When the Israeli-born Jewish academic Prof. Dr. Israel Shahak said, “The Nazis made me afraid to be Jewish; the Israelis made me ashamed to be Jewish,” he was questioning the legal identity of the state of Israel. Similarly, the American linguist, philosopher, and political activist of Jewish origin, Noam Chomsky, describes Israel’s practices in the occupied Palestinian territories as “far worse than South African apartheid.” He has called apartheid a “gift” because, in reality, a much heavier system of oppression and discrimination is applied against Palestinians. Indeed, the Israeli government today is committing a genocide that works even against Torah Jews.
Antisemitism is a phenomenon that historically denotes religious, cultural, and ethnic discrimination against Jews and, in the modern era, has been institutionalized through racist ideologies, producing devastating consequences especially in European history. Nevertheless, contemporary discussions of antisemitism are often deliberately or unconsciously intertwined with the policies of the state of Israel, creating a serious crisis of representation both academically and ethically. In this study, without denying the historical reality of antisemitism, we aim to analyze how the aggressive policies of the state of Israel—particularly in the Palestinian context—generate a global environment of hatred and backlash.
Conceptual Distinction Between Antisemitism and the State of Israel
It must first be stated clearly: Judaism is a religion and cultural identity; Israel is a political actor organized in the form of a modern nation-state. Conflating these two domains both renders invisible the historical injustices suffered by Jewish communities and grants immunity from criticism to the actions of the state of Israel. The widely accepted view in academic literature is that criticism of state policies must be categorically separated from ethnic or religious hatred.
Yet the state of Israel and the Zionist discourse that defines itself as the “Jewish state” systematically blur this distinction; as a result, every criticism directed at Israel is met with accusations of antisemitism. Paradoxically, this produces an effect that makes antisemitism not less but more visible and widespread.
Israel’s post-1967 occupation policies, settler colonization, the blockade of Gaza, the disproportionate use of military force against civilians, and systematic violations of international law have created a deep perception of injustice in world public opinion. This perception has generated strong criticism not only in Muslim societies but also in Europe, Latin America, and even within the Jewish diaspora. The fact that local Christians have been killed in churches bombed by Israel in recent years in Palestine is regarded as an additional scandal.
The problem, however, is this: when the state of Israel continually presents itself as the “representative of the Jews,” the anger and reaction caused by these policies are wrongly directed toward Jews. Thus, Israel’s policies of violence produce a ground that directly nourishes anti-Jewish sentiment. This makes Israel’s policies, if not the cause of antisemitism, at least one of its triggering conditions.
Zionist Discourse and the Global Spread of Hatred
Although Zionist ideology was historically built on the claim of Jewish security, in practice it has produced a state rationale that legitimizes ethnic privilege, religious supremacist discourse, and the systematic exclusion of the indigenous Palestinian population. The global dissemination of this ideology through media, diplomacy, and lobbying activities suppresses criticism of Israel while simultaneously creating a dangerous perception that equates Judaism with state violence.
The hatred that emerges at this point is nourished not by Jews but by injustice, impunity, and the suspension of international law. Yet rather than cooling this anger, the state of Israel transforms it into an identity-based conflict, instrumentalizing antisemitism to protect its own policies and to deepen global polarization.
The fundamental principle that must be underlined here is this: the policies of the state of Israel can under no circumstances justify hatred toward Jews. Antisemitism, whatever its justification, is an ethically and humanely unacceptable form of discrimination. Yet it is equally contrary to academic freedom and political ethics to use the fear of antisemitism to suppress the right to criticize Israel’s aggressive policies.
Conclusion
The primary cause of antisemitism is not Israel’s aggressive policies; antisemitism is an independent ideology of hatred with historical roots. Yet the undeniable reality is that the systematic violence applied by the state of Israel and the Zionist discourse that identifies this violence with Jewish identity create fertile ground for the reproduction of antisemitism today. Therefore, the struggle against antisemitism is possible not only by confronting individual hatred but also by opposing the legitimization of state violence.
Jewish scholar Noam Chomsky’s statements that “Israel’s practices in the occupied territories are far worse than South African apartheid” and that “apartheid must even be called a ‘gift’” caused a major stir in his 2014 Democracy Now! interview. Chomsky argued there that South African apartheid granted limited autonomy (Bantustans) to the black population, whereas Israel’s occupation policies leave Palestinians with no permanent status. This comparison places Israel within Chomsky’s anarchist and anti-imperialist theoretical framework as a U.S.-supported “settler-colonial” structure. There is no doubt that the U.S. government bears a large share of responsibility for Israel’s current massacres.
The real solution lies in freeing Judaism from the policies of a state and addressing the Palestinian issue on the basis of human rights. Otherwise, Palestinians—trapped on the brink of annihilation or forced exile—will continue to be victims of the same unjust order.
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