How to tell when criticism of Israel is actually anti-Semitism
South Carolina just passed a law deeming any criticism of Israel in public schools or universities to be anti-Semitic.
.. Israel attracts additional scrutiny because it is a top recipient of U.S. foreign aid and the only Western nation currently carrying out a military occupation of another people.
.. anti-Semitism on the right is often easier to spot
.. At rallies on college campuses, speakers regularly list “Zionists” in the same category as white supremacists and Nazis.
So how can you tell the difference between anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism? Here are five useful markers.
Seeing Jews as insidious influencers behind the scenes of world events
On the left and the right, anti-Semitism often manifests in a nefarious belief in a worldwide Jewish conspiracy that wields outsize power. On the right, it’s “globalists” and “elites” who manipulate events. On the left, it’s “Zionists.” The terms may differ, but the fundamental conspiracy theory is the same.
Using the word “Zionist” as code for “Jew” or “Israeli”
.. But refusing to call Israel or Israelis by their internationally accepted names denies the very existence of the state and its people’s identities. These coy linguistic tricks are as unacceptable as the right-wing penchant for denying the existence of Palestinians and Palestinian identity.
Denying Jewish history
.. Statements like these ignore the fact that, unlike most white people here and elsewhere, Jews have been subject to racially based discrimination — and that more than half of Israeli Jews are not Ashkenazi, meaning their families did not come from Europe.
.. Dismissing the humanity of Israelis
.. one young activist told me, “I can’t judge how other people carry out their liberation movements.”
.. Assuming that the Israeli government speaks for all Jews
.. Imagine assuming that all Americans support President Trump’s policies, or asking Americans to expressly disown their own country before engaging in any international human rights campaigns.
.. Jews who care about Israel — many of whom revile Netanyahu and his politics — should not be excluded from progressive spaces based on their answers to such questions.