“In 1945, I believed that anti-Semitism had died in Auschwitz, but I was wrong. Its victims perished, anti-Semitism did not.” – Elie Wiesel.
Even before October 7, 2023, the Anti-Defamation League was reporting rising and alarming levels of anti-Semitic acts. However, since the October 7 pogrom and kidnapping of more than 250 people, followed by Israel's military response in Gaza, anti-Semitism has reached levels not seen since the Holocaust. This veritable tsunami of hate is alarming Jews around the world. Since the fateful October 7th, Jews and Jewish institutions in the Diaspora have felt threatened and have been on alert.
Today, anti-Semites, including those who in the past never dared to publicly express their hatred, feel encouraged to do so, but they do so under a different banner – that of anti-Zionism. What has been said since ancient times about the Jews is being said today about the Jewish State. Anti-Semitic and anti-Zionist myths and language proliferate on the Internet and social media, reigniting gratuitous hatred for Jews.
Many anti-Zionists argue that anti-Zionism is not the same as anti-Semitism, and that equating the two violates freedom of expression. Below, we will examine some key definitions and concepts that help elucidate why calling for the destruction of Israel is, by definition, an example of anti-Semitism.
What is antisemitism?
Anti-Semitism is the term used to refer to anti-Judaism, hatred of Jews. Antisemitism is hostility, marginalization, oppression, discrimination or violence against Jewish people. It is based on stereotypes, myths and misinformation about the Jewish People, Judaism and the State of Israel. For centuries, Jews have been attributed repulsive physical and moral characteristics – portraying them as greedy, malevolent and responsible for all the evil in the world. The dehumanization of the Jewish People is used to justify hatred, violence and contempt against them: if Jews, as a people, are horrible beings, then any violence against them is justified.
The term “anti-Semitism” itself is itself anti-Jewish, coined in the late 19th century by Wilmer Marr, an avowed anti-Semite. The term “anti-Semitism” gives the idea of being a feeling against all Semites1, the different peoples who emerged in Arabia 3.500 years before the Common Era. However, the term is only used to describe anti-Judaism.
Unlike racist discrimination, where the discriminated race is portrayed as inferior, anti-Semitism portrays Jews as inferior and superior at the same time. Inferior in physical characteristics and moral values, but superior in power, money and world domination.
Anti-Semitism has many faces, but all of them lead to defamation, discrimination, social exclusion, persecution, expulsion and even the murder of Jewish people. In the Middle Ages, it culminated in the creation of ghettos, mass expulsions, pogroms and the Inquisition. In Nazi Germany, in the Holocaust.
Anti-Semitism – an ancient virus
There is no hatred with a history as long and lethal as anti-Semitism – “the most prolonged of hatreds”, as historian Robert Wistrich called it. Prejudice against Jews already existed in Antiquity – in Egypt, Greece, and the Roman Empire.
Over the centuries, hatred against Jews changed its appearance and form of action several times, but it never disappeared.
With the emergence and strengthening of Christianity, hatred against Jews began to have a religious character. The Jews, as a whole, were accused of “deicides” – of killing Jesus, and of not recognizing him as the Messiah. In Europe, the Church and rulers promulgated explicitly anti-Jewish decrees that segregated and discriminated against them. Time after time, Jews were victims of persecution and expulsion from the countries where they lived. Many times, they had to choose between conversion or death. The image of the Jew was distorted to incite and justify the violence committed against his people.
In modern times, anti-Semitism has become racial hatred – it has become a matter of “race and blood”. The “Jewish problem” could no longer be solved through assimilation or conversion. And, as they were accused of being responsible for any and all calamities that befell a nation, they needed to be eliminated for the general well-being of the society in which they lived.
For Nazi “ideology”, “Jewish blood” contaminated the “blood purity of the Aryan race”. A Christian with only one Jewish grandparent was a “hybrids” (“mixed race”), and regarding the “Final Solution of the Jewish Question” he was treated as a Jew. For the Nazis, implementing the Final Solution – the extermination of all Jews – was the only way to resolve the “Jewish question”. Racial anti-Semitism culminated in the Holocaust during which six million Jews, including 1,5 million Jewish children, were murdered.
Anti-Semitism did not die with its victims in concentration camps. And, to this day, anti-Semites use images or accusations typical of Christian and racial anti-Semitism in their attacks against Jews. And, in recent decades, a new variant of anti-Semitism has emerged: anti-Zionism.
How was hatred against Jews incited in the Middle Ages?
In medieval Europe, several libels arose against the Jews. As Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks said zt”l, “In all libels it is deduced that, for men to be free, we, the Jews, and/or the State of Israel, need to be destroyed. This is how great crimes begin.”
Among the serious anti-Semitic accusations that circulated throughout Europe, one of the most harmful were the blood libels in which Jews were accused of killing Christian children to use their blood in religious rituals. Other accusations that cost the lives of thousands of Jews were the alleged desecration of the host and the poisoning of water wells.
When, in 1348, the Black Death swept through Europe killing a third of the population, Jews are accused of poisoning water wells and spreading the disease. These rumors led to popular outbursts of hysteria against the Jews. No one doubted that they were to blame, even though they were equally victims of the Plague.
Of course, the Jews never drained the blood of Christians, poisoned the wells, nor committed any of the heinous crimes of which they were accused.
What are "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion"?
Throughout its trajectory, The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a “masterpiece” of racist literature, has become an efficient tool for modern anti-Semitism. The document, considered the most notorious political fraud of modern times, was manufactured and produced by the Tsar's secret police in Russia in 1895. The pamphlet contains an alleged Jewish conspiracy to dominate the world: a lie whose terrible repercussions have reached our days . Composed of 24 chapters or protocols, it contains minutes of a supposed secret conclave of Jewish world leaders, which supposedly took place once every 100 years. The conclave aimed to engineer the manipulation and control of the world. The pamphlet is used by anti-Semites as “smoking proof” of the existence of a “worldwide Jewish conspiracy” to “dominate the planet”.
The Protocols were used to justify the persecution of Jews in Tsarist Russia and the communist period, and was used by Hitler to justify anti-Semitic laws and acts, even mass extermination, as a way of preventing Jews from exercising world “domination”.
Since 1921, The Protocols They have been used extensively in the Islamic world, where they are distributed free of charge, and have even been used to produce TV miniseries broadcast in prime time. The “Jewish plan for world domination” is the central theme of the plots used to inflame spectators’ spirits against the Jews and Israel. The Protocols They are used by the terrorist group Hamas as “proof” of the Zionist “plan” to dominate the world.
The Protocols They became the most read anti-Semitic document in the world, and remain in use to this day. Jews are still accused of conspiracy and controlling the media, politics and the world economy. It is part of the ideological foundation of the far right, as well as the far left, in Europe and the United States.
In a speech at this year's Harvard graduation, the keynote speaker, Filipino journalist Maria Ressa, alluded to these accusations. “Because I accepted the invitation to be here today, I was attacked online and called an anti-Semite by those with money and power because they want money and power.” Ressa's speech caused the college rabbi to withdraw from the ceremony.
Adopted by all enemies of the Jews and the State of Israel, The Protocols of the Elders of Zion it became the very “bible” of anti-Semites and anti-Zionists.
What is Zionism?
Modern Zionism, a movement of profound historical significance, emerged in 19th century Europe as a political and secular movement. Their goal was to establish a Jewish homeland in the historic land of Israel, a land with which Jews have had a religious connection and continuous presence for over three thousand years.
This movement was rooted in the belief that a modern Jewish state would provide Jews, who had suffered persecution for millennia, a refuge from anti-Semitism – from violence, discrimination, as well as massacres and expulsions. A Jewish State would guarantee that Jews have the same right to nationality and self-determination as other nations have.
Zionism is not connected to any political party or religion. It is not necessary to be Jewish to be a Zionist, and being a Zionist does not exclude support for a Palestinian state. Many non-Jews, Western governments, and many evangelical Christians, among others, consider themselves Zionists.
What is anti-Zionism?
Anti-Zionism denies Israel the right to exist and denies the Jewish People the right granted to other peoples and states of sovereignty and nationality. Anti-Zionists attack the legitimacy of the State of Israel and minimize or deny the Jewish historical and spiritual connection with their ancient Land of Israel, suggesting the elimination of Israel as the sovereign homeland of the Jews. Anti-Zionism is distinct from criticism of specific policies or actions of the Israeli government.
Is anti-Zionism anti-Semitism?
Anti-Semitism has many faces and anti-Zionism is one of them. The main “tools” of the “new anti-Semitism”, as it is called, are the campaigns to delegitimize and demonize the Jewish State. If before the Jews were responsible for all evil, today the culprit is Israel.
It is undeniable that most anti-Semites use anti-Israel rhetoric and hide behind it. Today, criticizing or accusing Israel is socially acceptable, but hating Jews is still not.
What about anti-Zionist religious Jews?
Those who argue that anti-Zionism does not equal anti-Semitism often mention fringe ultra-Orthodox Jewish groups, such as the Neturei Karta, who are vehemently against the State of Israel. The Neturei Karta believe that the true Jewish State should only be established by G-d, through the coming of the Messiah, with the creation of a theocratic religious state. With great fervor, they believe in the Jewish claim to the Land of Israel, but disagree with its current form.
Anti-Zionist protests – are they also anti-Semitic?
The anti-Zionist protests that have emerged since the October 7 attack on Israel are proof that anti-Zionism is anti-Semitism. The same people who claim otherwise make no distinction between Jews and Israel.
The word “Zionist” has become a euphemism for “Jew” and has been used as an insulting way to attack Jews. Khadim Hussain, for example, a British politician, was suspended from the Labor Party after sharing a post on Facebook that referred to “the six million Zionists who were killed by Hitler”. In college College students, for example, Jewish students are verbally and physically attacked while being called Zionists.
Since the Hamas attack on October 7, Jewish students have heard phrases, said angrily, such as “go back to Poland”, the country where millions of Jews were murdered in gas chambers during the Holocaust; “we are all Hamas”; “death to all Jews”; “burn Tel Aviv”; “we don’t want Zionists here” and “stop killing children”. At Columbia University, a protester shouted at Jewish students: “October 7th will be every day for you!” There was another masked protester with a sign that said “Al-Qasam Next Target” with an arrow pointing to Jewish counter-protesters nearby. Al-Qasam is the military wing of Hamas.
At Cornell University in New York, anonymous threats flooded an online message board: “If you see a Jewish 'person' on campus, follow her home and slit her throat.” At Northeastern in Boston, violent anti-Semitic insults were shouted, including “kill the Jews”. Protesters intimidate, harass, threaten, incite violence and, in some cases, even physically attack Jewish students and teachers. Many of them were prevented from entering the campus or going to classes by protesters. Jewish students have reported death threats from Hamas supporters. These threats have caused some students to fear attending classes or, in some cases, even leaving their dorms. At Columbia University, a rabbi from campus recommended that Jewish students return to their family homes, as the university could no longer guarantee the safety of its Jewish students and faculty.
New research, released jointly by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and Hillel – the Jewish organization in college college students – reports that 73% of Jewish and 44% of non-Jewish college students in the United States were victims of or witnessed anti-Semitic incidents following the Hamas attack on October 7, ranging from anti-Semitic vandalism to threats of physical violence. Jewish students no longer feel safe or welcome at many universities across the United States and around the world.
These protesters make no distinction between Jews and Israeli citizens and, after a series of violent behaviors, can no longer hide behind the argument that anti-Zionism is not anti-Semitism. They clearly demonstrate that they themselves cannot distinguish between hatred of Jews and hatred of Israel. Unfortunately, this is not a phenomenon restricted to college College students. For example, after October 7th, on the subway in New York, a city that is home to 1,3 million Jews, it is common to see graffiti with phrases such as “Jews belong in the oven”, “Kill all Jews”, “Asphyxiate the Jews”, “Adolf was right”, among many anti-Semitic graffiti.
Anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism are clearly synonymous – just look at the language, the targets, the timing and the nature of attacks on Jews in the name of anti-Israel protests.
Is all criticism against the State of Israel anti-Semitic?
Calling for the destruction of Israel is anti-Semitism; criticizing a policy or a member of the government is not. Israel is a country like any other, with policies that range from commendable to questionable. There is nothing wrong with criticizing the policies of the Israeli government, just as one could criticize the policies of any other nation, as long as the criticism is proportionate to that made against other countries. This is what many Israelis and many Zionists do around the world, including the Israeli press. Debate and the free exchange of ideas are pillars of democracy in any democratic country. Questioning specific actions by the Israeli government is completely separate from the belief that this country should not exist.
And there is nothing anti-Semitic in defending the opinion that the Palestinians should have their own state or in asking for more help for the Palestinian population, as long as one does not advocate the destruction of Israel.
However, calling for the elimination of the Jewish State, praising or apologizing for Hamas or other terrorist entities that call for the destruction of Israel, or suggesting that only Jews do not have the right to self-determination is anti-Semitism.
How to recognize anti-Semitic criticism?
Sometimes criticism or condemnation of Israel is clearly veiled anti-Semitism. When criticism of Israel and its government goes beyond the bounds of reasonable speech, that criticism crosses the line into anti-Semitism. We will list just a few examples.
Deny or question Israel's right to exist.
Denying or questioning Israel's right to exist and denying the Jewish People the right to self-government in their ancestral Land, in the only Jewish State in existence, is anti-Semitism.
Deny the Jewish connection to the Land of Israel.
It is anti-Semitic to portray Jews as colonizers, with no connection to the Land of Israel, when Jews have lived there for more than three thousand years. The bond between the Jewish People and their land is ancient – Jews settled in the Land of Israel around 1.300 years before the emergence of Christianity and around 1.900 years before Islam.
Use of Nazi words or symbols.
The association between Israel and Nazi symbols is a favorite topic of today's anti-Semites. Comparisons between Israeli politicians and Hitler, between Israelis and Nazis and between Palestinians and the Jewish victims of the Holocaust are frequent and unfortunate. According to the anti-Semitic narrative, Israelis are the new Nazis and Palestinians are the new Jews.
There are several reasons behind the use of Nazi symbols to characterize Israel, including delegitimizing the Jewish State by associating it with “absolute evil”; humiliate the Jewish People, making them morally equal to their tormentors; demonize Israel by attributing Nazi “qualities” to it and, thus, legitimize any type of violent incitement against Israel and the Jews.
Campaign and defamation.
When insidious comparisons are made to the Apartheid regime of South Africa, when Zionism is equated with racism, when Israel is accused of being a white imperialist settler state, or when Israel is said to commit ethnic cleansing and genocide – this is anti-Semitism. These are false, unfounded statements made to delegitimize Israel and create an environment that makes hatred of Jews and Israel more acceptable.
Treating Israel differently than other countries.
Included in the IHRA (International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance) definition of anti-Semitism is the use of double standards applied to Israel, demanding from this country behavior that is not expected or required of any other democratic nation.
When Osama bin Laden and Al-Qaeda carried out the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001, bringing down the Twin Towers in New York City and crashing into the Pentagon, the world expected a strong response from the US. On October 7, 2023, the worst atrocities were committed. Women raped, mutilated, babies burned in ovens, people decapitated, pregnant women whose babies were removed from their wombs, as well as 1.200 people brutally murdered and more than 250 kidnapped, including a baby less than a year old and elderly survivors of the Holocaust.
The use of double standards occurs when Israel becomes the only country that does not have the right to defend itself after an act of war like that of October 7th. Even before the military response aimed at rescuing the hostages and fighting the terrorist group responsible for the massacre, countless criticisms of Israel had already emerged around the world, as well as “justifications” for the murders and atrocities against civilians in the country.
Another example of double standards are student demonstrations where slogans such as “We are Hamas” or “Globalize the intifada” are common. These same students who call themselves “humanists”, “liberals” and in favor of freedom and equality, when the barbarism was against Jews, they remained silent or even supported October 7th.
Khymani James, one of the leaders of the anti-Israel student protest at Columbia University, is non-binary and a member of the LGBTQIA+ community. Khymani declared “There should be no Zionists anywhere. Zionists are Nazis...Zionists should not live in this world.” Khymani and many of the protesters even oppose the release of the hostages. These pro-Hamas students decided to take a stand against Israel and in favor of a terrorist group well known for persecuting, torturing and killing people from the LGBTQIA+ community.
Giving disproportionate attention to Israel is anti-Semitism.
When people, organizations, media outlets or even governments only focus negatively on Israel and are not bothered by other events in the world, this is anti-Semitism.
When the war in Gaza is reported daily in the newspapers while little is said about Ukraine or other conflicts around the world – that is anti-Semitism. The disproportionate criticism of Israel – a free and democratic country – compared to the lack of criticism of countries that, unlike Israel, violate human rights, women's rights and the rights of the LGBTQIA+ community, such as Iran, Russia or China – this is antisemitism. Where are the student protests against Russia for invading Ukraine? Where are the protests against Iran for persecuting, killing and raping women who do not wear the veil (hijab) in the way the government deems appropriate? This disproportionate focus on Israel is anti-Semitism.
Holding all Jews around the world responsible for Israel's actions is anti-Semitism.
A clear example of this are the Jewish students who are being barred from entering the college from some colleges, simply because they are Jews. In several countries around the world, Jews are being harassed in the streets because of the war in Gaza.
Calling for or justifying violence against Israel and the Jewish People is anti-Semitism.
Demonstrations that support Hamas – or another terrorist group – and call for the destruction of the State of Israel, which would lead to the extermination or exile of half of the world's Jewish population, are anti-Semitism. To use Slogans like “From the River to the Sea” that call for the destruction of the Jewish State is anti-Semitism.
Justifying the rape and mutilation of Jewish and Israeli women as has been done by some feminist organizations is pure anti-Semitism. UN Women – a United Nations entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women – took months to comment on the violence against women in the attack on October 7th. Rape and violence against women is unacceptable to these feminists, unless the victims are Jewish. In the case of the mutilation and rape of girls and women in Israel, some feminist groups stated: “Rape is resistance”. They defend Hamas, a group known for its oppression of women, in Gaza, and justify violence against Jewish women. This is blatant anti-Semitism.
The Jewish People should not have to argue for their right to exist. Once again, in Jewish History, Jews are the target of existential threats. The phrase “Death to all Jews” should not be heard in college university students or anywhere else in the world.
What is Soviet Anti-Zionism?
The nation that flooded the world with The Protocols of the Elders of Zion she was also the creator of anti-Zionism in its current format.
At the time of the Declaration of the modern State of Israel, it was believed that the newly created country would align itself with the then Soviet Union. Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin had adopted a pro-Zionist foreign policy, not out of sympathy for Jews, but because he believed Israel would be socialist and would reduce British influence and presence in the Middle East. However, when pro-Soviet parties lost the first Knesset election in January 1949, Stalin withdrew his support for Israel. The USSR soon switched sides in the Arab-Israeli conflict, openly supporting Arab countries against Israel from the mid-1950s onwards.
During the Cold War, the Soviet Union adopted a pro-Arab and anti-Israel policy. After the Six-Day War in 1967, realizing the clear alignment of Arab countries with the USSR, Washington increased arms sales to Israel. The United States became the State of Israel's greatest ally. At the same time, Moscow intensified its anti-Zionist propaganda.
Anti-Zionist propaganda was officially sponsored by the Propaganda Department of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and the KGB. The Soviet Union's anti-Zionist propaganda machine created and spread the idea that Zionism was a form of “racist imperialism” used by Jews and Americans. Anti-Zionist texts were produced, directly based on Os Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Hundreds of books and thousands of articles have been published portraying Zionism as a racist ideology.
Soviet anti-Zionist propaganda also equated Zionism with Nazism, Fascism and Apartheid. According to the Soviet Communist Party, “the main postulates of modern Zionism are militant chauvinism, racism, anti-communism and anti-Sovietism... open and covert struggle against freedom movements and against the USSR.”
Anti-Zionist caricatures appeared in Soviet newspapers and the “Zionist” in these caricatures was the same stereotypical Jew from Nazi propaganda. Soviet leaders referred to the Israeli government as a “terrorist regime” and claimed that anti-Zionism was not anti-Semitism, citing the existence of “Jewish anti-Zionists” in the USSR.
Soviet propaganda distorted the narrative, regardless of the facts. The rescue in Entebbe, for example, was one of the Israeli missions that most surprised the world, becoming an example of heroism and the fight against terrorism. On June 27, 1976, terrorists from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) hijacked an Air France plane during the Tel Aviv-Paris flight, with 258 people on board and landed the plane at Entebbe airport, with the approval of the President of Uganda. The terrorists released passengers who were not Jewish or Israeli and threatened to kill the hostages if their demands were not met. Instead of giving in to the terrorists, the hostages were rescued by an Israeli commando unit – led by Yonatan Netanyahu, brother of the current Prime Minister of Israel – in an almost perfect operation. While around the world Israel was admired for its fight against terrorism, the Soviet media accused Israel of being the aggressor and reported: “Israel committed an act of aggression against Uganda by attacking Entebbe airport.”
There is a clear parallel between the language and distorted narrative created by Soviet anti-Zionist propaganda and what we see today in anti-Israel demonstrations. The protesters use the same language and the same lies that were created by the Communist Party Propaganda Department and the KGB. The Soviet Union no longer exists, but its anti-Zionist campaign lives on.
Anti-Israel propaganda
We will see below some of the big lies told against the Jewish State. These lies are spread to young people via social media – such as Tik Tok and Instagram. Websites and social media are used to advance anti-Semitic conspiracy theories and have created the largest anti-Semitic movement since the Holocaust. According to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), shortly after October 7th, anti-Semitic content increased by more than 919% on X (formerly Twitter), and 28% on Facebook, in one month. TikTok – Chinese social media with 150 million users in the United States alone – has amplified anti-Semitic and anti-Israel content, as well as pro-Palestine content. Since October 7, anti-Semitic and anti-Israel sentiment has run rampant on the Chinese internet and state-dominated media.
False Claim: “Zionism is Racism”
After the Six-Day War in 1967, the Soviet Union began promoting the concept of “Zionism equals racism” as a way to strengthen its relations with Arab countries.
Soviet anti-Semitic propaganda began to link Zionism to racism, basing its accusations on the notorious The Protocols of the Elders of Zion and arguing that the Jewish concept of “the chosen people” promoted racial superiority. This is a religious distortion.
In 1975, aiming to embarrass the United States and gain the sympathy of Arab countries, in one of the most harmful moments of the anti-Israeli strategy, Moscow led the approval of the declaration at the UN that equated “Zionism with a form of racism and racial discrimination ”. The resolution was presented by Mexico.
It was during the Cold War and countries in the United Nations were generally aligned with one of two great powers – the Soviet Union or the United States. There were 72 votes in favor, 35 against and 32 abstentions, demonstrating the diplomatic strength of the alliance between the USSR and Arab, Muslim and African countries. Brazil, under the leadership of Geisel, also voted in favor.
Before the vote, the US representative to the UN, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, warned that “The UN is on the verge of making anti-Semitism international law.” Chaim Herzog, Israel's ambassador to the United Nations in 1975 and future president of Israel, declared: “Ancient anti-Semitism said that Jews have no place in society. Modern anti-Zionism says that Israel has no place in the world.”
In 1991, after the end of the Cold War, the UN General Assembly revoked the resolution, with 111 votes in favor.
Israel is a multicultural and multiethnic country. Zionism cannot be a form of racism when it does not deny or denigrate other races or religions, when it embraces a racially diverse Jewish population, when a diverse non-Jewish population can and has become citizens, and when Israeli Arabs constitute more than 20% of the population of the country, with the same rights as all other citizens.
Arguments that Israel's “Law of Return” makes Zionism racist are misleading, as non-Jews do not have automatic citizenship, as Israel has processes and procedures similar to those in many other countries for non-Jews to obtain citizenship. Israeli. In contrast, many countries adopt the the right of blood – in which the right to citizenship of the country is passed through your ancestry. In countries such as Italy, Portugal, Spain, France, England, Japan, Australia, Germany and the Netherlands, children only receive citizenship through blood rights, that is, if one of their parents or grandparents holds nationality. If the child is born on Italian soil, for example, and his parents are not Italian, the child will not have Italian nationality. However, Italy, Spain and Japan are not called racist.
Opponents of Israel have used the phrase “Zionism is racism” to delegitimize the movement for Jewish self-determination and deny the Jewish People a right granted to other nations under international law. The phrase demonizes Zionism, aims to delegitimize the Jewish State and minimizes the diversity of Jewish life in Israel.
False Claim: “Israel is promoting Ethnic Cleansing of Palestinians”
The definition of ethnic cleansing is the expulsion, imprisonment, or murder of an ethnic minority by a dominant majority to achieve ethnic homogeneity. Genocide and ethnic cleansing result in the partial or total extermination of the population in the geographic area where applied.
Israel is a diverse society, with a sizable non-Jewish population, and has never committed ethnic cleansing. This is one of the biggest slanders created against the Jewish State and it is an easy fact to verify. By way of comparison, according to United Nations sources, in 1948 and 1949, during the War between the newly declared State of Israel and five Arab armies, 711 thousand Palestinians left or were forced to leave Israel. At the end of the war, 150 Arabs remained in Israel and became citizens with full rights. The Arab-Israeli population multiplied and, in 2023, there were 2.080.000 Israeli Arabs, representing more than 20% of the population, with citizenship and the same rights as Israeli Jews.
At the same time, since the vote at the UN for the Partition of Palestine under British Mandate, Jews have been expelled – or pressured to leave – from Muslim countries. Between 1947 and 1948, 856 Jews had to leave Arab countries. In total, since the declaration of the State of Israel, more than 1,4 million Jews have been forced to leave Arab countries.
In Arab countries, an ethical cleansing actually took place. In Algeria, for example, there were 140 Jews in 1948; Today the country does not have any Jews living there. In Iraq, in 1948, there were 135 thousand, today there are only five Jews. In Libya there were 38 thousand in 1948, today the Jewish population is zero.
On the other hand, the Israeli Arab population is constantly growing. Not only do they live and raise their families safely in Israel, they are full members of society, they vote, they are members of the Knesset and they play prominent roles in all aspects of Israeli society – they serve as judges, doctors, actors, journalists, etc.
What about the Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank? The Palestinian population in the West Bank and Gaza has also multiplied. According to United Nations figures, in 1950 the population of the West Bank totaled approximately 765 thousand, while the population of the Gaza Strip reached approximately 245 thousand. In 2022, there were three million Palestinians in the West Bank and two million in Gaza – a statistic that belies any allegations of genocide or ethnic cleansing against Palestinians.
False Claim: Israel commits genocide.
Genocide is an act committed with the deliberate intent to systematically kill and destroy a group of people because of their ethnicity, nationality, religion or race. The term was coined by Raphael Lemkin, a Polish-born American jurist, to describe the Holocaust. The word genocide is derived from the Greek genos (“race”, “tribe” or “nation”) and from the Latin cide ("to kill").
When Hitler came to power in 1933, approximately 9,5 million Jews lived in Europe – and represented 60% of the world's Jewish population. By 1945, six million Jews – two-thirds of European Jews – had been murdered. Jews were the Nazis' number one enemy. However, the Nazis also committed genocide against the Romani (Gypsies) and other groups.
In 1946, the United Nations General Assembly recognized genocide as a crime under international law. Other events in Modern History often cited as genocide include the Armenian genocide (1915-1916) by the Ottoman Empire – it is estimated that between 664 and 1,2 million Armenians were killed – and the murder of approximately 800 Tutsis by the Hutus , in Rwanda, in the 1990s, among others.
The accusation that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza is shocking and purely anti-Semitic. Israel is the only country in the world frequently accused by activist groups of committing genocide. This is the biggest fabricated slander against the Jewish State.
Once again, Nazi symbols are used to characterize Israel and delegitimize the Jewish State, associating it with “absolute evil”. Using the term genocide humiliates the Jewish People, morally equating them with the Nazis; and equates a war for the survival of the State of Israel with the extermination of six million Jews. The use of the term genocide, created to describe the Holocaust, incites hatred and legitimizes any type of violence against Israel and Jews. This false accusation aims to demonize the Jewish People, diminish the Holocaust and even erase Jewish History.
At the same time, the world says nothing or little about the fact that the terrorist group that attacked Israel on October 7, 2023 – the same group that controls the Gaza Strip – openly preaches genocide against the Jews. Since its founding in 1987, Hamas has vowed to fight for the annihilation of Israel and preaches the death of Jews not only in Israel but also around the world. This is stated in its statutes and in statements made publicly. In 1988, Hamas published its charter, declaring it a religious obligation to wage armed war against Israel and the Jews. Its preamble contains the following declaration: “Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam obliterates it, just as it obliterated others previously”. In its article 7 it states: “The Day of Judgment will not occur until the Muslims fight against the Jews and annihilate them.”
Since its founding, the terrorist group has acted in accordance with its charter by committing suicide bombings, shootings, sending incendiary balloons and, over the years, firing tens of thousands of rockets from Gaza into Israel. Without the Iron Dome – Israel's anti-missile defense system – the number of Israeli victims would be incalculable.
On October 7, 2023, Hamas was responsible for carrying out the deadliest attack in Israel's history. The attack traumatized and changed the country and Israeli society. “Israel was one country on October 6 and another on October 7,” said Michael Herzog, Israel’s ambassador to the United States. However, Hamas promised to repeat October 7th “continuously, until Israel is annihilated.”
The organization's charter states that “Hamas rejects any alternative to the total and complete liberation of Palestine, 'from the River (Jordan) to the Sea (Mediterranean)'”. O slogan “from the River to the Sea” is a genocidal appeal and calls for the destruction of the State of Israel and the annihilation or expulsion of Jews who live between “the River and the Sea” – that is, throughout Israeli territory.
On the other hand, Israel is fighting a war for its survival, a war it did not want and did not start, taking all necessary precautions to minimize civilian casualties despite the most challenging circumstances. However, this is a different kind of war. It is an urban war in one of the most densely populated regions in the world. Just 41 km long and 10 km wide, Gaza has more than two million inhabitants. The majority of those who live in Gaza are young, with practically 40% of the population being under 14 years old, and the average age of its inhabitants, in 2020, was just 18 years old.
It is a war against a terrorist group that is deeply infiltrated and hiding among the population. Hamas intentionally uses human shields and locates operational bases beneath hospitals, launches rockets from inside schools and shelters, builds access tunnels beneath children's bedrooms, and stores weapons in schools, hospitals, and mosques. Terrorists camouflage themselves among the civilian population amid ongoing war.
Israel targets military assets – armed fighters, rocket launchers, terrorist headquarters, tunnels and other infrastructure; However, since an integral part of Hamas' strategy is to penetrate civilians, military targets are often among dense populations.
Amid Israeli allegations that Hamas uses civilians as human shields, Russian TV asked senior Hamas official Mousa Abu Marzouk why the organization had dug 500 kilometers of tunnels but never built shelters for civilians to hide during bombings, nor does it allow civilians to take refuge in the tunnels under Gaza. Marzouk declared that the underground tunnels built in the Gaza Strip are to protect Hamas “fighters”, and the responsibility for protecting civilians lies with the United Nations and Israel.
Hamas does not fight to protect the population of Gaza, as they themselves claim. After starting a war, Hamas ran to hide in tunnels, leaving the population vulnerable and using civilian casualties to advance its cause. Hamas fights for the establishment of an Islamic state under Sharia law – Islamic laws based on the Quran – and for the destruction of Israel. They consider the death of civilians good for their cause. On October 26, 2023, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh commented on the loss of civilian life in Gaza and said: “The blood of women, children and the elderly [...] we are the ones who need this blood, to awaken within us the revolutionary spirit.”
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) are fighting in impossible conditions, with 300 to 500 kilometers of underground tunnels built under cities, with unknown exits used by terrorists, without knowing where the hostages are hiding; against an enemy hiding behind human shields. It is estimated that before October 7, Hamas' military wing consisted of 30 to 40 thousand fighters.
Protecting Gaza's civilian population is particularly challenging, but the IDF actively implements measures to prevent civilian deaths. The IDF provides warnings and seeks to evacuate urban areas before air and ground attacks begin. And they also stop fighting to allow civilians to leave war zones. The army frequently makes phone calls and sends text messages and releases leaflets notifying people to evacuate the area before the attack.
By January 2024, the IDF had made 79 phone calls, released 7,2 million leaflets, and sent 13,7 million text messages and 15 million recorded calls to Palestinians in Gaza with evacuation warnings. On the other hand, Hamas does not hesitate to prevent the population from leaving danger zones to increase the number of deaths and promote its cause.
Warning the enemy of an imminent attack is an uncommon practice among military strategists. Armies do not publicize their targets to maintain the element of surprise and not allow the enemy to prepare. But, to minimize civilian deaths, the IDF adopts this practice.
Every war is a tragedy and, despite all efforts, this one is no different. That civilians are killed as a result of this war is a tragedy, that Gaza's infrastructure has been destroyed is a tragedy, that 75% of its population has been displaced is a tragedy, that Gaza needs to be rebuilt is a tragedy. Armed conflict, even when fully justified, is tragic, brutal and costs the lives of innocent civilians.
Words, however, matter. Words used wrongly and with bad intentions only generate more anti-Semitism. As tragic as the conflict in Gaza is, it is by no means a genocide. The goal is not to kill a group of people. On the contrary, Israel alerts the population as much as possible about its military targets. The objective is to remove from power a terrorist group that continually attacks Israel, and to recover the people who were stolen from Israel and remain in captivity, many being continually raped and abused.
Since 2007, Israel has felt the consequences of living side by side with a terrorist group that preaches genocide against Jews and Israelis. For years, Israel has lived with rockets constantly fired at its population, male and female suicide bombers and other terrorist attacks. But on October 7, Hamas proved itself to be far more lethal, organized, and with far greater resources than previously imagined. Hamas massacred, raped, tortured, mutilated, burned and kidnapped people in Israel and still holds more than 100 hostages. Israel can no longer ignore Hamas' threats of genocide.
Israel is fighting a war for its survival. Israel wages war against Hamas, not the people of Gaza. It is deeply worrying that the world appears to have forgotten October 7th. "Here we are, not 75 years later, but just seven and a half months later, and people are already forgetting," US President Joe Biden said on Holocaust Remembrance Day. "They are already forgetting that Hamas unleashed this terror, that it was Hamas that brutalized the Israelis, that it was Hamas that took and continues to hold hostages. I have not forgotten, nor have you, and we will never forget!"
Israel – safe haven for Jews
Today, an increasing number of people, including some Jews, are convinced that anti-Semitism will only end with the disappearance of the Jewish State. Many argue that Israel is the cause of the new anti-Semitism. Indeed, the Jewish State appears to be at the center of the anti-Semitic storm, being the focus of defamatory and incendiary articles even before October 7th. The argument is that anti-Semitism would cease when people no longer had to watch television images of Israel bombing Gaza. However, the more than two thousand year history of anti-Semitism is evidence that anti-Semitism can even mutate, but never disappears.
Currently, the few Jews who stand against the State of Israel receive a lot of media and validate the false argument that anti-Zionism is not anti-Semitism. Denying the fact of being Jewish, rejecting our connection with our homeland and our identity will not stop anti-Semitism, this virus that has existed and has been mutating since Ancient Egypt and Ancient Greece. Anti-Semites and terrorists do not distinguish between Zionist Jews and Jews against Israel – Jews are their target regardless of their political views. The Russian pogroms and the Holocaust were proof of this – religious and secular Jews, assimilated Jews or Jews from the shtetl They were also victims of violence and genocide.
If Israel is eliminated, Jews around the world will no longer be safe. The Jewish People faced annihilation again and again, and until 1948, they had nowhere to turn. Countries did not protect Jews even after the concentration camps were liberated and the horrors of the Holocaust were revealed to the entire world. After the murder of six million Jews, countries were expected to feel a terrible shame for not having opened their doors while there was time and for not having interceded on behalf of the Jews. However, once again the world failed to act and countries continued to close their doors to the few Jews who managed to survive. Two-thirds of European Jews had been murdered and those who survived experienced yet another tragedy. Nobody wanted them; no one wanted the Jewish refugees.
Israel is the guarantor of continued Jewish existence. It is the only country that keeps its doors open to every Jew, around the world. About half of the world's Jews live in Israel, and destroying it as a Jewish state would mean the genocide or deportation of millions of Israeli Jews. Furthermore, it would endanger Diaspora Jews, who, once again, would not have a refuge when needed.
The Jewish People went through millennia of suffering at the hands of other people and so many attempts to liquidate them. The history of more than two thousand years of anti-Semitism proves that the existence of the Modern Jewish State is not the root of the problem but the solution, the life insurance policy for all Jews in the Diaspora.
- The word Semitic originates from Tanakh (the Jewish Bible) and refers to the lineage of descendants of Shem (Shem), one of Noah's sons (Noah).
By Tamara Djmal
