New Anti-SEMITISM: If you oppose genocide, you are now labeled an anti-Semite

03/05/2024 / By Belle Carter

To be antisemitic is to be hostile or prejudiced against Jewish people. Since the initial attack of Hamas in Gaza that invited a violent retaliation from the Israelis, the definition of antisemitism has evolved into something else. Those who condemn the counterattack and the massive genocide by the Jews of the Palestinian people are now labeled as antisemite.

Mainstream media has been pushing this narrative. In fact, Times’ March 2024 cover story written by Noah Feldman, a professor at Harvard Law School, claims that the Anti-Defamation League, which keeps track, reported that antisemitic incidents increased substantially by triple times following Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. The criteria even changed to include anti-Zionism. ADL further reported, Feldman said, that from 2019 to 2022, the amount of people with highly antisemitic attitudes in the U.S. had nearly doubled. He also claimed that in Europe, Human Rights Watch warned in 2019 of an “alarming” rise in antisemitism, prompting the European Union to adopt a strategic plan for fighting it two years later.

The author of “To Be a Jew Today: A New Guide to God, Israel, and the Jewish People” also said that historically, antisemitism was a side effect of populism, which traffics in us-vs.-them stereotypes. Social media allows antisemitic influencers to recruit and communicate directly to followers. The salience of groups like the neo-Nazis who marched in Charlottesville,?Va., in 2017 probably played a role. The influence of figures like the troubled rapper turned-designer Kanye West may have influenced them as well. Moreover, the murder of 11 worshipers at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh in 2018, by a shooter enraged at Jewish groups providing aid to immigrants, may have convinced everyone that antisemitism is on the rise.

A complicated, subtle form of antisemitism is emerging, argues Harvard Law School professor Noah Feldman (@NoahRFeldman) in an essay https://t.co/PiAgZpf2C0 pic.twitter.com/EK3AkFVP4o

— TIME (@TIME) February 27, 2024

Meanwhile, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) has just wrapped up its six days of hearings into the legality of Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories since 1967, with countries from the global south largely expressing support for Palestinian self-determination and criticizing Israel’s decades-old military occupation. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International said in separate statements that Israel is failing to follow the ICJ’s ruling to take “immediate and effective measures” to protect Palestinians and allow adequate aid into Gaza.

On the other hand, law professor Menachem Rosensaft thinks that what Israel is doing to Gaza is legal. “The word genocide is used willy-nilly by people all over the world, but genocide, as it has evolved since 1948 when the genocide convention was first adopted by the UN General Assembly, is a legal concept. And whatever else Israel is doing, and has done, it is not intending to destroy the Palestinian people; either on the West Bank or in Gaza,” said Rosensaft.

At least 29,782 people have been killed and 70,043 wounded in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October. The revised death toll in Israel from the said attacks stands at 1,139.

Netanyahu: 80% of Americans support Israel in conflict with Gaza

Despite claims of rising “antisemitic cases,” Israel is still firm that it is standing on the right side. Following President Joe Biden’s warning to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that due to genocide allegations by the ICJ, Israel risks losing global support in the war, the latter believes that the U.S. will still help fight Hamas “until total victory.” (Related: Netanyahu claims entire world is “antisemitic” in UNHINGED rant about Hamas attack.)

Netanyahu cited polls showing that more than 80 percent of Americans support Israel in the conflict in Gaza. In a statement, he said that, since the beginning of the conflict, he has been leading a campaign “countering international pressure to end the war ahead of time and mobilize support for Israel.” “We have significant successes in this area,” Netanyahu bragged, citing the recent Harvard-Harris poll showing that 82 percent of the American public supports Israel. “This gives us more strength to continue the campaign until complete victory.” Meanwhile, another poll from the Associated Press and NORC at the University of Chicago found that about half of U.S. adults in January believed Israel had “gone too far,” which is up from 40 percent in November.

Biden and State Department officials confirmed that negotiations on a temporary ceasefire were continuing, but declined to give details on the substance of the talks or potential timelines.

John Kirby, the White House’s National Security Council spokesperson, said that “significant progress” had been made towards a deal last week to allow hostages to leave Gaza and let humanitarian assistance in. “We’re building on that progress this week and the president and his team remain engaged around the clock with multiple partners in the region,” Kirby added. “But as the president said just in the last 24 hours or so there’s no deal as of yet. And there’s a lot more work to do.” The ceasefire would “hopefully” allow for a six-week pause, significantly longer than previous pauses in the fight. “Maybe that could lead to something more in terms of a better approach to end the conflict,” he said.

At the State Department, spokesman Matthew Miller said that U.S. diplomats, working with Qatar, Egypt and Israel, are “trying to push this deal over the finish line,” but that “ultimately, we would need Hamas to say yes.”

Check out WWIII.news to catch updates on the escalating conflict in the Middle East.