Have a read of the following dribble from Jewish Chronicle editor Jake Wallis Simons, who was disgraced for making racist (or if you like sectarian) comments about Muslims, with reference to the cover of the latest edition of satirical magazine Private Eye:

https://twitter.com/JakeWSimons/status/1714593163279544439

Israel and its supporters do try to suppress criticism of that country, though.

Most commonly, they use the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s much-criticised “working” definition of anti-Semitism. Its “contemporary examples of anti-Semitism in public life” include multiple connections between hatred of Jews and hatred of Israel which may be considered – indeed, have been considered by many – to be false.

Of the 11 examples, seven conflate anti-Semitism with the state of Israel, as follows:

• Accusing the Jews as a people, or Israel as a state, of inventing or exaggerating the Holocaust.
• Accusing Jewish citizens of being more loyal to Israel, or to the alleged priorities of Jews worldwide, than to the interests of their own nations.
• Denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, e.g., by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor.
• Applying double standards by requiring of it a behaviour not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation.
• Using the symbols and images associated with classic antisemitism (e.g., claims of Jews killing Jesus or blood libel) to characterize Israel or Israelis.
• Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis.
• Holding Jews collectively responsible for actions of the state of Israel.

Let’s look at one of those examples: “drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis.”

Private Eye‘s cover suggests that Israel is “killing everyone in Gaza”. That would be genocide. As we all know, the Nazis attempted genocide against the Jews, and Israel now presents itself as the Jewish nation-state.

The problem here, for Israel, is that its actions betray it. The onslaught that it has launched against the 2.2 million innocent citizens of Gaza may easily be interpreted as an attempt at genocide – and has, by at least one other nation.

Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro has compared Israel’s treatment of Gaza with Nazi treatment of Jews. After Israel’s ambassador to that country, Gali Dagan, criticised the president for his stance, Colombia’s Foreign Minister, Alvaro Leyva, said Dagan should apologise and leave the country.

In response, Israel has suspended security exports to Colombia. Petro has retaliated by suggesting that Colombia should suspend all diplomatic relations with Israel.

For details of the spat, here‘s a Guardian report, which contains a statement saying Israel condemned Petro’s interventions, “which constitute support for the horrific acts of Hamas terrorists, inflame antisemitism, harm representatives of the State of Israel and threaten the safety of the Jewish community in Colombia”.

Isn’t that a textbook example of Israel trying to suppress criticism of that country?

It is also clear that the government of at least one nation considers Israel to be attempting to kill “everyone in Gaza”.

Others may agree, pointing at – for example – Israel’s demand for Gazan civilians to flee the north of the region, and its subsequent bombing of areas in the south, to which they had fled.

So it seems clear that, while the claims on its cover may not quite – yet – be confirmed as fact, they are certainly supportable expressions of opinion, based on what is currently known about the conflict between Israel and Gaza.

It seems clear that some bad-faith actors may be using the IHRA “working” definition of anti-Semitism to suppress legitimate criticism of Israel.

Logically, it follows that the definition must be re-written, to accommodate the facts of Israeli government policy.

Jake’s opinion is ridiculous in the face of the monstrous events taking place on the Mediterranean coast.

I await further accusations of anti-Semitism against me – from some of the bad-faith actors mentioned above.

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