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

They have taken a word meant to describe an ancient, venomous hatred and forged it into a political cudgel. They have hollowed it out, stripping it of its terrible meaning, and now swing it wildly to silence dissent, to crush criticism, and to protect a brutal political project from accountability. This isn't a debate. It's a deception. And it’s time to call it what it is: the most cynical political smear of our generation.

A Shield Forged from a Smear

Let’s be brutally clear. The accusation of “antisemitism” is no longer primarily used to identify and condemn hatred against Jewish people. It has been systematically weaponized into a political shield for the state of Israel. Its purpose is to create a fortress of impunity around the actions of a government and its military. Any critique of state policy, any documentation of human rights abuses, any call for justice for the Palestinian people, is immediately met with this single, paralyzing charge.

This isn’t some fringe conspiracy; it’s happening in plain sight, orchestrated by state actors and amplified by their willing accomplices in the mainstream media. We see outlets like The New York Times, which once held some semblance of journalistic integrity, now functioning as stenographers for this narrative. They parrot the idea that a surge in “antisemitism” is inextricably linked to criticism of Israel, deliberately blurring the line until it vanishes. They are no longer reporting on the issue; they are participating in the smear, casting any challenge to Israeli policy as an attack on all Jewish people. It is a disgusting and profound betrayal of their duty to the truth.

This is a calculated lie. It is a lie designed to make you afraid to speak. It is a lie designed to make you equate a political state with an entire people, a classic tactic of authoritarians. They want you to believe that to oppose apartheid, to condemn the bombing of civilians, or to stand for international law is to be a bigot. How we hoped the world would see through such a transparently dishonest tactic. How profoundly disappointing it is to watch so many fall for it.

The Truth They Cannot Muzzle

For years, we have patiently explained the difference. We have spelled it out in the simplest terms: opposing the policies of the Israeli government is not antisemitism. Criticizing the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) for its actions is not antisemitism. Advocating for the rights and dignity of Palestinians is not antisemitism. Our patience has finally run out.

When young people at a music festival like Glastonbury chant against the IDF, the establishment shrieks “Antisemitism!” They feign shock and horror. But they are not horrified by hatred; they are terrified of dissent. They are terrified that the world is beginning to see the IDF not as a symbol of the Jewish people, but as what it is: a state military carrying out state policy that is, to many, abhorrent. Chanting “Death to the IDF” may be extreme, but it is fundamentally political speech directed at a military institution. To deliberately misrepresent this as a call for violence against Jews is a malicious falsehood.

This intentional conflation is the linchpin of their entire strategy. They must broaden the definition of antisemitism to be so all-encompassing that it captures any form of meaningful protest. By doing so, they not only protect a political state from criticism, but they also tragically devalue the term itself, making it harder to fight real neo-Nazi and white supremacist Jew-hatred when it appears.

The Cowardice of the Powerful

There is a deep and chilling moral cowardice at the heart of this. Look at our governments. In the face of actual violence, what do they offer? Empty, non-binding resolutions. A bipartisan Senate resolution condemning antisemitism is not an act of governance; it is a piece of political theater. It is a performance designed to look like action while ensuring nothing actually changes. It allows politicians to signal virtue without ever having to confront the difficult truth: that the state they call an ally is at the center of the controversy, and it is their policies that are fueling global outrage.

Even more insidiously, this weaponized charge is now being deployed to shatter political coalitions. A new narrative, now being voiced by co-opted community leaders in Europe and elsewhere, claims the political left is the new nexus of antisemitism. What a transparent, cynical ploy. It is a strategic effort to divide and conquer, to turn progressive movements against each other and break the solidarity that is the single greatest threat to the status quo. They want to pit the fight against racism against the fight for Palestinian liberation, as if they were not part of the same struggle for a just world. It’s a classic divide-and-rule tactic, and the contempt they must hold for our intelligence to think we wouldn't see it is staggering.

On one side, you have activists, students, and ordinary people armed with nothing but facts and a moral conscience. On the other, a powerful nexus of state power, media conglomerates, and political institutions armed with a single, devastating smear. It is a battle between the courage of the grassroots and the cowardice of the powerful.

The Price of Our Silence

We are at a precipice. If we allow this redefinition of antisemitism to stand, the consequences will be catastrophic. It is not an exaggeration to say that free speech on one of the most critical geopolitical issues of our time will be extinguished. The ability to advocate for Palestinian human rights will be silenced, branded as a form of hate speech.

But the damage is even deeper. By crying “wolf” to protect a political project, they render the word meaningless. When everything is antisemitism, nothing is. They are providing cover for actual antisemites, who can now hide their bigotry amidst the noise of legitimate political debate. In their desperate, cynical attempt to shield Israel from criticism, they are gutting the very concept needed to protect Jewish people from genuine harm. This isn't just a strategic error; it is a moral disaster.

Your silence is their victory. Your fear is their most effective weapon. To be silent now is to be complicit in the lie. It is to tacitly approve of the silencing of activists, the smearing of good people, and the perpetuation of injustice.

The choice is clear. We must refuse to be silenced. We must reject the lie.

So what can you do?

• Share this truth. Do not let the lies stand unchallenged in your conversations, online and in your communities. Call the weaponization of antisemitism what it is: a political smear.
• Demand clarity from your elected officials. Ask them to differentiate between criticism of Israeli policy and hatred of Jewish people. Do not let them hide behind empty resolutions.
• Do not be silent. Your voice is a weapon in the fight for truth and justice. Use it now.