Antisemitism and Sabra

By a Class of 2020 Alumnus,

In the wake of recent political and social unrest following the death of George Floyd, an African American man killed by police in Minneapolis, symbols have come to the spotlight as beacons of systemic injustices. These symbols are powerful because they command strong, passionate, and diametrically opposed feelings in many who view them. From the recent debates on the renaming of the US military forts named after Confederate Veterans, to tearing down of statues of Explorer Christopher Columbus, these conversations are forcing their ways into contemporary politics and the national (indeed the international) psyche. In a mantra of the left, these are conversations we need to have. Personally, I agree with them. I also agree with a recent Ring Tum Phi OP-Ed by Washington & Lee students Lilly Gillespie and Jack Fencl where they argue for civility in such arguments. It is these hard hitting and difficult conversations that make attending a university an experience of personal growth. This is especially true of W&L, whose students exemplify the academic caliber and civility to have such productive conversations in a time of such political and ideological differences.

This is why it was a complete shock to see a select group of students at W&L forgo civility, and instead employ a time tested and equally repugnant argument to advance their side of the conversation- Antisemitism.

Why? Well simply put, according to them, consuming Sabra hummus is leading to violations of human rights and dignity. W&L is currently selling Sabra snack packs in our dining options. In their view, by extension, W&L is complacent at best and tacitly advancing an Islamophobic Zionist agenda by the state of Israel.

That was the argument proposed by a group of students.

Their response? Put up posters and table with flyers blaming the death of Palestinians on Jews using blood libel1 as well as the graphic pictures of dead and dying children surrounding a tub of Sabra Hummus. Yeah, really.

Let’s do some mental gymnastics and attempt to understand their rational for their overtly antisemitic, and frankly disturbing behavior.

The main argument centered around the accusation that Pepsi Co. and Struss Group, the parent companies of Sabra have donated to the Golani brigade, a part of the Israeli Defense Force.

In 2010, the company announced in its website that it had provided “ongoing variety of food products for their training or missions, and provide personal care packages for each soldier that completes the path.” Since then, they have provided “funds designated for welfare, cultural and educational activities, such as pocket money for underprivileged soldiers, sports and recreational equipment, care packages, and books and games for the soldiers’ club.”2

These actions that many might tout as cooperate-social responsibility were enough to warrant a crusade against the sometimes garlicky, sometimes pimento-y, evil that is Sabra Hummus.

The organizers took to the channels of power within the school and the administration added a new hummus option to our dining centers. The organizers called this proposal “a spit in the face”.

The two hummus solution, it seems, was not to work.

It was here that the organizers dropped civility and open dialogue to advance an overtly antisemitic agenda.

I think I speak for the great majority of Washington & Lee students when I say discrimination, against anyone, regardless of religion, gender, sexual identity, nationality or any other personal feature has no place in the modern world, much less at W&L.

It is shocking to see this display at W&L, it was more shocking to see the administration not call out the gross call to again blame the Jews for tragedy.

Personally, I am not Jewish. I am not Israeli/Palestinian like the organizer. I am, like the organizer and international student that has grown up in what the UN considered a war zone. Like the organizer, I sometimes heard fully automatic firearms one day only to read the next day how many bodies were found. I came from a place where people are begging for peace, or at least hoping that they or their loved ones wouldn’t be at the wrong place at the wrong time.

When faced with such detriments, day after day it is easy to blame someone, to have a scapegoat, to paint a person or a group of people as the bay guy who forced you into the situation you are in. I get it. But the reality is much more complicated. If we want peace, if we want lasting solutions, if we even want a sense of normalcy, we need not like the “other”, we need only engage with them to the point that we can be civil and talk. Once we get a conversation going, we can begin to reach solutions.

The actions of W&L students who bought down the posters were not Islamophobic, the two hummus solution that the administration proposed was not advancing a Zionist agenda, they were calls to civility.

Geopolitics is complicated, War is complicated. Anti-Semitism is not, it’s simple and wrong.

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_libel

2. https://www.jpost.com/Defense/Strauss-reposts-IDF-support-commitment-on-website