“Antisemitism,” A Meaningless Term: Analysis

The term “antisemitism” has long been politically stretched to silence criticism of “Israel,” turning legitimate anti-colonial speech into manufactured “hate” to shield the “Israeli” regime’s crimes.

This is a follow-up to my articles “On the Conflation of Antisemitism with Anti-Zionism” (May 2026) and “Resist the Co-optation of Cultural Identity by Imperialist Forces” (April 2026). As I have stated in the past, it is not the job of advocates for Palestinian liberation to coddle Jews. This article further explores the ideas discussed in the linked articles.

Since Palestinian resistance group Hamas’ October 7 operation in 2023, pro-“Israel” Jewish groups around the world have loudly warned of “rising antisemitism.” Western governments have swiftly used this panic to tighten restrictions on free speech. For instance, merely carrying a sign denouncing genocide in the UK can now result in immediate arrest.

It is clear that the primary beneficiaries of this deliberate conflation are those residing in the occupied Palestinian territories; specifically, the so-called “State of Israel” and its political establishment gain the most from this narrative. This strategy has proven highly effective in shielding the occupation from legitimate international scrutiny.

Consequently, any criticism directed at the settler-colonial entity is labelled as “antisemitic,” allowing “Israel” to conveniently evade accountability for its countless, well-documented crimes. The merging of anti-Zionism with antisemitism is fundamentally a political shield, not a genuine defense of Jewish people.

Zionism as Jewish supremacy

This raises a critical question about the nature of this ethnoreligious association. Why would any group seek to tie Zionism, a movement deeply rooted in settler-colonialism and actively committing genocide, to their own identity? The answer is that the Zionist political establishment uses this association to deflect all criticism of “Israel.”

Of course, as Zionism is ultimately a movement that promotes and enforces Jewish supremacy, it is crucial to note that the vast majority of Jews support “Israel,” and an in-depth analysis by Tariq Acknickulous covering over 700 Jewish organizations across 30 countries showed that 99% are openly Zionist. Further, the importance of the Jewish religion to certain ideological strains of Zionism cannot be overemphasized.

Conflation as a political shield

This tactic of conflating political critique with ethnic hatred is a staple of imperialist propaganda, and similar mechanisms are used against sovereign nations in Western media. For instance, American media often makes baseless claims that China is “manipulating elections” or “hacking US government databases.” This is a political attack, yet Chinese people do not feel inherently targeted or “hurt” in their ethnicity or nationality due to these imperialist fabrications. The critique is understood as directed at China’s alleged actions, not the ethnic identity or nationality of its people.¹

Furthermore, the historical justification for this settler-colonial project is deeply flawed. Zionist claims rely on a highly selective reading of biblical texts to justify modern land theft. Nations like China and Iran have long histories that predate any supposed Jewish “promise” to the land. Even within Christian theology, covenant theology argues that the worldwide Church, which includes both Jews and Gentiles (non-Jews), is the “true Israel,” while Preterism asserts that the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple in 70 AD marked the definitive end of the Old Covenant system.

It is true that the “pro-Palestine camp” is inherently broad and ideologically diverse. At its core, the movement includes Muslims, certain Christians, Marxist-Leninists, and others who support Palestinians in their legitimate struggle for national liberation, whether for religious or ideological reasons. The group also contains some neo-Nazis and other right-wing elements who oppose “Israel” purely out of hostility against Jews. While recognizing the spectrum is important, this does not invalidate the strong and undoubtedly correct anti-colonial foundation of the movement.

A deliberately broad definition is a self-fulfilling prophecy

A major driver of the perceived rise in “hatred” is the manipulated definition of the term itself. When a deliberately broad definition is adopted, reported cases will naturally and artificially surge.

Many pro-“Israel” Jewish organizations aggressively and erroneously promote the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of “antisemitism.” This definition includes vague examples such as “denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination” and flags “applying double standards” to the settler-colonial entity or “drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis.”

Critics and human rights experts have long warned against this framework, noting that the examples are so broad that they effectively criminalize legitimate political speech and pro-Palestine solidarity. The sharp rise in so-called “antisemitic incidents” is therefore in large part a manufactured, self-fulfilling prophecy.

These so-called “statistics” are far from neutral but heavily inflated with subjective political opinion. Today, pro-Palestine campus protests can be logged as “antisemitic incidents,” as can merely wearing a keffiyeh or chanting, “From the river to the sea,” even when no Jewish person is targeted or harmed.

Material realities over rhetoric

Material realities must be prioritized over manufactured, rhetorical “panic.” Ultimately, the undeniable truth is that Palestinians are being killed and displaced in massive, catastrophic numbers.

The conflation between antisemitism and anti-Zionism is perhaps the most successful propaganda operation of the modern era, a cynical tool designed to turn the oppressed into “oppressors” and critics of genocide as mere “bigots.”

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1. China has 56 ethnic groups with a Han Chinese majority.