“There is a fine line…between legitimate criticism, which is what Israel deserves, and illegitimate criticism”

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The 20th century produced many international conflicts that were clear-cut, black-and-white, good-and-evil. … The Israeli Palestinian/Israeli Arab/Israeli Muslim clash is not black-and-white. It’s not about good guys and bad guys. There are bad guys on both sides.

And therefore, it’s wrong to relate to this conflict in Western movie terms: good guys and bad guys. Launch a demonstration against the bad guys; organize a boycott against the bad guys; sign a petition in favor of the good guys, and go to sleep feeling good about yourself. It’s not that simple, you see.

There is a fine line, but a very clear line, between legitimate criticism, which is what Israel deserves, and illegitimate criticism, which leads to the conclusion that perhaps it will be better if Israel ceased to exist. This is not only illegitimate in my view, this is vicious. And dangerous.

Amos Oz, as quoted in Rob Eshman, “Love and Criticism: An Amos Oz Interview”, Jewish Journal (15-21 May 2015), 55.

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