Matlow: Jew-hatred has never stopped evolving. Antizionism is its latest iteration

Good commentary:

…It’s easy to chant “Free Palestine” or imagine a single democratic state where everyone has equal rights and lives happily ever after. But seven million Israeli Jews aren’t disappearing. Neither are Palestinians. That’s the trouble with reality: it’s messy, painful and terrible at slogans. The only paths are compromise and co-existence – or forever war. 

Meanwhile, Jews are once again feeling the walls closing in. In Canada, reported antisemitic incidents are at record levels, but stats don’t capture the Star of David tucked under a shirt, the kippah left at home, the Jewish artist dropped from an event after failing a Zionism purity test, or the many Jews pushed out at school or at work. For me, queer spaces used to feel safest. Now they’re where I feel most anxious.

And what recourse do Jews even have when our institutions see us as too powerful – or too deceptive – to deserve the same anti-racist protections as other minorities? Why speak up when you’ll just be accused of “weaponizing antisemitism”? Eventually, a lot of Jews shut up. But silence doesn’t mean there’s nothing to say. It tells you the price of saying it. 

Jews need allies. Nobody wants to be called a “genocide apologist” for standing up for Jews. But that’s how antizionism persists in plain sight: fear of looking racist has become a pretty ingenious way to get people to tolerate Jew-hatred. 

Politicians keep denouncing antisemitism without confronting where the “scourge” is coming from. The answer is uncomfortable because, as the old horror-movie line goes, the call is coming from inside the house. 

Jew-hatred has always been a good stress test for society’s values. So yes, this is about protecting Jews. But it’s as much about protecting a culture where facts still matter, words still mean something, people are allowed to disagree, and minorities deserve solidarity even when they’re politically inconvenient. 

The real divide isn’t pro-Israel versus pro-Palestine, Jews versus Muslims, or left versus right. It’s between reality and ideology, curiosity and certainty, and actually being anti-racist rather than just looking the part. 

Because the real test of our values isn’t how we treat the people we’ve decided are the good guys. It’s whether we apply them to the people we’ve decided are villains.

Rachel ‘Archie’ Matlow is a journalist and author.

Source: Jew-hatred has never stopped evolving. Antizionism is its latest iteration