Allegation: Israel is a Settler Colonialist Enterprise
Facts:
- Jews are indigenous to the Land of Israel, rooted in nearly 4,000 years of religious, cultural, and historical ties to and presence in the land.
- Unlike settler colonialism, Zionism did not involve a foreign imperial power conquering land for exploitation, but was driven by Jewish refugees and survivors seeking refuge and autonomy from centuries of violent antisemitism.
- The modern state of Israel enjoys international legitimacy including recognition by the United Nations. It is a democracy that extends rights and protections to all its citizens – Jews and non-Jews alike.
Allegation: Israel Commits Acts of Genocide
Facts:
- Genocide, as defined by international law, involves intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group.
- Israel’s military actions target terrorist groups, not civilians, and are often responses to indiscriminate attacks.
- Terrorist organizations intentionally use Palestinians as human shields, contributing to an increase in civilian deaths during fighting.
- Accusations of genocide devalue the term and distract from real genocides.
- This claim singularly demonizes Israel by accusing it of committing a crime which has been suffered by the Jewish people and therefore some argue that this constitutes a perverse double standard.
Allegation: Israel is an Apartheid State
Facts:
- Apartheid usually refers to the guiding policy of racial segregation in pre-1990s South Africa. Apartheid was a racist, repressive system.
- Within Israel, there are safeguards aimed at ensuring the equal treatment of all citizens.
- While Israel’s policies and practices can certainly be criticized, it is not factually accurate to say they are akin to a permanent and institutionalized system motivated and designed by racism.
Allegation: Israel’s Actions Against the Palestinians Can Be Compared to the Nazis
Facts:
- The Nazis and their collaborators carried out the largest recorded genocide in modern history. Absolutely no comparison can be made between the complex Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the atrocities committed by the Nazis against the Jews.
- There is not now, nor has there been, a significant Israeli ideology, movement, policy or plan to exterminate the Palestinian population.
- This is a charge that is purposefully directed at Jews in an effort to associate the victims of Nazi crimes with the Nazi perpetrators and serves to diminish the significance of the Holocaust.
Allegation: Israel’s treatment of Palestinians is the “root cause” of and largely to blame for the Hamas attack on Oct. 7.
Facts:
- The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is long-standing and complex, with roots in the rejection of a Jewish state by Palestinian and Arab leaders following the 1947 UN plan for two states.
- Upon Israel’s declaration of independence in 1948, neighboring Arab states attacked, aiming to destroy the new state.
- While Israel has signed peace and normalization agreements with some Arab countries, groups like Hamas and states like Iran continue to reject Israel’s existence and promote violence.
- Legitimate criticism of Israeli policies exists, but justifying Hamas’s October 7 attacks as a response to Israel’s actions ignores Hamas’s own extremist goals and denies its responsibility.
Slogan: “From the River to the Sea, Palestine Will be Free”
What it Means and Why it is Problematic:
- This is an antisemitic cry to erase the State of Israel and destroy the Jewish state.
- It is fundamentally a call for a Palestinian state extending from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, territory that includes the State of Israel, which would mean the dismantling of the Jewish state.
Slogan: “Globalize the Intifada”
What it Means and Why it is Problematic:
The chant is a reference to violent Palestinian uprisings against Israel, specifically acts of terrorism and indiscriminate violence against civilians by terrorist groups, including suicide bombing in buses and restaurants. This slogan has been chanted at anti-Israel rallies for years. Jews and Israelis hear this slogan as a call for widespread, indiscriminate violence against Israelis, Jews and Jewish institutions worldwide.
Slogan: “Resistance by Any Means Necessary”
What it Means and Why it is Problematic:
The slogan argues that terrorism against Israel and Israelis is justified. Whatever one’s view of Israeli policies, support for violence, can never be justified.