Fu to us foreign policy

[Arthur Dent]

Rising concern over anti-Semitism, as much as anything, has quashed debate among American Jews over Israeli politics and policies.

On Thursday, at a Brooklyn College class for retirees on current events, Helen Rosenberg, 86, an atheist, recalled a recent conversation with a friend in which she expressed sorrow that Palestinians were being killed. "That woman turned on me," Ms. Rosenberg said. "She said that I wanted Israel ruined."

After class, Barbara Rosenthal, a retired schoolteacher, said of Ms. Rosenberg, "I felt like telling that woman, `When they come for you, they're going to come whether you're atheist or religious.' "

Aryeh Cohen, a Talmud professor at the University of Judaism in Los Angeles, said critiques of Israel had been chilled in forums where there used to be open debate. Critics of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon were scarce at the Washington rally.

"It's really painful for me to feel completely alienated from a rally in support of Israel," said Professor Cohen, who lived in Israel for 12 years and fought in the 1982 war in Lebanon. "On a day-to-day basis, among colleagues and students, I do find myself in situations where I don't necessarily say what I think."

NY Times