Those of us who are involved in activism around Israel/Palestine and take a position critical of the standard American and Israeli views of the conflict are constantly peppered with accusations of anti-Semitism; or, in the case of Jews, we are told we are “self-hating”. Indeed, for Jews active on this issue, it becomes incumbent upon us to prominently and frequently argue that criticism of Israel is not anti-Semitic. It can get frustrating. Constantly engaging in the same argument is bad enough, but when that argument is over something that should be obvious - such as the right to criticize the actions of a state with one of the world’s strongest militaries, which has been in occupation of another people for 35 years - the argument becomes all the more tiresome. In fact, it can become so tiresome that many people, Jewish or non-Jewish, who have to deal with it can easily become so frustrated that they cannot or do not wish to hear about genuine issues of anti-Semitism. It is fast becoming the cry of “wolf” that can portend a horrible fate down the road. The argument has frequently served to be very disruptive to opposition to American policies in the Middle East, as has been demonstrated again recently in the very unfortunate flap over Michael Lerner’s absence from the invited speakers’ list at the anti-war demonstration to be held this Sunday in Iraq. (see JVP’s statement about this incident at the end of this article.)