Antisemitism Disguised

Antisemitism disguised as criticism of Israel often takes the form of conflation, holding all Jews around the world responsible for the policies and actions of the Israeli government. Conflation can manifest in a variety of ways from a teenager identifying as Jewish on social media getting flooded with free Palestine slogans, to harassing people with anti-Israel language as they leave a synagogue, to physically assaulting and even killing Jews in response to events taking place in Israel.

When there is violence between Israel and Palestinians in the region, it doesn't stay in the Middle East. It often spills into the streets of Europe and now in America. Often, what happens is Jews outside of Israel are targeted and that targeting is no longer about Israeli behavior or Israeli action. That targeting is about Jews as Jews and that is a form of antisemitism because Jews are then deemed to be an extension of Israeli policy and Israeli government irrespective of the relationship with Israel.

Conflation also leads to the prevalence of antisemitic tropes which are widely shared ideas, stereotypes and conspiracy theories about Jews. There's a widespread conspiracy theory that suggests that Jews are more loyal to Israel than to the interests of their home country. Additionally, conflating all Jews with Israel can evoke the global domination trope: the belief that Jews secretly control the media, the economy and powerful governments. The term Zionist is frequently used as a slur to refer to all Jews, not just those who identify as Zionists.

Jews who do not even live inside the State of Israel or hold citizenship are perceived as an extension of Israeli behavior and Israeli policy and even Israeli action.