Zio-Judeo-Conflation? No Thanks!
By Jepke Goudsmit and Jews Against The Occupation '48
Dec 19, 2024
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Equating anti-Zionism with antisemitism and Judaism with Zionism are two dangerous misconceptions that play into the hands of those who are justifying apartheid and Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza. They inhibit us from using our critical faculties to apply our findings with clarity and consistency.
Criticism of Israel’s far-right Zionist government has been growing worldwide. Recent reports by Amnesty International and the UN Special Rapporteur on Occupied Palestine have now concluded that Israel is committing genocide. Two of Israel’s highest-ranking politicians have been issued arrest warrants for war crimes by the International Criminal Court, and more are in the pipeline. Respect for the USA and other Western countries that actively enable Israel’s war and illegal occupation is falling rapidly. Israel’s (and the USA’s) impunity when trampling on international law is now obvious, in Gaza, in the rest of Occupied Palestinian Territory, and beyond.
Many people around the world, Jewish and otherwise, question Israel’s notion of what it stands for. The Israel they see — a nation in perpetual war, sick with fear, hatred and racism — no longer fits their values. They have started criticising Israel’s policies and geopolitical maneuverings. They are joining human rights groups and movements everywhere. They are rallying in the streets for peace and justice. They are writing petitions and letters to their governments to stop arming Israel. They are making it crystal clear that what Israel and its allies do is wrong, and actually criminal. They — especially the Jewish people among them — maintain that genocide should not ever be done in their name.
It comes as no surprise that the Australian Government’s Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism, Jillian Segal, is interpreting criticisms of Israel as signs of antisemitism. In July, the Jewish Council of Australia wrote to the Albanese government that the “appointment of a pro-Israel advocate as a Special Envoy on Antisemitism” was deeply concerning, and that distinguishing antisemitism from other forms of racism undermined the work being done to address all forms of bigotry.
Following the arson attack on the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne/Naarm, Jillian Segal labelled the protest rallies against Israel’s war on the Palestinian people as “sinister”, “intimidatory”, and “attacks on the Jewish community”, and called for more restrictions and police intervention.
Discomfort when confronted with facts one would rather not see must not be contorted into attack and intimidation. This Sydneysider attending the peaceful protests can assure that the rallies are safe for all, including for Jews. Members of Jewish human rights groups have been at these weekly rallies alongside the many other solidarity groups and have participated in the lively discourse at universities ever since Israel’s extreme onslaught on Gaza began. Australians of Jewish, Palestinian, Aboriginal, Arab, European, Asian, African, South American — indeed of any background or faith — have been coming together to counteract the propaganda, and to work towards justice and peace.
In contrast to Jillian Segal’s divisive reaction to the attack on the Synagogue, Jews Against the Occupation ‘48 released a statement on the day of the arson, condemning the apparently antisemitic attack on the Adass Israel Synagogue in Naarm-Melbourne, rejecting unfounded speculation that this crime related to pro-Palestinian sentiment, and condemning attempts to exploit the pain of Jewish communities to further the Zionist agenda.
Unfortunately, some synagogues are dangerously exacerbating this problem of conflation by hosting pro-Israel fundraising events of questionable legality. An appalling example was the speaking tour of Doron Almog, a former general of the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) in March this year to raise tax-exempt funds for the United Israel Appeal, which helps finance Israel’s military. Doron Almog has been accused of war crimes, including the mass murder of Palestinian civilians and the demolition of Palestinian homes. In September 2005, the Chief London Magistrate issued a warrant for Almog’s arrest under the 1949 Geneva Conventions.
Thankfully, a subsequent application for a visa by far-right former Israeli minister Ayelet Shaked was not granted by Minister Tony Burke, preventing her from conducting a speaking tour in Australia that he said could spread hatred and cause division. On cue, pro-Israel representatives characterised the visa refusal as antisemitic.
A related deeply worrying issue is the current recruitment of young Australian Jews into the IDF. As the immediate past president of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, our Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism should be well aware of this. As a lawyer, she should also know that inducing Australians to enlist in a foreign army is illegal. If she indeed condones unlawful actions, she could become complicit in stoking resentment at the impunity of Zionist agents of Israel in Australia, who through their insistent conflation of their cause with Judaism, are highly likely to foment antisemitism.
Israel’s Zionism is a political system of inherent apartheid that should be criticised. Judaism is an ancient religion with deep cultural and spiritual roots, which one should be able to practice in peace, without the threat of discrimination or persecution. The problem is that Israel, through the modern ideology of political Zionism, has hijacked Judaism. For Israel to keep doing what it is doing — imposing itself as a Jewish state, masquerading as a democracy, and engaging in military expansionism — it needs to be seen as the forever-victim entitled to unconditional support and protection, and its perpetual aggression as self-defence.
It perfectly suits Israel’s agenda to conflate anti-Zionism with antisemitism. Its leaders take every opportunity to declare any criticism of Israel, however small, as antisemitic. Israel’s president addresses Jews of all countries as if they are his own subjects, calling for them to toe the line or else. The words “sinister” and ‘intimidatory” are more applicable to him than to peaceful protesters in the streets of Sydney.
Meanwhile, far-right groups such as neo-Nazis are taking advantage of this lack of clear, unbiased leadership to discriminate against Jews, Muslims, LGBTQIA + people, and non-white members of our society. If we want safety for all in our multicultural Australia, decoupling anti-Zionism from antisemitism and Judaism from Zionism would be a good start.
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Jepke Goudsmit is a theatre maker. Since 1985 she has been co-director of Kinetic Energy Theatre Company. Since 2004 the company has focused on social justice and human rights issues through theatre-in-education.
