Over the years, I’ve read numerous accusations against Israel, all of which defy reality. According to them, Zionists have committed genocide over the previous century, caused global warming, perpetrated police brutality against African Americans, inspired Osama bin Laden to attack us on 9/11 and, from a recent My Turn on these pages, conspired with the Nazis to create the Holocaust.

I’m amazed that a country so small that it’s virtually invisible on a world map could cause such widespread mayhem. But then again, it’s a nation composed mainly of Jews, and the line between anti-Zionism and antisemitism has severely eroded over the years. The fact that so-called progressives and even some Jews are malicious, naïve or downright misguided enough to cheer on Islamic terrorists like Hezbollah and Hamas, whose stated goals are the extermination of Israel, will remain a mystery for future generations to ponder.

However, I rarely, if ever, call out another My Turn writer since there is an unspoken agreement among us for a free sharing of opinions. But I was stunned to read Carl Doerner’s recent piece [“The root causes of the Middle East war” Recorder, Feb. 22] in which he accuses the Zionists of having “allowed the Holocaust to happen.”

While the usual misinformation about Israel expressed by pro-Palestinian supporters has gone off the rails, Doerner’s accusation amounts to a blood libel that crosses the line. Blaming Jews for the Holocaust is no different than blaming African Americans for slavery or blaming women for being raped (which, inexcusably has happened on these pages.) The author fancies himself a historian, but while true historians strive toward objectivity, the writer appears to be moved by a conspiratorial ideology that includes a vehement hatred of the Jewish state.

As such, he is prone to both cherry-pick and delete information that either supports or runs counter to his prejudicial views on the issue.

As do others. While clamoring for a cease-fire in Gaza (oddly, nobody is demanding one in Ukraine), none of the pro-Palestinian demonstrators are asking what comes afterward. “Free Palestine” is a meaningless slogan, not a long-lasting solution. Instead of taking the time to learn about the complex, intertwined history of Israel and Palestine, they are behaving like bullies; intimidating city councils (recently in Northampton,) elsewhere blocking bridges and highways (which contain pregnant women rushing to a hospital, firetrucks and ambulances), and shutting down public events.

With their sense of entitlement, they believe that the ends justify the means, an attitude which, ironically, mirrors Israel’s destructive actions in Gaza.

I’ve written numerous My Turns about the history of Israel-Palestine, but I might as well be whistling in the dark. The final blow came when my report about Jewish women and girls being mass raped and sexually mutilated by Hamas was met by local activists with silence, denial, gaslighting and an outright lie from a local “peace” center. Apparently the #MeToo movement ends at the Israeli border.

As far as the latest dog-whistle of “settler colonialism,” anyone literate in the history of Jews in Europe is aware that nearly every European nation persecuted, expelled, ghettoed or slaughtered their Jewish population over the past millennium. My Ashkenazi Jewish DNA contains not one strand of European influence but places my genetic line in the Middle East many thousands of years ago. And the Holocaust was Europe’s final verdict on the Jews in their midst, enabled by nearly every nation on the continent, which brings us back to Doerner’s grotesque accusation.

While it’s true that the Zionists in Palestine bargained with the Nazis after Hitler took power, they were negotiations based on desperation. The Germans held all the cards. The Zionists took Hitler’s unmistakable threat to eradicate European Jewry seriously and did whatever they could to get them out. In the end, they could do little or nothing. As noted author and historian Tom Segev quotes in his book “The Seventh Million: The Israelis and the Holocaust,” “The story of the Yishuv (Jewish leadership in Mandate Palestine) during the Holocaust was essentially one of helplessness. They rescued a few thousand Jews from Europe … but they could not save millions.”

Zionism was originally envisioned to return Jews to their ancestral homeland where they could be safe. Needless to say, that’s not happening. If Hitler’s demonic vision is realized by the destruction of Israel and the massacre of its inhabitants, local activists will raise a glass and then turn a blind eye to the Palestinians as their various violent factions begin to kill each other. Which they undoubtedly will.

Daniel A. Brown lived in Franklin County for 44 years and is a frequent contributor to the Recorder. He lives on former buffalo grazing grounds outside of Santa Fe, New Mexico with his wife, Lisa and dog, Cody.