Following the Oct 7th attacks and Israel’s subsequent genocide of Palestinians living in Gaza, the Israeli, US, UK and European governments have claimed there has been a rise in incidents “antisemitism”, ie. the targeting Jews on the basis of their Jewish identity. But is this actually true? In the US, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) reported 193 anti-Jewish hate incidents after the crisis began. And while lawmakers have spoken out against these acts, accusations of anti-semitism are becoming more widely used to target those who condemn human rights violations and egregious war crimes committed by the Israeli government.
In the US, Democrats have long said their criticisms of the Netanyahu government —which some progressives have described as an “apartheid state” —should not be labeled as anti-semitism. Last year, four American democratic lawmakers signed a letter to President Biden saying they “reject comments from Members of Congress accusing Israel of being an ‘apartheid state’ and commit-ting ‘act[s]’ of terrorism. These statements are antisemitic at their core and contribute to a climate that is hostile to many Jews.”
Increasingly, western politicians – under intense political pressure from an increasingly well-financed and powerful Israeli Lobby – continue insisting that all western governments and institutions adopt the IHRA “working definition of antisemitism” – which critics say falsely conflates the idea of bigotry against Jews with legitimate criticism of the policies and actions of the state of Israel. In the UK, the IHRA definition served as a trap by which the Israel Lobby ousted then Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, and parliamentary ally Chris Williamson, along with stalwart party members like human rights campaigner Jackie Walker.
In addition to many western academics and scholars, there are also many leading Israeli and Jewish scholars who are also speaking out against attempts to accuse those with legitimate criticisms of the Israeli government as being ‘anti-Semitic’. One of those scholars is Avi Shlaim, professor emeritus of international relations at St Antony’s College, Oxford University. He is also the author of The Iron Wall: Israel and the Arab World. The following TV segment was originally aired on TRT World in 2024. Watch:
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