This is a response to mostly social media things I’ve been reading for quite some time.
Keep the focus on the acts of the Israeli government, not on Jewish people. I believe that supporting Palestine (the country) in protests should focus on Israel and its embassies and consulates — NOT on synagogues. I understand that that means there are not as many physical places in the United States to stand in front of, but I believe that is where the focus needs to be in order to be clear that this is about what Israel is doing.
A synagogue in the USA is not a consulate of Israel, and not all people who worship at one or are part of the community there are representative of Israel and support all the acts of the goverment any more than members of Christian churches are usually representatives of the USA.
So I agree that protests here at synagogues DO come across as antisemitic, putting the blame on Jewish people, just as protests at Christian churches here can be interpreted as anti-Christian — blaming the religion, not the United States, for what our government does. This is despite of course the beliefs and efforts of some to make the USA a Christian nation. Not all Christians support the government of this country just as not all Jewish people support the acts of Israel.
That does not mean that there are not Jewish and Christian and Muslim and Hindu, etc. people who support the acts of the countries they live in or identify with, and who are promoting acts because they believe there is a religious reason for supporting the behavior of that government. But I believe WE need to protest or support the acts of the country as a government.
— Gabi Clayton, an atheist Quaker in Olympia, WA (the other Washington)