Over the years, “Israeli” authorities have worked tirelessly to conflate the idea of antisemitism with anti-Zionism, synonymizing a correct opposition against a specific racist, settler-colonial, and genocidal ideology with an erroneous opposition against a broad ethnic and religious group.
Those on the right and some on the left erroneously fall into this trap, opposing “Israel” not because of its many atrocities and (European) Jewish supremacy, but due to its mere composition as a (European) Jewish ethnostate.
Antisemitism as a misnomer
Britannica defines antisemitism as “hostility toward or discrimination against Jews,” ignoring that a Semite can be an Akkadian (Assyrian, Babylonian), Arab, Aramean, Canaanite (Ammonite, Edomite, Israelite, Moabite, Phoenician, or Philistine), or Habesha descendant.1
Notably, Palestinians are Semites. This is why I have suggested in the past that the current “Israeli” genocide in historic Palestine can itself be considered one of the biggest acts of antisemitism since the Holocaust.
It seems much more fitting to describe this supposed notion instead as “anti-Jewish sentiment.”
Anti-Zionism, on the contrary, is opposition to the formation and continuation of the “State of Israel,” which repeats the same colonial horrors perpetrated across the Americas, Afrika, Asia, and Oceania.
Let us now look to two vocal supporters of the Zionist “State of Israel,” Imperialist America and Ukraine.
Imperialist America, white nationalism, and postwar Nazi collaboration
While the Soviet Union executed its Nazi prisoners and collaborators, Imperialist America instead chose to embed many of them into their own organizations, putting them to work in order to, supposedly, “exploit their knowledge for military and industrial purposes.” This was known as Operation Paperclip.
The USA has always been a nation of white supremacy; the colonizers first killed and enslaved many Afrikans, then came to do the same to the Indigenous peoples of Turtle Island.
Far-right groups like the Ku Klux Klan (KKK), Proud Boys, and Aryan Freedom Network (AFN), whose members often “heil Hitler,” have formed and continue to spread and act on their erroneous views.
Further, a 2017 ABC News/Washington Post poll “revealed that nearly one in ten Americans, a number equivalent to 22 million people, think it's “acceptable” to hold neo-Nazi views.”
Given the current political climate within Imperialist America, this number has most likely grown, potentially even exponentially.
As American readers may know quite intimately, any true opposition to “Israel” by American politicians is considered a third rail. A now-deleted X/Twitter post by the American “Israel” Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) lobby confirmed this, stating:
Congressman Massie’s defeat on Tuesday sets a clear precedent: elected officials are free to disagree with us, but only briefly.
“Ukrainian nationalism” is simply neo-Nazism
As for Ukraine, so-called “Ukrainian nationalism” has always been intertwined with Nazism.
Recently, the leader of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN), Andrey Melnik, was reburied, and this was described as the start of “a process of bringing home the heroes who fought for the independence of [Ukraine] and were buried in other states.”
The OUN is an ultra-nationalist, anti-Communist organization that “embraced ethnic violence, collaborated with Nazi Germany, and became one of the most controversial movements” of the Great Patriotic War (WWII). An article posted to In Defense of Communism suggested:
Despite repeated attempts by Ukrainian nationalist circles to sanitize this history, the political character of the OUN remains inseparable from fascist ideology, ethnic chauvinism and collaboration with the Nazi occupation.
As per The Jerusalem Post, even “Israel” itself has condemned the reburial and “full state honours” by Zelensky.
Of course, it is difficult to discuss Ukraine without once again mentioning its monuments to Nazi collaborators and neo-Nazi armed forces (as reported by USA Today and The Nation, among others) after the US-backed coup in 2014.
Zionism as Jewish supremacy
However, to ignore the evident Jewish supremacy in the “State of Israel” is to cover one’s ears while stealing a bell.
A recent analysis of Jewish-American organizations discovered that, of 458 organizations with “sufficient publicly available information to determine their stance on Zionism … 454 organizations (99%) can be classified as Zionist.”2
The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNOHCHR) sternly condemned the passing of the “Israeli” death penalty law, which applies to Palestinians but not Jews.
I will also note that about 9 million Jews have been killed for their faith over the past 2,000 years. Comparatively, 80 million Muslims and 70 million Christians have been martyred over the same period, with the latter including Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholics, and Protestants.
Despite claiming to be “friends of Christians,” the so-called “State of Israel’s” killings of both Muslims and Christians in Palestine, Lebanon, and other SWANA regions are well known. It seems “never again” only applies to Jews.
Zionism does not seek a “safe haven” for Jews as its proponents often suggest; the fact that support for “Israel” is so widespread among state rulers worldwide should make that clear.
Anti-Jewish sentiment is not nearly as prevalent in the modern era as it once was, and a people group that claims to be indigenous to a certain region should not have to ethnically cleanse the region, nor should they be allergic to the pollen of the native olive trees.3
Much like how white supremacy should be staunchly opposed by all peace-loving peoples of the world, so too should Jewish supremacy. Further, it is Jews who must confront Zionism—if they truly wish to end anti-Jewish sentiment, they can begin with “Israel’s” allies.
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Note the difference between an Israelite, a descendant of the biblical Ya’qub (Jacob/Israel), and an “Israeli,” a citizen of the modern “State of Israel.”
The linked article is an excerpt of another one, titled “Jews Are NOT Oppressed: The Myth of Systemic Antisemitism.”
The linked study, conducted by researchers affiliated with Kupat Holim, Zamenhoff Allergy Clinic in Tel Aviv, concluded that 66% of Jewish “Israelis” are hypersensitive (allergic) to the pollen of native olive trees, compared to only 16% of Arabs in the same region.
Considering the weaponisation of the term "antisemitism" in recent years, this is refreshing to read. Succinct, direct and above all, referencing information that cannot be argued with or misconstrued - as the Zionists would much prefer.
Thank you for detailing the difference in an Israelite (a descendant) and an Israeli - a much needed distinction that not enough people are aware of (like those that attend marches in support of Israelis having inhabited the land of Palestine, before, well - Palestinians!).
The point about the word "antisemitsm" is just the etymological fallacy. Antisemitsm is the word for hatred of Jews. Language evolves in all kinds of weird and highly contingent ways.
As for the main point, the overwhelming majority of Jews consider Israel to be important to their identity as Jews. A plurality of Jews live in Israel. And among American Jews, 82% say that Israel is "important" or "essential" to their Jewish identity. Numbers in Canada are presumably the same, and numbers in France are actually higher, so we're well over 90% of global Jewry believing that colonization of Palestine is an important part of Jewishness. So opposing colonization of Palestine and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians isn't incidentally against Jews. It's against Jews qua Jews. In other words, it's antisemitic. That doesn't mean it's wrong to oppose Israel and Zionism. It's totally right and we should do it.