At the top of this subforum is a moderator announcement that opposition to Israel’s actions and hatred of Jews are two separate issues. While that certainly can be the case when criticism of Israel is specific and not exemplified by double standards or blood libel, very often criticism of Israel is indeed a cover for antisemitism, and the overlap is sometimes subtle and sometimes blatant:
1) We have posters who insist that their utter contempt for Israel is unrelated to dislike for Jews, and then in the very same post (or one that follows) refer to Netanyahu as “a Jewish bully” or make reference to “the Jewish terrorists.” If their hate for Israel is unrelated to Jews, why then identify them by their Jewish religion?
2) Similarly, where we have had active pro-Palestinian anti-Israel groups on college campuses, we have had chants of “Death to Jews!,” bullying and assaulting Jews, and even establishment of “No Jew Zones.” Clearly, there is an overlap between being against Israel and being against Jews.
3) Perhaps more subtlely, there is a tendency to use the descriptor “Zionist” in a broad and hateful way - such as “the evil Zionists” - when a Zionist is simply someone who supports the right of Israel to exist. Most Jews do, and many Christians. The word has recently taken on a negative connotation and has become a way to spew venom about Jews without saying the word.
4) Finally, the double standards applied to Israel when truly barbaric countries are never even mentioned is also a sign that hostility toward Jews is driving the criticism. This was one of Sharansky’s Three D’s of antisemitism.
To summarize, criticism of specific Israeli action (“Netanyahu is being too aggressive”) is not antisemitic while broad brush contempt using code words or lies (“those evil Zionists control the world!” or “the Zionist terrorists are committing genocide”) is.
The issue is quite complex, and the two very often overlap. The attached explains it in more detail.
