Is it Anti-Semitic to Call Out Israel?

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In recent years there has seemingly been an increase in the labeling of individuals as anti-Semitic. This increase comes alongside other ‘isms and ‘ists being applied to all manner of things. What is interesting to note, however, is that much of the time when a person is labelled as such, these labels are not necessarily applied by individuals of that group or indeed by any prominent voices in said group. Rather, the labels are applied by a series of ‘woke’ and potentially overly-liberal voices, often online, in response to perceived ‘isms.

Now this is not to say that many of these acts or comments do not fall into these categories, however, it is hard to argue that every single case of individuals being labelled as racist, sexist, transphobic, anti-Semitic etc. can truly fall into these categories. It is worth noting that I am a white male with no real ethnic or religious background to speak of, and so my comments of course come from a place of objective ignorance as I have never personally experienced many forms of prejudice. This being said, there must surely be an objective standpoint that can be taken, even for an individual outside experiencing such prejudice personally.

I find it hard to reconcile that simply calling out a state that just so happens to be founded on, or comprised significantly of individuals following Judaism must relate to that fact. For example, one can report bullying without that report having anything to do with the personal characteristics of that bully. And so, we must surely be able to bring attention to, and indeed criticise Israel for the clear and abhorrent violations of human rights and humanitarian law without fearing reprisals over whether or not we are criticising Jewish people or Judaism as part of that debate.

The fear of offending, indeed even perceived offending where such offence may not actually exist, has a serious effect on stifling debate. Where we choose to not report on or call out Israel for violations of international law because we are scared that we may be perceived as anti-Semitic or racist results in serious and unforgivable acts going unchecked and unquestioned. We must be able to separate out this debate, we must be able to see that a comment on Israel is not a comment on Judaism.

Reporting on the atrocities committed by Israel and questioning the entire situation does not make a person anti-Semitic, however, it cannot be ignored that, in the wake of such atrocities, anti-Semitism does in fact increase along side these issues (see more). Such occurrences should not be allowed and should equally be called out.

We must not lose sight of the fact that human lives are currently being taken in indiscriminate bombings, the lives of children, innocent individuals, and recently journalists and members of the free press. This should not be a debate over what we should and should not be allowed to say, rather, it should be a debate on what action the world community needs to see taken in response to these violations!

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