“It’s not personal… It’s strictly business.”

That’s the self-deception Michael Corleone coolly lays on his brother when he declares, in a pivotal moment in The Godfather, that he wants to be the one to retaliate for the attempt on his father’s life. I’ve tried to sell myself on the same deception over the past few years, as antisemitic attacks and betrayals rained down; so many under the false premise that they’re anything but personal.

A progressive social media pal recently let me know that if I were to attend the Walk with Israel, it wouldn’t matter if I vehemently opposed Netanyahu or supported peace; simply showing up was emboldening violence and it should weigh on my conscience. I argued that actually I get to define my own relationships with Israel and Judaism but was scolded that “some people here matter and some don’t.” I took it to mean that the symbology of the Israeli flag is contested and because Zionists are privileged and powerful, it’s the other 99% of the Canadian population who get to tell us what it means. And what it means to them isn’t good.

It’s a big change from the Walk I did as a kid, which no one openly protested or politicized. Of course, over the past generation—and especially over the past 2 years—everything that was once taken for granted has shifted and the Walk has become a key flashpoint for discussions of what is OK for Zionist Jews to do and say in public. Accordingly, the route has been drastically shortened and cordoned off, secured by aerial drones and uniformed and plainclothes police, so the families who attend can do so securely. Whether having all those police around makes us actually feel safer, I’m not so sure.

Well, I attended the Walk anyway. I went because of stuff like this. I flashed back to my friend’s description of the event (which he’s never attended) as a borderline anti-Palestinian........

© Canadian Jewish News