Redefining antisemitism to include Israel criticism inflates antisemitism and intensifies anti-Palestinian racism
Evidence
The second reason Islamophobia and antisemitism are not equivalent forms of discrimination at this moment is because when Zionist organizations redefine antisemitism to include criticism of Israeli policies and the US government, and when US institutions adopt this redefinition, the result is an inflation of antisemitism and the intensification of anti-Palestinian racism. On May 1, 2024, the US House of Representatives passed a bill that equates criticism of Israel with antisemitism71—the new definition of antisemitism put forth by the IHRA. The US bill purports to combat antisemitism, but if passed by the Senate, it will further chill advocacy for Palestinian rights and enshrine anti-Palestinian racism in US law. Ultimately, if, as the IHRA definition implies, any expression of support for Palestinian rights is an assault on Jewish life, then the US government and Zionist organizations that embrace it are actually promoting anti-Palestinian racism. — Evelyn Alsultany, Antisemitism and Islamophobia The…, 30
Categorization
- DEFINE: Clarifies the IHRA definition of antisemitism and its contested scope — that it equates criticism of Israel with antisemitism.
- XREF: Connects to debates about IHRA vs Jerusalem Declaration on Antisemitism definitions and campus antisemitism debates post-October 7. — connects to: DEI responses to October 7 conceal the Israel-Gaza context and normalize Zionist justifications. — Evelyn Alsultany, Antisemitism and Islamophobia The…, 4; The term Islamophobia obscures the specificity of anti-Palestinian racism. — Evelyn Alsultany, Antisemitism and Islamophobia The…, 20; Anti-Arab racism in the US is rooted in the Palestinian struggle. — Evelyn Alsultany, Antisemitism and Islamophobia The…, 20 (+9 more)
- SEED: Angle: a piece on how defining a protected category broadly can weaponize it to suppress advocacy for another group’s rights.
Broader Connections
- Treating antisemitism and Islamophobia as analogous masks asymmetric power relations.
#corroborates(0.60) — Evelyn Alsultany, Antisemitism and Islamophobia The…, 23 - Framing discrimination as individual hate obscures its structural and policy-based causes
#expands(0.50) — Evelyn Alsultany, Antisemitism and Islamophobia The…, 34