a Jerold S. Auerbach column was originally printed in response to Globe publication of Auerbach. 2017 updates are in brackets.
Dear Letters Editor,
Jerold S. Auerbach calls the result of the 1967 six day war a "fusion of Judaism and Zionism." He defends "despised" West Bank settlers as similar to state-building pre-1948 Zionist pioneers who have more popular support. Never mind the inaccuracy of the "250,000 Israelis" West Bank settler population that others have estimated at over 400,000 [that has grown considerably above 400,000 since 2007]. Residents of the Israeli city Sderot, victims of rocket launches from a few Gazan Palestinians, have been evacuated to the West Bank. The actions of those few desperate rocket launchers, who see no future under internationally illegal military occupation [control of freedom of movement of people and their goods for engagement in commerce], reflect less on Palestinian Authority leaders than meets the eye. Moreover, West Bank settlement populations increased even as Israel evicted Gaza Jewish settlers.
Anti-Semitism, prejudice against the Jewish faith, has a more broadly understood definition than anti-zionism. Criticizing [and acting individually and in groups to change] Israeli government policy and actions of people who are Jewish, not the existence of the Jewish [and democratic for one faith of its citizens] state, is more understood not to be anti-semitic and the use of the term anti-semitism to suppress policy criticism elicits more revulsion than it used to. [The combination of Zionism and Judaism with its opposite, anti-zionist Judaism,] are being defined and conflated, by Mr. Auerbach, as what used to be more accepted as anti-semitism.
Auerbach had been a member of a camera. org advisory board in 1991. Though officially off the board by 2007 he was still ideologically 'on board.'
