Dispensing anti-Zionism with goods and services

What happened to the days when supermarkets sold food and not politics?

What happened to the days when rape-counseling clinics dispensed advice and assistance rather than politics?

Suddenly we're seeing anti-Zionism messages being dished up along with the goods and services that local businesses and agencies provide.

We thought San Francisco's Rainbow Grocery agreed in December to quit boycotting Israeli products in two of the coop's departments. But now the store is holding a vote among its employees to decide if Israel products should be banned from the entire store.

Meanwhile, San Francisco Women Against Rape has removed language from its Web site that indicated it would only hire interns or volunteers supporting the position that Israel is a racist state. Does this mean SFWAR organizers are no longer dispensing anti-Israel rhetoric? Our guess is that the same questions are being asked of interns and volunteers behind closed doors.

We also wonder what other California businesses have adopted similar anti-Israel practices. It's probably happening elsewhere but being kept quiet to avoid the ire of the Jewish community.

For those old enough to remember, this is no different from the discriminatory policies of the '40s when Jews were denied jobs by many corporations and slots at medical schools and other colleges.

That was pure anti-Semitism. What we are seeing now is anti-Zionism. But don't kid yourself. There's plenty of anti-Semitism at work here, too. Many of the Israel haters are also Jew haters.

Jews in Northern California need to be on the alert. If they see any indication of anti-Israel propaganda, they should report it to both the Jewish Community Relations Council and the Anti-Defamation League.

We need to fight back and to educate those people who have no understanding of Israel's history. A look at how Arabs are treated by their own rulers in Egypt, Jordan and Syria might just clear up a lot of misconceptions.