I’m from Palestine. And more and more people view that fact as a provocation.
I’ve recently witnessed anti-Semitism, a real, lethal form of hatred with a long and horrible history, being demonized to silence Palestinians, demonize our allies, and defame Israel for its role in the genocide in Gaza. It’s not about Jewish people being protected. It’s about preserving power.
The pattern is now inexplicable.
Ms. Rachel, a Palestinian children’s educator, is referred to as “Anti-Semite of the Year” for her hateful behavior and concern for Palestinian children. Her entire public work revolves around care, learning, and empathy. for acknowledging that Gazan children are suffering from trauma, starvation, and bombings. For expressing compassion.
Even as a Palestinian, I understand that having compassion for our children is dangerous.
A protest movement called Palestine Action targets Israeli military-supplied weapons manufacturers. It is labeled as a “terrorist” organization, which is a group responsible for mass executions, sexual slavery, and genocidal violence, but it is not debated, challenged, or even attacked within a democratic framework.
This comparison goes beyond being outrageous. It is made conscious. It completely alters the definition of “terrorism” that political dissention becomes extremism. Pathology develops from resistance. A protest turns into a “terror”. Palestinians are once more seen as a permanent threat rather than a people under occupation.
Language itself is currently being made illegal. Without any significant connection to history or significance, phrases like “globalise the Intifada” are forbidden. Intifada, a term that literally means “shaking off,” is ripped from its political context as a protest against military occupation and reduced to a slur. Even the right to cite their resistance is denied to Palestinians.
International law is being actively dismantled at the same time.
For daring to investigate Israeli war crimes, the International Criminal Court’s staff and judges are disciplined and intimidated. Because she uses language from international law to describe occupation, apartheid, and genocide, Francesca Albanese, the special rapporteur of the United Nations for Palestine, has been repeatedly criticized and smeared.
African leaders are honored when international law is applied to them.
It is seen as a hostility act when it is used against Israel.
This brings us to Australia, and it’s in one of the most revealing moments of all.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu charged the Australian government with encouraging anti-Semitism following the horrifying attack at Bondi Beach, which shocked and horrified Australians all over. Not because of any anti-Palestine rhetoric, but because Australia had begun to recognize Palestine as a state.
Reread that once more.
Even as a contributor to anti-Semitic violence, the diplomatic recognition of Palestinian statehood is portrayed as a moral failing, long held to be essential to peace and grounded in international law. The issue is presented as the Palestinian’s own existence.
Netanyahu’s assertion that he made this claim, as well as the fact that so many centers of power chose to ignore it, is what makes this situation so disturbing.
Governments, institutions, and commentators allowed the premise to remain in place rather than vehemently rejecting the idea that acknowledging Palestinian rights might “encourage anti-Semitism.” Some completely echoed it. Others remained silent. Nearly none of them confronted the perilous logic that Palestinian political recognition is inherently provocative, threatening, or destabilizing.
Not with thunder, but with acquiescence, as happens in moral collapse.
The end result is the Palestinian people’s erasure rather than Jewish people’s safety.
It is devastating to me as a Palestinian.
It means that I’ve been criminalized rather than just contested. My grief is politicised rather than simply ignored. My demand for justice is pathologized as hatred, not debated.
Anti-Semitism is a real problem. It needs to be confronted without apprehension. Everywhere, the Jewish people deserve protection, safety, and dignity. However, when anti-Semitism is expanded to include children’s educators, UN experts, international judges, protest movements, chants, words, and even the recognition of Palestine by the US, it no longer serves to defend Jews.
It shields a state from accountability.
Worse still, this weaponization puts Jews at risk by putting their Jewish identity at risk in government actions that commit atrocities in large numbers. It teaches the world that Israel represents all Jews, and that anyone who disagrees must therefore be hostile toward Jews. That doesn’t provide protection. It’s recklessness posing as morality.
The psychological strain is severe for Palestinians like me.
I’m sick of having disclaimers in the beginning of every sentence.
Watching my people starve while receiving lectures on tone deeply hurts me.
I detest the limitations of international law in some politically appropriate situations.
And I’m grieving for Gaza as well as the moral collapse that is taking place there.
Anti-Semitism does not apply to opposing genocide.
Solidarity is not “terrorism,” it is not.
Palestine is not incitement, as it is acknowledged.
Not using the name “suffering” is violence.
If the world continues to label me as an anti-Semite because I refuse to accept the annihilation of my people, anti-Semitism is not at issue.
Justifiable genocide is being committed.
And who made that possible in history will remain a mystery.
