WHAT IS ANTISEMITISM?
“Antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews.
Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.”
-- International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance
Antisemitism may look like:
Calling for, aiding, or justifying the killing or harming of Jews in the name of a radical ideology or an extremist view of religion.
Making mendacious, dehumanizing, demonizing, or stereotypical allegations about Jews as such or the power of Jews as collective — such as, especially but not exclusively, the myth about a world Jewish conspiracy or of Jews controlling the media, economy, government or other societal institutions.
Accusing Jews as a people of being responsible for real or imagined wrongdoing committed by a single Jewish person or group, or even for acts committed by non-Jews.
Holding Jews collectively responsible for the actions of the state of Israel.
Denying the fact, scope, mechanisms (e.g. gas chambers) or intentionality of the genocide of the Jewish people at the hands of National Socialist Germany and its supporters and accomplices during World War II (the Holocaust), including 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 to the State of Israel by requiring of it a behavior 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.
Why are the phrases “From the River to the Sea,” “Free Palestine,” and others dangerously antisemitic?
These statements are political statements relating to land. Not calls for human rights.
The concerns with this rhetoric specifically are:
1) That is calls for the ethnic cleansing of Jews from Israel - literally "from the (Jordan) river to the (Mediterranean) Sea.”
2) It is used to perpetuate antisemitism, veiled as advocating for Palestinian human rights.
Ask yourself: Why are there no hashtags or human rights cries for people in Iran, China, or Azerbaijan? Why are there #freepalestine flags being waived at climage change rallies?
“Free Palestine” is the shortened version of “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” which is a common call-to-arms for pro-Palestinian activists and calls for the establishment of a State of Palestine from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea — erasing the state of Israel and its people. In fact, in the original Arabic, the phrase directly translates to “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be Arab,”
It is also a rallying cry for terrorist groups and their sympathizers, from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) to Hamas, which calls for Israel’s destruction in its original governing charter published in 1988.
Sometimes the Palestinian flag and, more recently, the watermelon emoji are used as shorthand for this phrase to spam social media posts related to Jews, whether having to do with Israel or not. There is nothing antisemitic about advocating for Palestinians to have their own state. However, calling for the elimination of the Jewish state or suggesting that the Jews alone do not have the right to self-determination IS antisemitic.