Since the beginning of the offensive on Gaza, which has now caused over 30,000 victims, mostly civilians, the Israeli government has launched continuous and defamatory accusations of anti-Semitism to the countries and international institutions that would like to stop the extermination, and bring relief to the Palestinian population now exhausted by the fame. According to Netanyahu and his ministers they are anti-Semitic: the UN and its Secretary General, Antonio Guterres; Amnesty International; the government of South Africa and the International Court of Justice, which upheld the legal action rather than rejecting it; the International Criminal Court; UNRWA; the International Red Cross; and probably also other states and international organizations that are difficult to keep in mind.
According to many polling agencies, the support of Israeli Jews for this propaganda (which in Israel is called hasbara) fluctuates between 50% and 75%. In a survey by the Pew Research Center approximately half of those interviewed were in favor of the expulsion of Arabs from the State of Israel and almost 80% believed that citizens of Jewish origin were entitled to preferential treatment compared to those of Arab origin. Palestinians residing in Gaza they are compared to the moderates: il 50% of them would be in favor of recognizing Israel in exchange for a two-state solution.
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On the support gathered by the hasbarà among the Jews of diaspora the information is less precise. The Union of Italian Jewish Communities seems rather inclined to welcome Israeli propaganda, and has sent its members a (non-public) document, known above all because it was publicly rejected by the group “Jewish Voices for Peace”. The least that can be said is that in the diaspora the accusations of anti-Semitism against those who oppose the extermination of the population of Gaza seem to have less traction.
There are no doubts about the existence of anti-Semitism in Europe, and also in Italy, but it is important to distinguish the demonstrations against Israel, and calls for a boycott, which constitute political actions against a government and not racist attacks against a people, from genuinely anti-Semitic episodes, which may include the deplorable cases of actual impediment of conferences (Molinari, Parenzo) and the damage of stumbling blocks or other commemorative monuments. In fact, in Israel and in some European countries they seem more serious and frequent the violent demonstrations against critical Jews towards Israel: for example, the Israeli Jewish director Yuval Abraham, whose family included many victims of the Shoah, reported having received death threats in Germany and Israel for his film No other land on the discrimination that Israel carries out against Palestinians.
The continuous and repeated use of the defamatory accusation of anti-Semitism, aimed practically at the whole world not only by the government of Israel, but also by some diaspora communities, inflates the concept and empties it of meaning; and what is more serious exploits a tragic story to serve as justification war crimes currently under scrutiny by international courts. Those who criticize Israel are careful not to involve “the Jews” in condemning the government and parliament of that state; those who try to oppose these criticisms by branding them as anti-Semitic implicitly associate all Jews, even in the diaspora, with unfortunate actions of a government accused of the crime of genocide and damages a people capable of expressing many critical voices within it.