When supporters of Israel insist that any criticism of its actions is antisemitic, they are not just shutting down debate — they are laying dangerous foundations. Because if you repeat often enough that Zionism is Judaism, and that opposition to Israeli apartheid is hatred of Jews, eventually people start to believe you. And some — pushed far enough — might even agree.
This is the trap. And it’s being set on purpose.
Let’s start with the obvious: Zionism is a political ideology. Judaism is a religion, a culture, and a people with a long, diverse history. The two are not the same. To conflate them is like equating Christianity with the Ku Klux Klan, or Britishness with the British Empire. It’s absurd. And yet this deliberate confusion is exactly what Israel’s government and its most fervent defenders rely on.
The Logic of the Lie
When the state of Israel bombs schools, bulldozes homes, and imprisons children — and someone dares to object — they are called an antisemite. Not because they’ve targeted Jews, or expressed hatred towards a people, but because they’ve criticised the Israeli state.
And here’s the kicker: when Zionists say, “You can’t criticise Israel without being antisemitic,” they are claiming that theft, murder, occupation, and ethnic cleansing are Jewish values.
This is not only insulting to Judaism — it’s dangerous. Because if people accept that lie, if they believe Zionism and Judaism are one and the same, then they may (wrongly) come to hate Judaism because of what Israel does.
Zionism manufactures the very antisemitism it claims to be protecting against.
Weaponising Fear
A cynical observer — and let’s be honest, it’s hard not to be cynical at this point — might suspect this isn’t a mistake. It’s a strategy.
Israel needs Jews around the world to feel under threat. It needs them to believe that the world hates them, that no country is safe, and that only Israel can offer protection. The more fear there is, the stronger the Zionist narrative becomes. The more hated Jews feel, the more likely they are to rally around the Israeli flag.
This is not about safeguarding Jewish lives. It’s about reinforcing political power.
And the method is grotesque: take centuries of Jewish suffering and weaponise it. Exploit the memory of the Holocaust. Hijack the language of antisemitism. Turn trauma into a shield for apartheid.
Manufactured Consent
Every time Israel commits another atrocity, there’s a media blitz: critics are antisemitic, protestors are dangerous, and anyone questioning Israel’s actions is complicit in hate. But who really benefits?
- Not the global Jewish community, who now face more resentment from people who’ve been told “Jews support this.”
- Not the Palestinian people, who are silenced and dehumanised.
- Not ordinary citizens, who want to speak out against injustice but are made to fear the social and professional cost of doing so.
The only winners are those in power — those whose hold on that power depends on maintaining a narrative of eternal victimhood and exceptionalism.
The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
Here’s the brutal irony: by claiming all criticism of Israel is antisemitism, the Zionist project creates a world in which some people, wrongly and dangerously, start to believe that antisemitism is justified.
And make no mistake — that is a tragedy.
But the blame doesn’t lie with those who protest genocide, or boycott apartheid. The blame lies with those who turned a nationalist ideology into a sacred cow, who used Jewish identity as a political weapon, and who convinced the world that justice itself was a form of bigotry.
Judaism ≠ Zionism
Judaism is not a state. It is not an army. It is not a political movement. It is not bulldozers and missiles and siege warfare. And it sure as hell is not ethnic supremacy.
The most courageous Jewish voices in the world today are the ones who reject Zionism. Who say, “Not in our name.” Who recognise that safety does not come from oppressing others, but from solidarity, justice, and peace.
If you truly want to fight antisemitism, start by refusing to let it be redefined by those with tanks and drones.
