Let’s actually talk about antisemitism because it feels like in the past couple of weeks, it’s almost lost it’s meaning as a word
I am Jewish and I’ve been in leftist and activist spaces for a long ass time and the question “how do you criticise Israel or Zionism without being antisemitic?” has come up a lot, both genuinely and maliciously. And while I am aware that some of the people asking this are doing this to be antagonistic, for goyim who are genuinely worried about falling into accidental antisemitism when discussing Israel’s genocide of Palestinians, I wanted to give some guidance from the perspective of someone who is Jewish.
To first establish what is NOT antisemitic- condemning the Israeli government is not antisemitic. Condemning the IDF is not antisemitic. Recognising that Isreal is inherently a colonial state is not antisemitic. Speaking out against genocide is never antisemitic. Don’t believe anyone who tells you it is.
Now, some genuine antisemitic pitfalls to avoid falling into
Saying that the media or Hollywood is largely supporting Israel because it is “Jewish led”
Spamming random Jewish peoples social media about Palestine if you wouldn’t do the same to the social media of goyim.
Perpetuating any narratives of blood libel
Any sentiment along the line of “Israel is rich because it is Jewish”
Detracting from the fact that antisemitism has only ever been used as the term for the hatred of Jewish people.
Denying the existence of Palestinian Jews
Conflating Judaism with Zionism- many zionists are evangelical Christians
Not challenging comments like “6MWE”
Any sentiment along the lines of “Jewish people make every tragedy about themselves” (a genuine take I saw on Tiktok)
If you in any way believe that the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians is in any way justified, go ahead and block me, I don’t want you here. If you believe that the current ethnic genocide of Palestinians is the perfect excuse to spread antisemitism and islamophobia, the same sentiment applies. I hope this post has been helpful.
I stand with Palestine 🇵🇸
Tagging my mutual @dirtytransmasc