Short memory and long memory

I have a controversial relationship with the detractors of the State of Israel. I read a lot of criticisms of so-called anti-Zionists.

I agree with almost every criticism of the Israeli government, but I can not stand it when this alleged anti-Zionism simply becomes anti-Semitism.

I can not stand the anti-Semitism of the Arabs, but also of the Palestinians. You can have all the reasons in the world, but I will never prove the slightest sympathy if at the base of your reasoning, at the base of your claims there is racism, pure and simple, even if masked.

I mean: I understand perfectly the Arab and Palestinian hostility in particular, but I do not feel empathy.

My reasoning is simple: if I had been a Jew (a brave and determined Jew) at the end of the Second World War I would have done anything to be able to create a Jewish state.

If I had been brave and determined I would have trafficked weapons and false documents and brought as many Jewish survivors to Palestine. So I feel admiration for the Jewish leadership that led to the establishment of the State of Israel, I have not the slightest sympathy for the Arab and Palestinian leadership who have taken the war unleashed by them.

Who is responsible for my attitude? Italian TV? The Italian press? The parties? No, on the right are anti-Semitic, on the left are anti-Zionists.

My slow change started with the book Jerusalem! Jerusalem! by Lapierre and Collins. Oh, well, among my favorite authors were David Grossman  and Abraham Yehoshua  and other Jewish authors , but this book has pushed me to deepen even with the books of Benny Morris.

I have read many books on the subject, including Arabic authors, but it is only with the books by Chaim Potok that I really understood. What? I understand that not even a bad right-wing government will diminish my respect and admiration for the Jews who founded the State of Israel.