A common theme of today’s anti-Israel rhetoric in the U.S. is the notion that Israelis are European (i.e., “white”) colonizers oppressing the non-European (i.e., “brown”) indigenous Palestinian Arabs. Such a framing of the conflict reduces it to racial terms familiar to most American, with clear moral valences. But, as Hen Mazzig notes, it has little connection to reality:

Only about 30 percent of Israeli Jews are of solely Ashkenazi (i.e., European) descent. . . . Jews that were expelled from nations across the Middle East have been crucial in building and defending the Jewish state since its outset. Israel, the world’s only Jewish state, was established . . . for all Jews, from every part of the world—the Middle East, North Africa, Ethiopia, Asia and, yes, Europe. No matter where Jews have physically resided, they have maintained a connection to the land of Israel, where our story started and where today we continue to craft it.

The likes of the Women’s March activist Tamika Mallory, the Temple University professor Marc Lamont Hill, and, more recently, Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib falsify reality in their discussions of Palestinians’ “intersectional” struggle [which implies an inextricable tie to racial grievances in the U.S.], their use of the term “apartheid” to characterize Israeli policy, and their tendency to define Israelis as Ashkenazi Jews alone.

I believe their misrepresentations are part of a strategic campaign to taint Israel as an extension of “privileged” and powerful white Europe, thereby justifying any and all attacks on it. This way of thinking signals a dangerous trend that positions Israel as a colonialist aggressor rather than a haven for those fleeing oppression. [And], it [entirely ignores] the story of my family, which came to Israel from Iraq and Tunisia. . . .

Israel is a place where an indigenous people have reclaimed their land and revived their ancient language, despite being surrounded by hostile neighbors and hounded by radicalized Arab nationalists who cannot tolerate any political entity in the region other than their own. Jews that were expelled from nations across the Middle East, who sacrificed all they had, have been crucial in building and defending the Jewish state since its outset.

Early Friday morning, Israel attacked military installations near the Iranian cities of Isfahan and nearby Natanz, the latter being one of the hubs of the country’s nuclear program. Jerusalem is not taking credit for the attack, and none of the details are too certain, but it seems that the attack involved multiple drones, likely launched from within Iran, as well as one or more missiles fired from Syrian or Iraqi airspace. Strikes on Syrian radar systems shortly beforehand probably helped make the attack possible, and there were reportedly strikes on Iraq as well.

Iran itself is downplaying the attack, but the S-300 air-defense batteries in Isfahan appear to have been destroyed or damaged. This is a sophisticated Russian-made system positioned to protect the Natanz nuclear installation. In other words, Israel has demonstrated that Iran’s best technology can’t protect the country’s skies from the IDF. As Yossi Kuperwasser puts it, the attack, combined with the response to the assault on April 13,

clarified to the Iranians that whereas we [Israelis] are not as vulnerable as they thought, they are more vulnerable than they thought. They have difficulty hitting us, but we have no difficulty hitting them.

Nobody knows exactly how the operation was carried out. . . . It is good that a question mark hovers over . . . what exactly Israel did. Let’s keep them wondering. It is good for deniability and good for keeping the enemy uncertain.

The fact that we chose targets that were in the vicinity of a major nuclear facility but were linked to the Iranian missile and air forces was a good message. It communicated that we can reach other targets as well but, as we don’t want escalation, we chose targets nearby that were involved in the attack against Israel. I think it sends the message that if we want to, we can send a stronger message. Israel is not seeking escalation at the moment.