When does criticism of Israel become anti-Semitic?
By Allen Z. Hertz, Ph.D., LL.B., LL.M.
The Global Forum for Combating Anti-Semitism (Jerusalem) prepared this Hebrew-language translation of "When Does Criticizing Israel Become Anti-Semitic?" The essay originally appeared on the Opinion page of The Jerusalem Post on February 17, 2009. A revised English-language version and a Chinese-language translation are also available on this website.
Are the Jews a people?
According to the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary , anti-Semitism means "hostility or discrimination against Jews as a religious, ethnic, or racial group." This definition reminds us that Jews are more than followers of a particular religion, that is, Jews also identify themselves as an ethnic-cultural group, as a tribe, as a people - just as there is a Japanese or Italian people.
"Firewall" between criticism of Israel and anti-Semitism?
Like other countries, Israel has characteristics that invite criticism. But, creating fair criticism is problematic because it requires something like respect for natural justice, consideration of generally accepted norms, reference to accepted state action, as well as giving reasons to support a particular jurisdiction. Therefore, criticizing Israel is not necessarily anti-Semitic. However, it is incorrect to say that there is a logical distinction that prevents a constant pattern of bitter criticism of Israel from being anti-Semitic. On the contrary, the methodologies used for more than fifty years of modern human rights law clearly show that a permanent form of discriminatory criticism of Israel is anti-Semitic.
Why is criticism of Israel becoming anti-Semitic?
A permanent form of discriminatory criticism of Israel is anti-Semitic because modern human rights methodologies are intelligent enough to examine not only the format of criticism of behavior but the possible effects of that form. Consider the following:
(1) The Jewish people has been a victim during history for more than 2,000 years, just as the Indigenous peoples of Canada and African-Americans have been victims throughout history.
(2) Today in Israel, where half of the Jewish population in the world sits, it is the historical and present homeland of the Jewish people, just as Greece is the home of the Greek people.
When considering these two points against the modern methodologies of human rights, it is concluded that a permanent form of discriminatory criticism of Israel is anti-Semitic because it is likely to offend Jews.
Israeli visitors are statistically related to Jewish haters?
A sealed and imaginary partition that separates Israel from the Jewish people is unreasonable, just as it is unlikely to cut off China's idea of the Han dynasty or Turkey from the Turkish people. This is an important point because the hallmark of modern anti-Semitism is precisely the reliance on the unconvincing claim that there is a clear line that prevents a form of bitter criticism of Israel from being anti-Semitic. On the contrary, the statistical evidence links Israel's visitors to anti-Semitism. First, opinion polls tend to show a correlation between respondents who strongly oppose Israel and those who express clear negative feelings about Jews and Judaism. Second, police records from Europe and elsewhere reveal a sharp rise in anti-Semitic incidents that coincide with major military operations in which Israel is involved (for example, in Lebanon 2006) and more recently in Gaza.
In addition, anti-Israeli terrorist organizations also target local Jews in foreign countries, such as the 1994 terrorist attack against the Jewish community in Buenos Aires. Therefore, those who explain or justify anti-Semitism by emphasizing Israel's alleged crimes, at the same time confirm that there is a connection between Israel and the Jewish people.
What does anti-Semitism mean today ?
Modern anti-Semitism can include a strong single expression against Israel such as "imposing an atomic bomb on Israel!" This specific statement is undoubtedly anti-Semitic because it clearly seeks to use nuclear weapons to kill close to six million Jews, which make up 75% of the population in Israel and about half of all Jews in the world.
However, in addition to this clear and unanimous anti-Semitic comment, there is also the accumulated anti-Semitism in the form of permanent discriminatory criticism of Israel. This means that anti-Semitism also involves the constant placing of Jews and Israel as the goal and use of a more demanding standard for Jews and / or Israel than for peoples and countries under the same or similar circumstances.
You can also say about friends of Israel who "target" Israel because they also focus on Israel. Friends tend to pay more attention to Israel than to other countries. However, they are unlikely to tarnish Israel by expecting more from Israel than other countries. On the contrary, friends are likely to protect Israel by applying a less demanding standard.
Anti-Semitism also constantly attacks Israel, but then goes a step further and constantly judges Israel according to strict criteria that they do not use in any way towards other countries. Anti-Semitics seek to portray Israel in a negative light. Their basic motive is malicious, because they seek to denounce Israel for justifying harsh measures that are likely to cause serious harm to Jews, whether in Israel or abroad.
Why is anti-Semitism so strong?
Because of a clearly disparate attitude toward Jews and Judaism, the texts of the Gospel of Christianity and the Muslim Qur'an played a direct role in instilling unusual attitudes among cultures toward Jews and Judaism. In the Western and Islamic worlds, many people find that it is natural to adopt special (often negative) views about Jews and Judaism. However, there is often an awareness that the prevailing cultural software is so significantly infected with the anti-Semitism virus. For this reason, many people feel comfortable attacking Jews and / or Israel constantly, and measure Jews and / or Israel to a more demanding standard than is often used against other peoples and other countries under the same or similar circumstances.
How did the Holocaust begin?
Shout out "Dirty Jew!" Either attack Jews in pogroms or send Jews to death in concentration camps, these are undoubtedly anti-Semitic acts. But many people in the Western and Islamic world have ignorance that prevents them from identifying anti-Semitism in other venomous forms of expression. Here it helps to remember the Holocaust, in which six million Jews were murdered in Europe (1945-1939). The direct source of this heinous crime is in 1933, when Germany's leader, Adolf Hitler, implemented a well-organized discrimination program that isolated Jews through appropriate legal and bureaucratic means.
In the same way, modern anti-Semitism is devising strategies to support permanent forms of bitter discrimination against Israel, for example, in the United Nations. The strategy is to demonize Israel by constantly judging it by a more stringent standard than that used by other countries.
Are Jews slandered by anti-Semitism?
The ad hominem argumentof being Jewish or of Jewish parents (even those who survived from concentration camps) is not a logical defense to charges of anti-Semitism. Today, many Jews do not understand that the meaning of anti-Semitism encompasses any fixed pattern of discrimination against Jews and / or Israel. Many falsely speculate that because they themselves are Jewish, they have a special license to be freely involved in these permanent forms of discrimination against Jews and / or Israel. However, the damage done by these Jews is as real as the damage done by anti-Semitism by non-Jews. In fact, such regular features of discrimination against Israel by Jews can do even more harm, because Jews can achieve greater credibility by declaring their Jewish origin.
Ideological license to allow discrimination against Israel?
The human rights methodologies do not suggest that the "right" or "left" have the right to legitimize permanent forms of discrimination against Jews and / or Israel. This means that anti-Semitism cannot be justified by supposedly benefiting from Nazism, fascism, socialism, communism, environmentalism, anti-colonialism, the unidentified movement, or any other factor or ideology. Nevertheless, many of Israel's enemies remain overwhelmingly confident in their mistaken belief that their preferred doctrine gives them the right to engage in such a form of discrimination while at the same time immune them from antisemitic accusations. This is an unfortunate and empty illusion. Intellectual integrity and decency require that we underestimate the anti-Semitism of those who constantly attack Jews and / or Israel, and use Jews and / or Israel more strictly than those usually used for peoples or other countries under the same or similar circumstances.
Allen Z. Hertz, who now lives in southern China, was previously a senior adviser to the private consulting firm serving the Canadian prime minister and federal cabinet. Previously, he moved to Canada's Foreign Office and previously taught history and law at universities in New York, Montreal, Toronto and Hong Kong. He studied History and Languages at McGill University in Montreal (BA) and then History of Eastern Europe, the Balkans and the Ottoman Empire at Columbia University in New York (MA, Ph.D.). He later earned international law degrees from Cambridge University (LL.B.) and the University of Toronto (LL.M.). The article below was first published in the Jerusalem Post opinion column , February 17, 2009.
The Global Forum for Combating Anti-Semitism (Jerusalem) prepared this Hebrew-language translation of "When Does Criticizing Israel Become Anti-Semitic?" The essay originally appeared on the Opinion page of The Jerusalem Post on February 17, 2009. A revised English-language version and a Chinese-language translation are also available on this website.
Are the Jews a people?
According to the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary , anti-Semitism means "hostility or discrimination against Jews as a religious, ethnic, or racial group." This definition reminds us that Jews are more than followers of a particular religion, that is, Jews also identify themselves as an ethnic-cultural group, as a tribe, as a people - just as there is a Japanese or Italian people.
"Firewall" between criticism of Israel and anti-Semitism?
Like other countries, Israel has characteristics that invite criticism. But, creating fair criticism is problematic because it requires something like respect for natural justice, consideration of generally accepted norms, reference to accepted state action, as well as giving reasons to support a particular jurisdiction. Therefore, criticizing Israel is not necessarily anti-Semitic. However, it is incorrect to say that there is a logical distinction that prevents a constant pattern of bitter criticism of Israel from being anti-Semitic. On the contrary, the methodologies used for more than fifty years of modern human rights law clearly show that a permanent form of discriminatory criticism of Israel is anti-Semitic.
Why is criticism of Israel becoming anti-Semitic?
A permanent form of discriminatory criticism of Israel is anti-Semitic because modern human rights methodologies are intelligent enough to examine not only the format of criticism of behavior but the possible effects of that form. Consider the following:
(1) The Jewish people has been a victim during history for more than 2,000 years, just as the Indigenous peoples of Canada and African-Americans have been victims throughout history.
(2) Today in Israel, where half of the Jewish population in the world sits, it is the historical and present homeland of the Jewish people, just as Greece is the home of the Greek people.
When considering these two points against the modern methodologies of human rights, it is concluded that a permanent form of discriminatory criticism of Israel is anti-Semitic because it is likely to offend Jews.
Israeli visitors are statistically related to Jewish haters?
A sealed and imaginary partition that separates Israel from the Jewish people is unreasonable, just as it is unlikely to cut off China's idea of the Han dynasty or Turkey from the Turkish people. This is an important point because the hallmark of modern anti-Semitism is precisely the reliance on the unconvincing claim that there is a clear line that prevents a form of bitter criticism of Israel from being anti-Semitic. On the contrary, the statistical evidence links Israel's visitors to anti-Semitism. First, opinion polls tend to show a correlation between respondents who strongly oppose Israel and those who express clear negative feelings about Jews and Judaism. Second, police records from Europe and elsewhere reveal a sharp rise in anti-Semitic incidents that coincide with major military operations in which Israel is involved (for example, in Lebanon 2006) and more recently in Gaza.
In addition, anti-Israeli terrorist organizations also target local Jews in foreign countries, such as the 1994 terrorist attack against the Jewish community in Buenos Aires. Therefore, those who explain or justify anti-Semitism by emphasizing Israel's alleged crimes, at the same time confirm that there is a connection between Israel and the Jewish people.
What does anti-Semitism mean today ?
Modern anti-Semitism can include a strong single expression against Israel such as "imposing an atomic bomb on Israel!" This specific statement is undoubtedly anti-Semitic because it clearly seeks to use nuclear weapons to kill close to six million Jews, which make up 75% of the population in Israel and about half of all Jews in the world.
However, in addition to this clear and unanimous anti-Semitic comment, there is also the accumulated anti-Semitism in the form of permanent discriminatory criticism of Israel. This means that anti-Semitism also involves the constant placing of Jews and Israel as the goal and use of a more demanding standard for Jews and / or Israel than for peoples and countries under the same or similar circumstances.
You can also say about friends of Israel who "target" Israel because they also focus on Israel. Friends tend to pay more attention to Israel than to other countries. However, they are unlikely to tarnish Israel by expecting more from Israel than other countries. On the contrary, friends are likely to protect Israel by applying a less demanding standard.
Anti-Semitism also constantly attacks Israel, but then goes a step further and constantly judges Israel according to strict criteria that they do not use in any way towards other countries. Anti-Semitics seek to portray Israel in a negative light. Their basic motive is malicious, because they seek to denounce Israel for justifying harsh measures that are likely to cause serious harm to Jews, whether in Israel or abroad.
Why is anti-Semitism so strong?
Because of a clearly disparate attitude toward Jews and Judaism, the texts of the Gospel of Christianity and the Muslim Qur'an played a direct role in instilling unusual attitudes among cultures toward Jews and Judaism. In the Western and Islamic worlds, many people find that it is natural to adopt special (often negative) views about Jews and Judaism. However, there is often an awareness that the prevailing cultural software is so significantly infected with the anti-Semitism virus. For this reason, many people feel comfortable attacking Jews and / or Israel constantly, and measure Jews and / or Israel to a more demanding standard than is often used against other peoples and other countries under the same or similar circumstances.
How did the Holocaust begin?
Shout out "Dirty Jew!" Either attack Jews in pogroms or send Jews to death in concentration camps, these are undoubtedly anti-Semitic acts. But many people in the Western and Islamic world have ignorance that prevents them from identifying anti-Semitism in other venomous forms of expression. Here it helps to remember the Holocaust, in which six million Jews were murdered in Europe (1945-1939). The direct source of this heinous crime is in 1933, when Germany's leader, Adolf Hitler, implemented a well-organized discrimination program that isolated Jews through appropriate legal and bureaucratic means.
In the same way, modern anti-Semitism is devising strategies to support permanent forms of bitter discrimination against Israel, for example, in the United Nations. The strategy is to demonize Israel by constantly judging it by a more stringent standard than that used by other countries.
Are Jews slandered by anti-Semitism?
The ad hominem argumentof being Jewish or of Jewish parents (even those who survived from concentration camps) is not a logical defense to charges of anti-Semitism. Today, many Jews do not understand that the meaning of anti-Semitism encompasses any fixed pattern of discrimination against Jews and / or Israel. Many falsely speculate that because they themselves are Jewish, they have a special license to be freely involved in these permanent forms of discrimination against Jews and / or Israel. However, the damage done by these Jews is as real as the damage done by anti-Semitism by non-Jews. In fact, such regular features of discrimination against Israel by Jews can do even more harm, because Jews can achieve greater credibility by declaring their Jewish origin.
Ideological license to allow discrimination against Israel?
The human rights methodologies do not suggest that the "right" or "left" have the right to legitimize permanent forms of discrimination against Jews and / or Israel. This means that anti-Semitism cannot be justified by supposedly benefiting from Nazism, fascism, socialism, communism, environmentalism, anti-colonialism, the unidentified movement, or any other factor or ideology. Nevertheless, many of Israel's enemies remain overwhelmingly confident in their mistaken belief that their preferred doctrine gives them the right to engage in such a form of discrimination while at the same time immune them from antisemitic accusations. This is an unfortunate and empty illusion. Intellectual integrity and decency require that we underestimate the anti-Semitism of those who constantly attack Jews and / or Israel, and use Jews and / or Israel more strictly than those usually used for peoples or other countries under the same or similar circumstances.
Allen Z. Hertz, who now lives in southern China, was previously a senior adviser to the private consulting firm serving the Canadian prime minister and federal cabinet. Previously, he moved to Canada's Foreign Office and previously taught history and law at universities in New York, Montreal, Toronto and Hong Kong. He studied History and Languages at McGill University in Montreal (BA) and then History of Eastern Europe, the Balkans and the Ottoman Empire at Columbia University in New York (MA, Ph.D.). He later earned international law degrees from Cambridge University (LL.B.) and the University of Toronto (LL.M.). The article below was first published in the Jerusalem Post opinion column , February 17, 2009.
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