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Something that’s been nagging at me today is how strange it is that when people say criticism of the Israeli government isn’t antisemitic, they’re very frequently not actually criticizing the Israeli government but rather categorically condemning Jews and Judaism.
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1/8
No one — literally no one — is saying that criticism of Israeli policy is inherently antisemitic, but when those criticisms lack substance and instead embrace age-old tropes about greed, blood libel, filthiness, etc. then we enter into the territory of antisemitic bigotry.
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2/8
Boycotting a nation based on objections to its disregard for human rights is in some ways admirable, even if impractical. But when only one nation is singled out by a self-righteous boycott and when that movement is ripe with bigots, then antisemitism is again at play.
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3/8
The issue isn’t that the left criticizes systemic Israeli mistreatment and subjugation of Palestinians. That deserves unwavering attention. The issue here is that the left singles out Israel instead of worse human rights abusers like China, Saudi Arabia, Russia, and Iran.
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4/8
Equally disturbing is how many criticisms of Israelis paint Jews as colonizers, perpetuating a false sense of Jewish whiteness. Jewishness precedes Europeanness and equating European Jews with colonizers is itself an antisemitic microaggression — possibly much worse.
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5/8
While some Israeli practices and policies could be seen as *resembling* colonialism, calling Israeli Jews colonialists (especially in the context of the 21st century) is an explicit act of erasure against our collective Jewish identity.
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6/8
It would be so very easy for the far-left to criticize Israel and have those criticisms taken seriously if they were to abandon cruel tropes and double standards. The occupation, IDF aggression, and other forms of subjugation should, of course, be unilaterally condemned.
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7/8
But when leftists mix antisemitic tropes with legitimate critiques and apply a double standard to Israel, it’s easier for others to brush aside what are otherwise reasonable arguments in favor of Palestinian liberation and an equitable solution to the conflict.
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8/8
