Reframing criticism of Israel as antisemitism fails Jews as much as Palestinians

The sense of what defines anti-Jewish bigotry has changed radically since the 70s

- Kenan Malik

Ultra-Orthodox Jews attend a rally for Palestine in London. Mark Kerrison/Getty

(Mark Kerrison/Getty)

"Anti-Zionism is one of the modern forms of antisemitism," said the French president, Emmanuel Macron, in 2019, for which claim he won considerable praise from Jewish groups and Israeli leaders. Last month Charles Kushner, the US ambassador to France, echoed the sentiment ("In today's world, anti-Zionism is antisemitism - plain and simple") in an open letter to Macron. He was not, though, praising the French president, but lambasting him for "public statements haranguing Israel and gestures toward recognition of a Palestinian state" and accusing him of helping "endanger Jewish life in France".

It is a good illustration of how confused and contentious has become the question of what it is to be antisemitic. A generation ago, the issue seemed relatively straightforward. There were no formal definitions of antisemitism but there was a broad acceptance that it referred to acts or expressions of bigotry or discrimination against Jews. Today there are formal definitions aplenty - most notably the "working definition" adopted by the International Holocaust Remembrance Association (IHRA), which has been embraced by governments, universities and civil institutions on both sides of the Atlantic - but with little clarity about what it actually means.

And, as the very phrase "anti-Zionism is antisemitism" reveals, the battle against antisemitism has become as much about restricting speech as about protecting Jews. In the despairing words of Kenneth Stern, lead drafter of the IHRA definition, it has become "weaponised" into "a blunt instrument to label anyone an antisemite" and to "go after pro-Palestinian speech".