🤥 Criticism of Israel is anti-Semitic.

Criticism of the Israeli government is not anti-Semtic; it is anti-Zionist. Anti-Semitism is not to be confused with anti-Zionism. Judaism is a religion and anti-Semitism is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. Zionism is a colonial ideology founded in the expansionist concept of a Greater Israel to be built from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea.

This overlooks the fact that declaring support for Israel has become a convenient way for true anti-Semites to whitewash their reputation. In fact, the phrase “They can’t be anti-Semitic, they support Israel” has been used to absolve many racists and to legitimize the chummy relationship the Israeli government has with the global far-right, including outright neo-Nazi groups.

Conflating the state of Israel, as well as Zionism, with Judaism is a tactic employed by successive Israeli governments to shield themselves from legitimate criticism. Not only does this tactic prey on Western guilt for allowing the horrors of WWII against Jews to take place, but also purports to absolve Israel’s allies from placing pressure on Israel to act in accordance with international law, and allows the allies themselves to justify their own complicity in Israel’s crimes.