I’m really enjoying my leafy new digs in Massachusetts. The air is crisp and the promise of a new year awaits. However, It’s disturbing how easily the beauty of nature and human connection can get knocked sidewise when you go online.

A local news site published guest letters about Tuesday’s upcoming state elections. One of them listed the “genocide,” an oft lobbed libel as part of why a particular candidate should be supported.

Below are some of the comments that followed a letter I initiated:

Zionism is “a political ideology” that some Jewish people subscribe to.

Jewish people who support Israel are “guilty of genocide by association,” while Israel is “causing the hatred of Jewish people.”

“The Jewish religious faith” is separate from Israel, and people who support Israel are “immoral.”

“Israel certainly has burned the holocaust bridge.”

An “antizionist therapist” can work successfully with Jewish and Zionist clients.

I won’t get into the bullying that ensued on the site’s local Facebook page but suffice it to say there will always be a core group of Jew haters you can never reach.

For those who claim “some of my best friends are Jews.” Or, “My problem is with Israel, not the Jews.” This bait and switch strategy is as old as time. No one is falling for it.

Some of the people making these comments grossly mischaracterize Zionism. They ignore........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)