This briefing outlines New Zealand examples from X (formerly Twitter) to explore double standards as a form of antisemitism. 

Since October 7th, there has been a huge increase in the number of ‘pro-Palestine’ (anti-Israel) activists calling for the destruction of Israel. Many activists and protests have stated a desire for Israel to cease to exist as punishment for its actions in Gaza. The position includes a general denial of self-determination for the Jews in their indigenous homeland. 

The antisemitism within the protest movement stems from the call for the eradication of Israel, a demand very rarely made of any other country or state. In most cases, when someone perceives the government of a country to be doing something bad, they call for the removal of that government. Common comparisons made to Israel are apartheid South Africa, Nazi Germany, and Russia in their war on Ukraine. However, en masse, calls to “dismantle” these countries focus on the regime or the discriminating aspect, rather than endorsing the complete destruction of the state itself. To clarify, no war is comparable to another because of a multitude of factors including political context and history, but the lack of consistency in responding to world events has created a double standard towards Israel. This constitutes antisemitism because it holds Israel, the only Jewish state in the world, to a different standard.

Individual 1

Individual 1 uses Israel’s actions to justify the “death” and destruction of Israel in the replies in the following two examples.

Individual 2

Individual 2 also wishes for Israel to “get totally destroyed” because of their “cruelty”.

Individual 3

Individual 3’s reply in this example suggests a certain hope that Israel will not survive.

Individual 4

Individual 4 is much more explicit in their appeal, and the strong language verges on a call to violence and harm toward those living in Israel.

Individual 5

Individual 5 exacts their point with the verb “dismantle” rather than ‘destroy’, however, they still wish to “dismantle” the whole country rather than the government or a system.

Individual 6

To accompany a desire for Israel to be “smashed and scattered”, Individual 6 promotes the idea of a one-state solution called Palestine, inherently denying self-determination for Jews in their ancestral homeland. It is also worth noting that it is not possible to “scatter” a country. Rather, it is likely that this X user refers to the scattering of Israelis. The word “scatter” also evokes the language that is used to describe the Jewish exile (i.e. Deuteronomy 4:27, Nehemiah 1:8, Isaiah 11:12, etc), whereby Jews were expelled from their ancestral homeland.