How to Fight Antisemitism as a BDS Supporter
When we speak up for Palestine, anger is going to surface. We are watching unbearable violence and suffering unfold in Gaza in real time, and the grief and rage are real. The anger is justified.
But anger can spill out sideways. Sometimes people reach for language that has nothing to do with Palestinian liberation and everything to do with old antisemitic tropes, conspiracies, and dehumanizing ideas. When that happens, Jewish people get hurt, and the movement for Palestinian freedom gets muddied along with it.
Recognizing Antisemitic Tropes
A few things I see in comment sections and discussions:
Conspiracies about Jewish control of the media, banks, or government.
Comments like “Jews control the media,” “Jews run the banks,” or “Zionists control the government” draw on centuries-old conspiracy theories about Jewish people secretly controlling institutions from behind the scenes.
There are absolutely political organizations like AIPAC, lobbying groups, corporations, donors, and governments with enormous influence. Those institutions can and should be criticized specifically. Turning that criticism into a claim about collective “Jewish power” is something else entirely.
Blaming Jewish people as a whole for the actions of Israel.
Saying “the Jews are doing this” when you mean the Israeli government, military, or a particular political movement collapses millions of people into the actions of a state. Jewish communities are politically diverse, and many Jewish people around the world oppose occupation, apartheid, or the actions of the Israeli government. If the criticism is about a government or an institution, name the government or institution.
Comparing Israelis or Jews directly to Nazis
Comments like “Israelis are the new Nazis” or “they’re doing exactly what Hitler did” may come from a desire to communicate the scale of Palestinian suffering, but Holocaust inversion brings its own history into the argument. It can trivialize the Holocaust, weaponize Jewish trauma, and turn a critique of present-day state violence into something much messier. You do not need a Nazi comparison to describe what Israel is doing to Palestinians.
Dehumanizing language
Calling Jews or Israelis “rats,” “blood drinkers,” or similar names is not edgy political critique. Some of that language draws directly from old antisemitic myths, including blood libel, while the rest relies on the same kind of dehumanization we should be opposing in the first place.
Calls for violence against Jewish people.
A joke about harming Jewish people is still a joke about harming Jewish people. Solidarity with Palestinians does not require, excuse, or benefit from threats against Jews.
These tropes are old, y’all. When they show up in Palestine solidarity spaces, they distract from what is actually being challenged and make it much easier for opponents of BDS to point to antisemitism and pretend that it represents the movement as a whole.
How To Push Back as a BDS Supporter
I think supporters of Palestinian freedom have to be willing to say when something crosses the line.
One can validate somebody’s anger without validating everything they say because they are angry. “What is happening in Gaza is enraging” and “antisemitic language is unacceptable” can both be true at the same time.
If someone says something like “Jews control the media,” I would rather get specific than let it slide. Which lobbying group? Which company? Which donor? Which elected official? Political power can be named and documented without turning Jewish people into a conspiracy.
A Note I Use in My Own Spaces
When comments get feisty, I’ve started to pin a simple note under my posts to set the tone:
“This space is for solidarity with Palestinians and resistance to apartheid. Anger is valid — but antisemitism is not welcome. Criticism of Israeli state policies does not equate to criticism of Jewish people. Our fight is against oppression.”
