I’m going to have to choose my words very carefully. I know that even if I do there’s a very good chance that someone might accuse me of being something I’m not.

But here goes….

Just because you criticize or condemn the actions of the Israeli government doesn’t mean you are antisemitic. It doesn’t mean you hate the Jewish people.

Now I won’t deny that there are those who are antisemitic who condemn what the government is doing in Gaza, Lebanon, or getting us involved in Iran. But that certainly isn’t everyone. It certainly isn’t me.

It’s been over 20 years since I was in Israel, but when I was there, I was surprised that it was nothing like I expected. It was nothing like what I saw on the news.

Israel is a democracy. And while the vast majority of their government is Jewish, the country is made up of people from numerous religions. Some of them obscure faiths I had never heard of before.

I was also surprised to see that there were Jews and Muslims who didn’t hate each other. There were groups of both faiths who were working together to bring peace to the region. And while there is obviously bad blood between many in the two groups, it’s not universal.

There are Jewish people in Israel, as well as from around the world, who are critical of the actions of the Netanyahu government, but criticizing the government is not the same as hating Jews for their religious beliefs.

I bring this up because Governor Pillen signed an Executive Order to add a layer of bureaucracy to our schools. This executive order would require every K-12 school, every community college, and every four-year institution of higher learning to track and report antisemitic behavior to the Governor’s Office.

The order uses the same definition of antisemitism that the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance uses. It states that “Antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews.”

That seems a little bit too broad to me. Just what does that mean? If I express a displeasure with how Israel responded to the October 7th attack on the Nova Music Festival, does that fit this definition? Or does it have to be more blatant, like posting Nazi symbols or physical violence against a Jewish person?

And while the definition the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance uses seems to be too broad, I think the governor’s executive order seems to be too narrow.

While the reports are that antisemitic attacks are on the rise in America, that doesn’t mean there aren’t attacks on other groups. If schools have to fill out these reports, shouldn’t the reports also include reports of Muslim, Christian, or other religious attacks as well? Should the schools report back to the state cases of attacks on students because of their sexuality, their race, or their politics?

Kids can be cruel. Kids can be misinformed. Kids can be misunderstood.

As a young kid in the 60’s, I was inundated with WWII imagery. Everything from John Wayne war movies to the lovable Nazi’s on Hogan’s Heroes. I’d be lying if I said I never doodled a swastika on a book cover or had battles with the neighbor kids where we took our toy guns and chose sides. One side was the Americans, the other side the Germans.

I meant no ill will towards Jews or Germans. I was just a stupid kid who still had a lot to learn. If a child did that today, would they be sent to the principal’s office? Should they be reported to the government?

I believe Governor Pillen meant well with his executive order. It probably helps him a little bit politically, too. But I don’t think you end antisemitism by filling out a government form. You stop attacks on Jewish people as well as attacks on people of color, the LGBTQ community, or other religions through education. Through compassion.

You stop it by listening to all the words someone says and keeping them in context.

If you’ve gotten to the end of this article, I hope you’ve listened to everything I said and don’t take a sentence or two out of context. I hope you realize that I believe we must respect people from all walks of life until they individually prove they don’t deserve it.

I hope you realize that not respecting the actions of the Israeli Government is not the same as being antisemitic. And I hope you realize that no one group of people deserves universal hate, and that teachers and school administrators have better things to do than fill out more government forms.

Tom Becka is a long time Nebraska broadcaster who for over 30 years has been covering Omaha and Midwest issues on both radio and TV. He has been a guest on numerous national cable and news shows, filled in for nationally syndicated talk radio programs and Talkers Magazine has recognized him as one of the Top 100 talk show hosts in the country 10 times. Never afraid to ruffle some feathers, his ‘Becka’s Beat’ commentaries can be found online on Youtube and other digital platforms.

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