They Are Lying to You About Antisemitism. Here Is the Truth.

Let’s be perfectly clear. A word that once signified a vile, ancient hatred—a poison that led to pogroms and gas chambers—is being deliberately and cynically twisted into a political weapon. It is being used not to protect Jewish people, but to protect a nuclear-armed state from accountability. It is being wielded as a gag order to silence anyone who dares to criticize the actions of the Israeli government and its military. This is not a debate. It is a deception. And it is time we called it what it is.

The Great Deception: A Shield For State Power

They are counting on your confusion. They are banking on your fear of being labeled something ugly. This is how the lie works. When students set up encampments to protest the bombing of civilians, they are branded “antisemites.” When professors call for an academic boycott of institutions complicit in occupation, they are smeared as “antisemites.” When a respected news organization like The New York Times even begins to question the official narrative, it is accused of fanning the flames of “antisemitism.”

See the pattern? The charge is never deployed to condemn actual, violent neo-Nazis marching in the streets. It is reserved for those who exercise their fundamental right to political speech against a specific government’s policies. It is a shield, forged from the memory of horrific suffering, now used to deflect any and all criticism of the IDF's actions. It is a strategic, malicious conflation of an entire people and their diverse beliefs with the singular, militaristic policy of a right-wing government. It is an act of profound intellectual and moral dishonesty. We have watched in profound disappointment as institutions we once trusted have fallen for this trick, or worse, become willing participants in it. The lie has become so pervasive that to challenge it is to be immediately cast as a villain.

The Truth We Are No Longer Asking Permission To Speak

Let us state the truth plainly, for our patience has finally run out. Criticizing the government of Israel is not antisemitism. Opposing the brutal, decades-long occupation of Palestinian land is not antisemitism. Demanding an end to the bombardment of Gaza is not antisemitism. Anti-Zionism, the political belief that a state should not be founded on ethno-religious supremacy, is not antisemitism.

Antisemitism is hating Jews. It’s the torching of a synagogue. It's a swastika spray-painted on a gravestone. It’s the lunatic screaming about Jewish cabals controlling the world. It is a real and present danger, a hateful ideology that must be fought wherever it appears.

But that is precisely why this weaponization is so vile. It cheapens the word. It dilutes its power. When you scream “antisemite” at a college student holding a sign that says “Free Palestine,” you render the word meaningless for when a real, violent antisemite appears. You are, in effect, providing cover for the very monsters you claim to be fighting. This cynical ploy not only silences legitimate dissent but also leaves Jewish communities more vulnerable by muddying the waters and misdirecting our focus from the real threats.

The Stench of Hypocrisy

The moral contrast could not be more stark. On one side, you have students, activists, and ordinary citizens using their voices to stand against what they see as a grave injustice. They are motivated by principles of human rights and international law. Their tools are protest, speech, and assembly.

On the other side? Their tools are smears, censorship, and the raw power of the state. Look at their actions. While they accuse the political left of fostering antisemitism—a cynical tactic to fracture progressive coalitions—what do they offer in the face of actual anti-Jewish violence? Pathetic, non-binding government resolutions. Empty condemnations after an arson attack. They wring their hands and talk of “awareness” while doing nothing of substance to stop the rise of the violent, far-right hatred that truly threatens Jewish people.

There is a cold contempt we must hold for this hypocrisy. They cry wolf about students in tents while ignoring the actual wolves at the door. They have the audacity to claim the mantle of protecting Jewish people while their only real goal is to protect a political and military agenda from scrutiny.

The Final Goal: To Make Dissent a Crime

Do not be mistaken; this is not just a war of words. It has a terrifying endgame. The push for legislation like the Antisemitism Awareness Act is the final piece of the strategy. By attempting to codify the dangerously vague and overbroad IHRA definition of antisemitism into law, they seek to make their political shield into an iron cage.

This act is a direct assault on the First Amendment. If it succeeds, college campuses—once beacons of debate and critical thought—will become zones of silence. Any meaningful critique of Israeli policy could be legally classified as an act of antisemitic discrimination. This is the goal: to legally enshrine the lie that criticizing a state is the same as hating a people. It is a backdoor attempt to achieve total censorship and to create a catastrophe for free speech in America.

This is not an accident. It is a cold, calculated strategy to ensure that the machinery of war and occupation can operate without the inconvenience of public dissent. They want to make it impossible for you to speak out. They want you to be afraid. They want you to be silent.

We will not let that happen. The line has been drawn. This is a battle for the very soul of our democracy, for the right to speak truth to power, and for the ability to stand for justice without being silenced by cynical, bad-faith attacks.

The choice is clear. So what can you do?

• Share this truth. Do not let the lies stand unchallenged. Call out the weaponization of antisemitism whenever you see it.
• Demand action from your elected officials. Tell them to vote NO on any legislation that threatens the First Amendment, like the Antisemitism Awareness Act. Tell them to protect free speech, not state propaganda.
• Do not be silent. Your voice is a weapon in the fight for truth and justice. Use it now.