FAQ 3

Isn’t singling out Israel antisemitic?

 

The allegation

Israel is unfairly singled out for criticism and the motivation for this is antisemitism. People apply double standards “by requiring of it [Israel] a behaviour not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation” – an example of antisemitism according to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) “working definition of antisemitism”.

Brief rebuttal

Israel singles itself out by being the only “democratic nation” to be in occupation since 1967 of territory not belonging to it; to be exceptional in running what every leading human rights organisation worldwide describes as an apartheid regime; and to be credibly accused before the International Court of Justice of genocide.

Undoubtedly some people with ingrained antisemitic views or insufficiently examined prejudices may use antisemitic formulations when expressing their justified anger at Israel’s criminal behaviour. Principled supporters of human rights and of the Palestinian people must call this out whenever it occurs. But the great bulk of criticism of Israeli policies and the nature of the Israeli state is clearly what it says it is, not disguised antisemitism.

In distinguishing between the two, one simple rule is that criticism of Israel is genuine if expressed as criticism of Israel or Israeli policies or actions, and not of Jews or Jewish policies or actions. Another is to ask oneself whether if one’s own country were to perpetrate actions equivalent to those carried out by Israel, would we think equivalent condemnation would be appropriate?

More detail

There are many good reasons for singling Israel out: 

1: Its occupation of Palestinian lands since 1967 – 57 years and counting.
Under international law, any occupying power has a duty of care to the occupied people, and the expectation is that the occupation will be temporary and brief. That Israel’s occupation is illegal under international law was confirmed by the International Court of Justice in June 2024.

2: Its control over access to the world’s holiest religious places, revered by more than a billion people of many different faiths worldwide.
Israel’s highly partial stewardship of access to the uniquely sensitive Haram al-Sharif/Temple Mount, facilitating incursions by Israeli fundamentalists, undermines freedom of worship as well as exacerbating regional tensions.

3: Its internal apartheid regime.

This has led B’Tselem, Israel’s premier human rights organisation, to describe the entire area from the river to the sea as under “a regime of Jewish supremacy”. Amnesty International has come to the same conclusion.

Israel proudly claims itself to be a democracy, but it is for Jewish citizens, with discrimination against its Palestinian citizens in abundance. As Member of Knesset Ahmad Tibi put it in 2009: “This country is Jewish and democratic: Democratic towards Jews, and Jewish toward Arabs.” Israel’s favoured response to critics of its “democracy” is to accuse them of antisemitism.

Nor, of course, does Israel even pretend to be a democracy of any kind with regard to the millions of Palestinians under occupation, confirmed as illegal by the International Court of Justice in July 2024.

4: The United States clearly singles Israel out as a very special country. It provides Israel with more aid than it provides to any other country in the world – $310bn since Israel was founded in 1948, of which $230bn has been military. No other country comes close to this tally of US “generosity”. Israel has privileged access to the most advanced US military platforms and technologies.

5: Israel presents itself as special in relation to the Jews of the world. It claims to be acting on behalf of all Jews, whereas other countries limit themselves to representing the interests of their own citizens. This is why, particularly since the start of the Second Intifada in 2000, many Jews around the world have declared “Not in our name”.

6: Israel weaponises the Holocaust. It uses what was done to Jews by the Nazis as a justification for treating criticism such as would be meted out to any other country wantonly violating human rights and international laws as an existential threat. Even non-violent resistance by Palestinians (the First Intifada, 1987-93; the Great March of Return in 2020 in Gaza) are treated as if they were existential threats justifying murderous suppression.

7: Israel says it is in the forefront of the international “war on terror”, claiming a leading role in the “West vs the Rest”. It uses this purported exceptional role to justify behaviour which often involves violations of human rights, prima facie war crimes and plausible accusations of genocide.

Further resources

1. Jews for Justice for Palestinians, Singling out Israel, a compilation. Many of the links date back to the earlier 2000s, but remain extremely relevant, showing the continuity of the argument over time.

2. Jonathan Masters and Will Merrow, Council on Foreign Relations, U.S. Aid to Israel in Four Charts, 31 May 2024

“Israel has been the largest cumulative recipient of U.S. foreign aid since its founding, receiving about $310 billion (adjusted for inflation) in total economic and military assistance. The United States has also provided large foreign aid packages to other Middle Eastern countries, particularly Egypt and Iraq, but Israel stands apart.…nearly all U.S. aid today goes to support Israel’s military, the most advanced in the region. The United States has provisionally agreed via a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to provide Israel with $3.8 billion per year through 2028”.

3. The Fourth Geneva Convention

Israel’s close to 60 years of occupation should be looked at in the light of the Fourth Geneva Convention. Its breaches of its provisions are flagrant and multiple.

The Convention specifies a whole series of rights and prohibitions that protect civilians in times of war. They range from humane treatment and the protection of property, to a prohibition of the use of torture or infliction of physical suffering. “Grave breaches” of the Convention are listed (in Article 147) as including wilful killing; torture or inhumane treatment; wilfully causing great suffering or serious injury to body or health; unlawful deportation or transfer or unlawful confinement of a protected person; wilfully depriving a protected person of the rights of fair and regular trial; taking of hostages; and extensive destruction and appropriation of property not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly.

There is a prima facie case that Israel is guilty of most if not all of these grave breaches, for which it is rightly “singled out”.