There has been an alarming increase in anti-Semitic incidents in Europe and beyond in the last few years. Many Jewish organisations have started campaigns to raise awareness about anti-Semitism in response to this worrying trend. These actions are necessary and important to tackle anti-Semitism wherever it appears.
However, a recent phenomenon reveals that anti-Semitism is now being used as a tool by pro-Israel advocacy groups – they weaponise it as part of their strategy to shut down all criticism of Israel and its policies towards Palestinians. Instead of addressing the legitimate criticism of Israel and its discriminatory practices against Palestinians, these organisations deliberately conflate genuine anti-Semitism with criticism of Israel’s political ideology.
The result is that Zionist groups have managed to gain support for measures that clamp down on any public criticism of Israel as a way to prevent “anti-Semitic incidents”. This intersection between racism and Zionism functions in various contexts: from the USA and Canada to the UK – wherever there are communities who resist the injustices imposed by the State of Israel, new legislation or rules are proposed to shut them up.
Israel and its Apartheid Policies
Both Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory are under complete Israeli control. Although Palestinians constitute around half of the total population (inside Israel and in the occupied territories), under Israeli law and in practice, Jews and Palestinians are treated differently in almost every area of life: housing, education, health, employment, family life, residence, and freedom of movement.
The Israeli government institutionalises this system of racial discrimination and dominance through dozens of laws and policies.
Separation is achieved by implementing different legal regimes for Jewish Israelis and Palestinians living within the same territory. Jewish Israeli settlers living in illegal settlements in the West Bank are subject to Israeli civil law, while Palestinian settlers and residents are subject to Israeli military law.
The Israeli government has carried out a systematic campaign to demolish Palestinian villages and replace them with Jewish settlements in the past few years. These actions harden resentment towards Israel. Palestinians are left with no choice but to build illegal structures in the West Bank to prevent their land from being taken over by Israeli settlers.
As a result, the Israeli army regularly carries out forced demolitions of Palestinian structures under the pretext of being built without permits.
Evidence is overwhelming that the Israeli government’s treatment of the Palestinian people meets the UN’s definition of apartheid. Yet to criticise this treatment is to be labelled anti-Semitic.
Weaponising Anti-Semitism to discredit left-wing politicians
People on the right wing of politics have been using charges of anti-Semitism to slander and delegitimise many left-wing politicians. Support for Palestinian rights or opposition to any right-wing Israeli government policy has been equated with hatred for Jews.
In the US, Congresswoman Ilhan Omar has been called anti-Semitic. Even Jewish progressive senator Bernie Sanders came under attack for showing support for Omar. This shows that anti-Semitism is being leveraged against people as a scare tactic.
UK politician Jeremy Corbyn is one of the most prominent critics of Israel and its discriminatory policies towards Palestinian refugees. There is a deliberate campaign to undermine his concerns and make him unelectable in the eyes of the British public.
He has been repeatedly accused of being in bed with the “terrorists” in Hamas by the Israeli government. Many pro-Israel groups have started to weaponise anti-Semitism to discredit Corbyn and his Labour Party. This move is clearly designed to conflate legitimate criticism of Israel’s political ideology with anti-Semitism.
The real danger in these recent attempts to weaponise anti-Semitism is that they only create more fear and mistrust toward Jews rather than promote peace. However, there is a silver lining. These attempts to shut down criticism of Israel and its discriminatory policies expose the racism at the heart of Zionism and its ideology of racial supremacy.
The challenge now is sharing this information, spreading the word, and building popular movements against racism and Zionism. Once people understand how Zionist groups weaponise anti-Semitism and racism, they will be better equipped to reject such tactics.
