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

Pakistan: founded 1948 Bangladesh: founded 1971 Syria: founded 1946 Lebanon: founded 1943 Iraq: founded 1958 Iran: founded 1979 The world understands all of the above, but only has a problem with the Jewish right to self-determination .

Lack of historical knowledge about how these places were founded maybe or whatever. However I don't see the outrage or marches about these places or for what is still going on in them. Wonder why that is? Oh sorry we all ready. It is because they have no Jews.

Like when Jordan killed thousands of Palestinians, no marches and not much outrage. When Jordan was in charge of the west bank and ethic cleansed the Jewish citizens, no marches and not much outrage.

'70,000 Indigenous Jews from Judea and Samaria were ethnically cleansed by Jordan and their homes illegally occupied by Arab Settlers after 1948. They illegally renamed it the West Bank. '

Don't see many of these righteous people banging on about that. Demanding we use the original names for the land etc

I think as a society we have been very quick to condemn islamophobia where flagged by the muslim community, with no further justification needed. The same courtesy should be extended to the Jewish community.

It's certainly possible to criticise Israel without resorting to antisemitic tropes, holding Israel to an unattainable standard or denying its right to exist. I'm not Jewish, and I have managed to criticise certain actions of the state of Israel to Jewish friends without being called antisemitic.

Some of the stuff I have seen on here over the past week or so has made me wince. There appear to be a lot of people who just can't wait to put the boot into the Jews.

Op, YANBU. People need to know.
I'm staggered that currently 40% of people who have voted think otherwise.

That 40% should be taking a good hard look at themselves.

That is helpful, OP. Thank you.

I think there's a group of people who have issues with Jews, and as you say, can't wait to put the boot in. So the title of the thread will attract them so they can vote "no" and then comment insulting me or calling these words "rubbish".

I expected that.

However, hopefully a few people who are confused by what is or isn't antisemitic will be able to refer to this to understand they very much can criticise Israel without being antisemitic or being accused of it.

It's a time where lots of people will want to criticise Israel, understandably, so it's just intended as a guide so they can do that. It works pretty much the same as criticising any other country.

Then criticize him, his government and policies. To me it is simple I just talk about Israel and the people there or running it like I do every of country

We don't say the French are.... When we mean Macron

We don't say America is did something terrible we must dismantle it

Etc

Because sometimes there are direct equivalences that need calling out. Like when Smotrich (Finance Minister) calls himself a ‘fascist homophobe’ and when Itamar Ben-Gvir (Security Mobister) comes from a racist party called ‘Jewish Power’ which advocates expulsion of all Palestinians from Israel.

Now, of course I get that there are occasions when the Holocaust and the Nazis are brought into discussions when it’s not in any way equivalent. But by calling any equivalence anti-Semitic, even when it’s potentially justified, we give succour to the anti-Semites who can legitimately say that Jews want to be seen as a special kind of victim. This in itself leads to minimisation of the Holocaust.

We need to be very precise in our definitions. Of course we shouldn’t be throwing out Holocaust comparisons left, right and centre. We shouldn’t be calling people Nazis when they are merely unpleasant or common or garden racists. The Israeli government is not like the Nazis. Israel is not a fascist or an apartheid state nor is it engaging in a Holocaust of its own.

However, when Israeli cabinet ministers behave in ultra-nationalistic ways which call for racial purity in Israel, I’m afraid that is like the Nazis and should be called out as such. Being victims of the Holocaust does not give Jews a free pass to behave in an equally abhorrent way when it genuinely is that.

This is very helpful OP thank you

It says this on the UK government website, so I don’t think everyone does agree agree actually.

One issue identified by international partners, is the absence of an agreed international definition of antisemitism.

Personally I don’t think anyone needs the right to live in a country that is aligned to their religion. I think giving people land that has been lived on by others for centuries based on their religion is wrong, especially when it creates homelessness and suffering for people who follow a different religion. Apparently that is enough to make me anti semitic according to some people, but it won’t be enough for others.

I find it dispiriting how otherwise sensible people lose all ability to think critically when it comes to Israel and Palestine, and then allow their hostility to Israel to morph into this kind of insantity.

Now, of course I get that there are occasions when the Holocaust and the Nazis are brought into discussions when it’s not in any way equivalent

Clearly not.

Because if you were able to think rationally, you would see there is no equivalence of any kind between Israel - even at it's very worst - and the Nazis. There is not even any equivalent with some of the world's worst atrocities. There is simply no rational comparison between any of those things and the Nazis.

Jews lived for hundreds of years under rule of the Muslim majority with their second class status enshrined into law. Israel has about a 20% Palestinian minority. They are full legal citizens with the right to vote and to be elected to the Knesset, serve as judges on the Supreme Court etc.

Hitler's objective was to exterminate Jews as a race. Jews everywhere. Israel has never expressed or indicated any such sentiments on any level. Never. They have absolutely no interest in exterminating a race or religion. Only to prevent theirs being exterminated by others who have openly expressed that intent.

The murder of six million Jews and millions of others carried out by the Nazis and their collaborators was the largest recorded genocide in modern history. Absolutely no comparison can be made between the complex Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the atrocities committed by the Nazis against the Jews.

By comparing Israel to Nazis, some seek to label Israel as a singularly, uniquely evil state on earth, playing upon old antisemitic stereotypes that treat Jews as demonic and uniquely evil. You would not apply such a comparison to any other similar situation.

I suspect those that make the comparison between the Jewish state and the Nazis and Hitler – who perpetrated the greatest and largest act of antisemitism in world history – have not chosen this comparison innocently. It is a charge that is purposefully directed at Jews in an effort to associate the victims of Nazi crimes with the Nazi perpetrators and serves to diminish the significance and uniqueness of the Holocaust.

It's a horrible, horrible thing to do.

I'm sorry but your first paragraph is bollocks. The issue people have with Israel is that to create the Jewish homeland hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were forcibly kicked out of their homes and then denied citizen rights in this new country. If that's not racist ethnic cleansing I don't know what is. I would have an issue with any group doing this.

The UK has adopted the full definition since 2018.

https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/uk-governments-adoption-of-the-ihra-definition-of-antisemitism/

Of course some people won't agree - they are generally the racists. Likewise many don't agree with the APPG definition of Islamophobia. I wouldn't want to cite that as reason to ignore the overall majority consensus.

Sorry, are you aware a million Jews were also "forcibly kicked out of their homes" around the middle east at the same time?

Are you aware Israel doesn't decide what rights citizens get in countries which aren't Israel?

Are you aware the Arab Palestinian population of Israel has more than doubled since Israel was formed?

I am not going to pretend I know much about the countries @Trulywonderful listed, but I am pretty sure about 15 million people were forcibly moved from homes during the formation of Pakistan?!

Firstly I want to say thanks to @LemonyTicket, I have been reading a lot of these threads over the last week and it has been awful to see the blatant and unforgiving antisemitism, sometimes wrapped up as anti israel and other times just an F U to the Jews. @LemonyTicket i have found your responses calm and measured and useful for information.

People go on about “not being able to criticise Israel” without it being anti semiotic but evidently the fact that after Hamas attacked Israelis last week, there was a rise in antisemitism in the UK shows that people either link the two or are just using it as an excuse.

I am currently still shocked and appalled that after yesterdays explosion, the media were quick to condemn israel without independent verification, but after proof has been shown suddenly the media have to confirm independently. It’s beyond double standards.

Jewish people are not safe in the UK, this has been the case for a long time. I am beginning to despair at what will happen to people like me. It is beginning to feel that the level of hatred towards Jews here is going to result in something unimaginable.

For non-Jews, maybe take a week being “Jewish” wear a Kippur in the street, where a Star of David, go to Jewish areas, be present during vigils, be present during pro Palestinian marches. Listen to what is being said around you, pause and see how you are being looked at, feel what it’s like, just to be Jewish. Remember you’re “Jewish” you’re not connected to Israel. You have a right to have beliefs? You have a right to be here? You have a right to be safe? Just try it for a week, and see what happens.

‘Requiring people, because they are Jewish, publicly to condemn Israel or Zionism.
This means making a Jewish person, anywhere, anytime feel obligated, pressured or required in any way to condemn Israel or Zionism’

I agree.

Do you also think that when people sympathise with the Palestinian plight, they should also not have to condemn every time what Hamas did two weeks ago? I see people who are genuinely
disgusted by the Hamas atrocities but who are then challenged about that when they simply express sympathy for how Palestinians are treated by Israel. Or is that very different?

That’s a bit theoretical. In practice it’s difficult to argue for a one-state solution ‘that accord[s] full equality to all inhabitants’ without denying the right of Israel to maintain its character as a Jewish state and therefore ‘denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination’

What pardon?

Last I checked "sympathising with Palestine" isn't a protected characteristic. So...err...no.

Genuinely shaking my head in shock here.

It is hard because such a state isn't feasibly possible. But any reasonable discussion has to begin with those principles.

You can either believe human beings have a right to self determination, nationalism and so on, or you can be only some do, and other's (Jews) don't.

The latter is prejudice, isn't it?

Requiring Muslims to condemn Hamas, simply because they are Muslims, would indeed be Islamophobic. You can’t even see your bias, can you?

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.

I think it's very helpful posting this, and it isn't extreme. Like you say it's been adopted by many countries etc.

Point 11 is the point I've seen used the most on recent threads to accuse people of antisemitism when there hasn't been any.

A thread about Israel and its perceived failings is obviously not going to include much about other countries and their perceived failings, yet many people are accused of being antisemetic on that basis.

On one of the deleted threads I responded to a poster by saying this, and also giving examples of other countries such as Russia, China, Myanmar and Yemen where innocent people were being affected by decisions and actions either of the State or by other countries. Places that I also criticised. I also would hold Israel to the same standards as the UK, France, Italy, or "any other democratic nation".

I received a very angry and aggressive response accusing me of only caring when Muslims were affected! It was such a hate-filled response, and patently anti-Islam that I was about to report it, but the thread disappeared before I had the chance.

That poster is a regular poster on threads about Israel and is frequently accusing people of antisemitism when, according to the list posted, there hasn't been any. But I was shocked at the visceral hate they showed for Muslims.

Breathtaking you would call her first paragraph "bollocks" when it quite literally starts with the founding of Pakistan in 1947. Are you at all aware that the partition of India involved the forcible ethnic cleansing, on both sides, not of a mere "several hundred thousand" people but according to estimates between 10 and 20 million, not to mention up to 2 million dead? Great way to make OPs point for her.

Maybe just complete (stunning, criminal) ignorance on your part but there's very little justification for then going on to focus on Palestinian displaced at the time without even mentioning the at least equal numbers of Jews displaced from other regions of the Middle East at the exact same time. Guess they don't count, and don't fit your narrative of Ashkenazi "settlers."

Who else do you compare to Nazis?

Can you give me a list of other countries you think are like Nazis?

My guess is that the only people you do it to are Jews, for exactly the reason I said. It's not innocent. It's deliberate.

Quite right @Finlesswonder

Given all the posts about Israel being so terrible, why don't we see dozens of posts about the Chinese annexation of Tibet or their ethnic cleansing of the Uyghurs? Their terraforming in the south China Sea, their constant looming threat over Taiwan?

Post after post about Myanmar or Iran? Post after post about the Taliban regime in Afghanistan? There are so many terrible things happening, why is so much scorn poured on Israel?

I have to agree with @EdithStourton it's because some people can't wait to put the boot into Jewish people.

Shake away. Thank you for your response. It’s as I predicted.