Frequently Asked Questions

Antisemitism is prejudice, hostility, or discrimination against Jews as Jews. It shows up in obvious ways (abuse, vandalism, threats), but also in stereotypes, conspiracies, and coded language that frames Jews as uniquely powerful, uniquely dangerous, or uniquely undeserving of rights and empathy.

No. Criticising Israeli government policy, leaders, or the occupation is not inherently antisemitic. The problem is when criticism is expressed in an antisemitic way, for example by blaming Jews in general for Israel's actions, treating "Zionists" as a euphemism for "Jews", or reaching for conspiracy narratives about hidden Jewish power.

Anti-Zionism becomes antisemitic when it targets Jews as Jews, rather than a political ideology or a state. Common warning signs include:

• using "Zionist" as a substitute for "Jew"
• holding Jews collectively responsible for Israel
• treating Jewish identity, history, or trauma as inherently illegitimate or uniquely suspect
• harassing Jewish people or Jewish spaces because of Israel
• using antisemitic tropes when criticising Israel, for example blood libel style accusations or conspiracy claims that Israel (or "Zionists") controls the world, governments, the media, or finance

Because socialism claims to stand against racism and discrimination. Antisemitism should not exist on the left, and we have a responsibility to confront it in our own political camp. We focus on it in particular because we are from the left ourselves, and we believe in cleaning up the issues in our own movement. Too often, people minimise antisemitism as "smears" or "manufactured outrage", which makes it harder to address and easier to repeat.

The most frequently missed patterns are:

• conspiracy myths: Jews (or "Zionists") secretly control governments, finance, media, or "the system"
• dual loyalty: Jews are assumed to be loyal to Israel or "their own group" over the societies they live in
• collective blame: Jewish people are treated as responsible for Israel's actions
• coded language: "globalists", "Rothschilds", "Zionist lobby", and similar phrases used to imply hidden Jewish manipulation

It is when Jewish people are pressured to account for, apologise for, or denounce the actions of the Israeli state in order to be treated as acceptable. It also includes targeting Jewish communities, Jewish institutions, or random Jewish individuals in response to events in Israel and Palestine. Whatever your politics on Israel, Jews should not be treated as a global stand-in for the Israeli government.

Erasure is when Jewish identity, history, or antisemitism itself is denied or minimised. Examples include:

• insisting Jews are only a religion (and not also a people with shared history)
• dismissing antisemitism claims as automatically bad faith
• denying the reality of Jewish vulnerability by treating Jews as uniquely "too powerful" to be victims

Erasure often appears polite on the surface, but it removes the basic ground needed to understand how antisemitism works.

Because it replaces accountability with conspiracy. Suggesting that people raise antisemitism in bad faith, or that "Zionists" manufacture allegations to silence criticism, echoes classic antisemitic narratives about Jewish manipulation. It also discourages people from naming real antisemitism, which leaves it to fester.

Different institutions use different frameworks. The IHRA working definition is widely adopted and comes with examples; the Jerusalem Declaration was written to clarify boundaries around speech on Israel and Palestine. Our approach is practical: we focus on what repeatedly shows up in the real world, including stereotypes, conspiracy myths, harassment of Jews as Jews, collective blame, and coded language that treats Jews as a sinister "other".

Stop, reflect, and correct it. If you posted something, delete it or add a clear correction. If someone explains why it was harmful, listen without rushing to defend yourself. Antisemitism is often repeated unintentionally through memes, slogans, and assumptions people have never been taught to question. Learning to spot patterns is part of anti-racism work, not an attack on your politics or your character.