Manipulating Antisemitism for Advantage: Exploration of the Israel Lobby's Tactics to Suppress International Opposition to Israeli Military Atrocities
In recent years, there has been a concerning trend of suppression and censorship of criticism of Israel's actions, with thousands of Palestinian civilians still buried under the rubble of cities bombed indiscriminately. This crackdown affects a wide range of individuals, including Palestinians, Jewish dissenters, human rights defenders, and legal scholars alike.
The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of anti-Semitism is being used to stifle criticism, redefining the term to include criticism of Israel. Over 30 countries, including the US, UK, Germany, France, Canada, and Australia, have adopted the IHRA definition under intense lobbying pressure.
In the US, 35 states have passed anti-BDS laws, stifling public dissent. The consequences of this plan include the firing of an ABC journalist for sharing a UN report on Gaza, branding protesters chanting "From the river to the sea" extremists, and universities facing defunding threats unless they adopt the IHRA standard.
Similar tactics are being employed in other countries. In Australia, the key author of the new national anti-Semitism plan, Jillian Segal, has links to Elbit Systems, a major Israeli weapons supplier. The Australian plan includes visa bans for critics of Israel, funding cuts for non-compliant universities and media, and police training to target "Israel-related anti-Semitism."
Even hard-right figures like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Steve Bannon, and Charlie Kirk have condemned the bill as unconstitutional. Despite this, the bill's sponsors, Mike Lawler and Josh Gottheimer, made clear the bill's purpose: to protect Israel from accountability.
In the UK, Jeremy Corbyn's leadership of Labour was destroyed by a coordinated smear campaign falsely accusing him and his allies of anti-Semitism. In Germany, Jewish Israeli critics of Zionism have faced bans and prosecution. People who advocate for Palestinian rights are being silenced or punished under accusations of "hate speech" in campuses, arts institutions, and across public life.
The tactic of surveillance, donor blacklisting, institutional pressure, media framing, and intimidation is being used to suppress criticism of Israel's actions. This is evident in the cases of pro-Palestinian students arrested and deported, international students facing visa cancellations for activism, and Donald Trump's vow to defund universities that tolerate Gaza protests.
There is mounting evidence of genocide, ethnic cleansing, and systematic violations of international law in Gaza and the West Bank. Israel continues to flatten entire neighborhoods, bomb hospitals and refugee camps, block humanitarian aid, and kill over 200 journalists.
Despite these actions, resistance is growing. In the US, students are occupying campuses, activists are disrupting arms shipments and exposing corporate complicity, and workers are speaking out, like the 50 Google employees fired for organizing No Tech for Apartheid.
Groups like Jewish Voice for Peace, IfNotNow, Holocaust survivors, and authors of the Jerusalem Declaration on Antisemitism have warned against the IHRA's conflation of anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism. Criticism of Israel is not anti-Semitism, opposing genocide is not hate speech, and silence is complicity. It's time to choose a side.
