Originally published in the Winter/Spring 2023 edition of the Virginia Defender, issue 71, printed March 22. Reproduced here for accessibility and archival purposes. To find other stories in the Winter/Spring 2023 issue or to download the full PDF, see this post. For other issues dating back to 2012, see the Full Issues page.

In this issue of the Defender we’re devoting a lot of space to the issue of Palestine, for two reasons:

On Feb 27, hundreds of Israeli settlers carried out a racist rampage through towns in the Palestinian West Bank. This Tulsa-like pogrom followed the installation of the most right-wing government in Israel’s history.

Meanwhile, here in Virginia, the General Assembly has passed a bill that falsely equates criticism of Israel with antisemitism.

In response, we are running the following pieces:

• An op-ed piece by a West Bank Palestinian on what Palestinians face on a daily basis in the occupied West Bank.
• An op-ed by a Gazan Palestinian on what life is like in the occupied and blockaded Gaza Strip.
• A report on an action held in March in D.C. by anti-Zionist Jews protesting a visit by an Israeli extremist who is the new Israeli finance minister.

The Virginia Defenders are uncompromisingly opposed to all forms of racism, including Zionism and antisemitism. We will continue to speak against both, no matter what laws are passed.