To share the actual definition of antisemitism

[LemonyTicket]

The boards have been full for a week with cries of woe that you can't criticise Israel without being accused of antisemitism. So to make life easy, below is a summary of what defines antisemitism as agreed by more or less the leading experts in the world. If you'd like to discuss Israel without being antisemitic, you can follow these guidelines to say what you would like to say without causing pain to Jewish people:

POINT 1
What is particular in classic antisemitism is the idea that Jews are linked to the forces of evil. This stands at the core of many anti-Jewish fantasies, such as the idea of a Jewish conspiracy in which “the Jews” possess hidden power that they use to promote their own collective agenda at the expense of other people. This linkage between Jews and evil continues in the present: in the fantasy that “the Jews” control governments with a “hidden hand,” that they own the banks, control the media, act as “a state within a state.

Making mendacious, dehumanizing, demonizing, or stereotypical allegations about Jews as such or the power of Jews as collective — such as, especially but not exclusively, the myth about a world Jewish conspiracy or of Jews controlling the media, economy, government or other societal institutions.

So when you're criticising Israel, please do so without implying Jews, Israel or anything relating to Jews is part of a plot to control things or act in evil ways generally or that Jews or any Jewish organisation have control over institutions. This isn't how other countries are spoken about and it's particularly antisemitic in line with Nazi propaganda.

POINT 2
Antisemitism can be manifested in words, visual images, and deeds. Examples of antisemitic words include utterances that all Jews are wealthy, inherently stingy, or unpatriotic. In antisemitic caricatures, Jews are often depicted as grotesque, with big noses and associated with wealth

This is one most people instinctively know is racist - to apply certain characteristics to Jews - like having lots of money or big noses etc.

POINT 3
Antisemitism can be direct or indirect, explicit or coded. For example, “The Rothschilds control the world” is a coded statement about the alleged power of “the Jews” over banks and international finance. Similarly, portraying Israel as the ultimate evil or grossly exaggerating its actual influence can be a coded way of racializing and stigmatizing Jews. In many cases, identifying coded speech is a matter of context and judgement, taking account of these guidelines

This means, don't be antisemitic when using any words which clearly refer to Jews in particular. "Jews own the banks" is antisemitic. It remains antisemitic when you substitute words, like "The Israel lobby owns the banks" or "Zionists own the banks" or "George Soros owns the banks". Substituting code words is not a free pass for being antisemitic.

POINT 4
Denying or minimizing the Holocaust

A pretty obvious one which needs no explanation.

POINT 5
Applying the symbols, images and negative stereotypes of classical antisemitism to the State of Israel

So this means taking classic antisemitic tropes or canards, such as "The Jews are puppet masters" and applying the same language to the only Jewish state. We see right through this, please don't do it!

POINT 6
Requiring people, because they are Jewish, publicly to condemn Israel or Zionism (for example, at a political meeting)

This means making a Jewish person, anywhere, anytime feel obligated, pressured or required in any way to condemn Israel or Zionism. It means you don't "put them on the spot" in public by singling them out as a Jew to ask their opinions on Israel's atrocities. Their views of these things will be coloured by a completely different perspective to yours, and likely more personal knowledge, their family history and so on - so please be respectful of their right to determine their Jewish identity and opinions without your critique.

POINT 7
Calling for, aiding, or justifying the killing or harming of Jews in the name of a radical ideology or an extremist view of religion

Another one which should be obvious, but clearly "gas the Jews" is unacceptable.

POINT 8
Accusing Jews as a people of being responsible for real or imagined wrongdoing committed by a single Jewish person or group, or even for acts committed by non-Jews

Again, fairly obvious.

POINT 9
Accusing Jewish citizens of being more loyal to Israel, or to the alleged priorities of Jews worldwide, than to the interests of their own nations

This is a common form of prejudice in Britain where Jews are frequently accused of being in on some plot with Israel, or part of a group of Jews acting against their own country for the benefit of Israel. It's madness, and please don't do it.

POINT 10
Denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, e.g., by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor

Jews, like everyone else, have a right to self-determination. If you don't make other countries feel ashamed of existing or if you don't make other groups feel ashamed of their national identity; then Jews should be entitled to the same. You are free to have your own opinion on if Israel should be a country or not, and how it should be. You are not free to deny Jews the right to decide that for themselves though.

POINT 11
Applying double standards by requiring of Israel a behavior not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation

Another very common one, where Israel is often held to a very different standard to other countries. An allowance can be made for the fact surrounding countries generally aren't democracies and as such are generally held to a different standard, but you should aim to treat Israel in the same, balanced way that you would treat any other country.

POINT 12
Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis

This is another very common one. Do not compare things which are incomparable just for the sake of hyperbole. It's very offensive. Almost every Jew in existence lost family in the Shoah. Please don't use it to attack.

Those are the things you can't do. What you can do is criticise Israel robustly, like you would any other country

@Trulywonderful I think Hamas are terrible, but I don’t think they’re Nazis and I don’t think a large proportion of Palestinians are Nazis. My disbelief that all Hamas are Nazis and/ or that a large proportion of Palestinians are Nazis doesn’t mean I support Hamas, it’s convenient for you to simplify it that way though.

@Trulywonderful I’m also not prepared to stand by and allow you to malign an entire people because of a misguided suspicion you have about <1% of their population.

Sorry but I feel as though you have misstepped on the Tutu/Apartheid issue and that you’ve done so in a way that is relevant to the premise of this thread.

In your original post on the issue, you drew a connection between the use of the word ‘apartheid’, in relation to Israel, and anti-semism. You (it seems, inaccurately) stated that it started with Demond Tutu, listed a lot of anti-semetic things Tutu had said, and stated that the accusation of ‘apartheid’ are problematic because it has its roots in anti semitism.

On the other hand, you seemed to recognize that the question of whether or not Israel is engaged in apartheid is a valid debate.

In essence, you seemed to be trying to undermine what you yourself recognize as an, at least, possibly valid criticism of policies of the State of Israel on the basis that anti-semites have made the argument too.

If it is ‘problematic’ to criticize policies of the state of Israel, where an anti-semite (usually among the most vociferous critics) has said the same, then that is likely to render most criticism of the Israeli government ‘problematic’. This seems contrary to the definition of anti semitism.

So true what you say about Jez. He always has a 'but' when it comes to talking about Jews. Else it is a 'and all other religions or ethnic groups'. I do wonder if he actually knows his own prejudice though. Most the time I don't think he realises. However as his fan club online often express Jew hate and some of the people he calls his 'friends' support Jew hating regimes, I am properly giving him to much slack there.

https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/jeremy-corbyns-response-to-antisemitism-allegations-in-full-138728

Jeremy Corbyn's response to Jewish leaders. 664 words. Not one mention of other forms of racism.

I never actually blamed Jeremy Corbyn for the huge rise in antisemitism in Britain. I think it would have happened with or without him, due to left wing social media and various movements gaining traction.

I thought he attracted a certain group of supporters that included completely innocent folks who just wanted a better world. Grannies concerned about homelessness. Young people wanting social justice.

I think he also attracted a fairly ignorant group of Marxists who interlaced their ideas with age-old Jew hate under the guise of their various banners. Many of them so prejudiced they actually had and have often got no idea they're doing it.

I think he was certainly a little blind to persons I his immediate circle who clearly had no place in mainstream politics, but I think he also understood he'd attacted a number of people who were and are still deeply antisemitic.

I think he took fairly reasonable action and steps to combat it. And I thought he acknowledged and understood it. To quote some of that letter where I think he reflects very well the experience of Jewish people amongst the socialist left:

"While the forms of antisemitism expressed on the far Right of politics are easily detectable, such as Holocaust denial, there needs to be a deeper understanding of what constitutes antisemitism in the labour movement"

"Newer forms of antisemitism have been woven into criticism of Israeli governments"

"Comparing Israel or the actions of Israeli governments to the Nazis, attributing criticisms of Israel to Jewish characteristics or to Jewish people in general and using abusive phraseology about supporters of Israel such as “Zio” all constitute aspects of contemporary antisemitism"

"I acknowledge that antisemitic attitudes have surfaced more often in our ranks in recent years"

I felt like he understood it pretty well actually.

I feel pity for him though in a sense. Because many of his supporters blindly ignored those words, and did and continue to carry out antisemitism in his name.

These last two weeks, there's been a 1300% rise in antisemitic hate crime. Jews, like my kids, are scared to go outside. Outright Nazi style antisemites parade their signs calling for Jews to be removed to "keep the world clean"

This is not the far right doing it.

It's the so called socialist left.

And it's so deeply ingrained that young people are being radicalised into it thinking what they're doing is a good thing. Antisemitism has been made "cool".

Meanwhile, despite Corbyn's understanding and acknowledgement, as well as pleas for his supporters to cease acting like this in his name- many of the vary worst offenders continue with vehement arrogance.

On Twitter the hashtag "It was a scam" seeks to gaslight Jews into believing the problem was their nefarious intention. A dirty Jewish plot.

I saw yesterday, Hugo Rifkind posted his fear based on the last couple of weeks.

And look at this response from one of Corbyn's "It was a scam" brigade...

"Yawn. Not this old scam again"

Even as antisemitic crime is up 1300% in two weeks, these vile people still claim we are making it all up. And there are HUNDREDS of them.

All allowed to continue without any real criticism.

The left is lost really, until they tackle this within their midst.

@LemonyTicket

I agree with most of your post, above, although there were certainly instances where I thought, even though he understood anti-semitism, Corbyn appeared to demonstrate anti-semetic biases. The ‘sense of humour’ comment, along with the mural incident, spring to mind (and while the intention behind the mural incident can’t be proven, my view was that I wouldn’t have accepted a right wing politician’s ‘oops I didn’t realize’ in similar circumstances, so I shouldn’t accept the same from Corbyn here).

I do struggle a bit more with “The left is lost really, until they tackle this within their midst” as it seems to place a much, much higher standard of accountability on ‘the left’ than ‘the right’ and I do think Starmer has being doing a good job on tackling it within the Labour party itself.

However, I’m not Jewish and this is obviously less personal for me.

@HelinaHandcart

I accept certain things as a given. One of those is that a very large number of people have some antisemitic bias (polls say between 30% and 70% depending on demographic factors) and that doesn't bother me that much - its deeply ingrained into our culture going back thousands of years. So I'm not quick to judge anyone as an antisemite.

Corbyn was divisive as an issue for lots of people as many noted those biases and thought "hmmm". For me, they were minor compared to the average anti inperialist gung ho socialist and I was left not believing he had a problem with Jews. I felt more like he had similar unconscious biases to the average population.

BUT

I was satisfied he didn't start left wing antisemitism (it was there long before he arrived)

I was satisfied he wasn't responsible for the vast influx of antisemitic members or for the shite discipline processes his predecessors had left.

I was satisfied that he made a concerted effort to tackle the problem (training courses, liaisons, hiring extra people etc.) Particularly given he was doing it during two contentious elections back to back while dealing with mutiny.

I was actually disappointed the Rabbis and Jewish community leaders didn't meet with him to try and resolve things. I think NOT doing so just made the problem worse.

I don't feel comfortable blaming one man, who I think generally has worked very hard in life to help the least fortunate.

What I think is that antisemitic ideas are rife amongst the militant socialist left and have been for decades.

I think the "Free Palestine" cause attracted a lot of these people, who became very obsessed over it and the idea of casting Israel and "zionists" as the ultimate evil.

I think normal, regular people started mixing with these folks and this kind of anti Israel message that is laced with very deeply antisemitic concepts, and that for years they were sharing memes and posts and highly biased information.

And ultimately I think the socialist left have been radicalised under the guise of "freeing Palestine", and the bulk of them don't realise it.

I think a very large number of them say, support or share blatantly antisemitic things online and it's been completely normalised.

I think a much larger number silently watch it and say nothing. Partly because they dont really understand what antisemitism is, and partly because anyone who speaks up is completely ostracised.

I do think the left is lost to be honest. Unless the majority decide NO antisemitism is acceptable, then it will just continue. Unless the majority accept what antisemitism IS and stop trying to reframe condoiracy theory and prejudice as "criticism of Israel" then they have no hope of doing that.

So my view is that Corbyn was a lightening rod for this, which is a shame as I think his intention was genuinely to help people and certainly millions of his supporters shared that goal.

But unless his supporters generally can admit "The Israel Lobby" didn't bring them down, and that they actually did that themselves by condoning or minimising antisemitism in their own ranks instead of treating it with the rigour they do other prejudice - then I think they themselves are hindering the left from any success.

Which is a shame 😕 but until they're able to admit it, see it and tackle it, I think they will repel a lot of people.

Antisemitism on the hard right is to be expected. They're open about it. I've heard neo Nazis talk openly about it. They are the ones you see coming, and they will never have serious traction in this country. They worry me a lot less than the left, who are radicalising otherwise decent people, including young people, to equate Nazi style antisemitic rhetoric with being "cool"

I absolutely hear all of that and think your views around Corbyn, in particular, are very thoughtful and balanced.

I was, actually, a Jeremy Corbyn supporter (in that I wanted him to win the leadership and was delighted when he did). My personal views are ‘socialist left’, though I’m not and never have been an active part of any wider movement.

I initially felt that the allegations of anti-semitism were overblown (particularly against the backdrop of prejudices on the right) but ultimately I became persuaded otherwise and did a 180 (to the extent where your above assessment is kinder to Corbyn than I might have been).

In terms of party politics, I think Labour are dealing with the issue well under Starmer (and would invite your thoughts on that) and I suppose that’s the prism I was looking through in making my prior post. I expect that I’ll be casting my vote for Labour in the next election (provided my local MP doesn’t demonstrate anti-semitism). However, I think the concerns you have articulated are more profound and long term, as to how the spread of anti-semetism at the grass roots level is manifesting now and what that means for the future. From my (non-Jewish) perspective, I think that I now better understand what you mean about the Left being lost - I don’t think that it is lost yet (particularly if you’re talking everything left of centre) but a dark path is being trodden by far too many.

Anecdotally, I do know a couple of Marxist types who have now also come to recognize and be concerned by the anti semitism problem. Hopefully they are not isolated examples…but there isn’t currently a lot of evidence in public discourse that suggests otherwise.

Corbyn could have really saved his backside by directly calling out the hard-left's blatant antisemitism that was being dished out in his name on social media and in CLP meetings. He had so many chances to take the bull by the horns and do this but not once did he even attempt it. Just trotted out some half-hearted 'I'm against antisemitism and all forms of racism' when he was prompted to. The real nail in the coffin for me was the lack of compassion he showed Luciana Berger, and the mealy-mouthed speech he gave when Louise Ellman left the Party with Seamus Milne smirking in the background like a 12 year old. That's when I realised they just saw the real pain Jews were feeling as a big joke. He knew he could get away with doing eff all because of the strength of support behind him at the grass roots - his ego was more important to him at the end of the day. What also didn't help was the right wing of the Party who massively exploited the very real antisemitism of the left because they wanted the entryists out the Party.

@HelinaHandcart

We are similar in the sense I also supported him and it took quite a lot for me to do a 180. I found when I realised it was a problem and raised it, I was met with rage, denial and accusations of me "smearing".

I felt like the press handled it very badly. There was endless articles, endless harassing Corbyn to apologise - but they never actually explained the problem to the public. Its a shame as people largely still don't understand it.

I don't really rate Starmer much. He's come across to me as using antisemitism for his own gain. For me, with respect, the number of antisemitic members of the Labour party is largely irrelevant. The problem is the large numbers of antisemitic members of the public is my concern.

That's why my kids can't go on social media or participate in certain groups at university. Keir Starmer banning people doesn't solve that. In fact I think the way he banned a lot of people over silly things just cemented the view of some that it was all "smears".

So I think he actually just turned these people up a notch and fed this ridiculous conspiracy theory of "zionists" scheming to control the country. I wish he'd done more to actually communicate better what was really going on and what Jews were and are facing.

Anecdotally, I do know a couple of Marxist types who have now also come to recognize and be concerned by the anti semitism problem. Hopefully they are not isolated examples…but there isn’t currently a lot of evidence in public discourse that suggests otherwise

I really hope this happens! 🙏

I do agree with you @etmoietmoietmoi that he does nowhere near enough to stop people acting as they do in his name.

I just don't feel it was all down to him

But to be honest these last few weeks, a few politicians have really lost my respect.

@Boredoutmymind You're ignorance is as astounding as your racism.

Well, I think that’s a very overt example of anti semitism right there.

I haven’t reported it because I don’t know if this is one of those instances where leaving it, for all to see, is more helpful than censoring it and I don’t think I’m the one that should be making that call.

Equally I don’t know if it’s even worth engaging someone who is that far gone.

@HelinaHandcart Above all else her stupidity and lies are breathtaking. Could pretty much pick a hole in every sentence of that post.

@Boredoutmymind you lost me in the first sentence. Antisemitism has almost nothing to do with religion. Jews are about 50% atheists. I didn't read the rest of your post because the first sentence was so ridiculously ignorant.

Not totally sure what you are getting at there really. So I will state what I mean and personally believe:

Saying words like Nazis about Jews or the Jewish state is antisemitism.

Saying words like genocide or apartheid about the Jewish state isn't antisemitism unless words that are antisemitic are added too that statement. However it is factual incorrect. Therefore we should discuss those statements. However if the person saying these words is someone like Kanye west then he is likely saying them to hurt Jews. So we can call that antisemitism because it is an act done to target Jews.

As for the Tutu statement I said in a later post that it was he who made this a main stream thing to say about Israel or I said something along those lines. This was what I meant by started. As in he started something. Sorry I am not an academic writer or English langugue expert. I write posts like I speak, to rambling but the odd fact thrown in there whether people ask for it or not.

At least this is what I believe and my take on antisemitism as a Jew. I was also trying not to get in a debate about if apartheid was correct when referring to Israel etc on this thread aboutantisemitism. So maybe my wording was not clear. Any way slag off the Israel government all you like but make it clear it is the government or policy. People may not agree with you but you can do that.

Oh that post a few posts up is a cracker isn't it.

LemonyTicket

There might be people using words like "ethnic cleansing" but I'd suspect they were probably a hyperbolic idiot using phrases very irresponsibly.

Who are you to gainsay the codifiers of the Geneva Conventions, who clarified what constitutes ethnic cleansing? Or the UN, Red Cross an a majority of experts on international law?

To clarify, deportations of populations, whether they are replaced by another people, is ethnic cleansing.

You personally don't get to state, credibly, that it's not, "because they haven't all been killed."

And yes, again, Hamas can go and get toasted on Sheitan's barbecue. And no, Jewish people shouldn't be kicked out of Israel.

You don’t know what you’re talking about @SinnerBoy . Moving a civilian population out of the way of bombs is obviously not “ethnic cleansing”. Do you know what “deportation” means? Don’t quote authorities you don’t understand.

Do you think that population will be able to return to what's left of where they used to live when this is over?

This thread is so interesting (I haven’t read it all, but about the first half). Thank you for sharing, OP.

I feel really ignorant, because it is only now, through this thread and others on MN, that I have learnt that there is a legally adopted definition of “anti-semitism”. I didn’t realise that several countries have agreed to it and that the definition has several clauses (kind of akin to a contract). Prior to learning this, I had thought anti-semitism was just a specific type of racism, targeting Jewish people.

Do other types of hate and prejudice have similar “contracts” (say anti-black racism, Islamophobia, homophobia, etc.) have similar contracts too? I have tried googling but can’t seem to find anything.

You can criticise the Israeli government but not Israel’s right to exist.

FactFairy · Today 07:39

You don’t know what you’re talking about @SinnerBoy . Moving a civilian population out of the way of bombs is obviously not “ethnic cleansing”. Do you know what “deportation” means? Don’t quote authorities you don’t understand.

But I do know and understand, what about the 7/8 of Gaza already taken and populated by Israel? What about Golan? What about the major of the West Bank?

They've all been cleared of Palestinians and Lebanese, are under the control of Israel and the deported people replaced with Jewish Israelis.

Please, you're making yourself look very silly. Look up what the Geneva Conventions have to say about the acquisition of land by force, as well as forced deportation. See what the Red Cross and UN say, they're the experts in such matters.

As a concept, I agree. But I criticise it being achieved at the expense of Palestinian people.