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Antisemitism in Europe is being normalized instead of being punished
Modern antisemitism is reaching new records in Europe, and still, insulting and demonizing Jews isn’t always punishable in most European countries. The European Commission is trying to respond to the exponential rise in incidents, but they fail to address the prominent manifestation of antisemitism.
On September 19, in Nice, France, the verdict was delivered: Amira Zaiter, a 34-year-old frontwoman of the pro-Palestinian movement in Nice, was sentenced to three years in prison, with one year suspended. The charges against her included apology for terrorism and crimes against humanity, incitement to hatred, hate speech, and discrimination, all carried out under her name on the social media platform X.
Notable posts by Zaiter included statements such as: “Since the 7th of October, I am an antisemite,” “Hitler made a big mistake and should have put all of you in gas chambers,” and “You are combustible”. This case is one of the rare instances where an antisemites was held accountable for their actions. But why?
Well, Ms. Zaiter slipped, not only via her posts on X but also during her trial, which I attended in Nice last October: she kept using the terms Jews and Zionism interchangeably. Still, only her posts mentioning Jews or allusions to the Holocaust were the object of her condemnation. She didn’t play this game the smart way and crossed the line between the politically correct and non-punishable form of antisemitism and the punishable, unacceptable form of it.
But who didn’t cross this line? Emile Gomis, founder of the French sports non-profit “Tousgosport,” when she tweets “Zionist Nazis”; the Spanish “Osasuna Ultras” football association, when they post pictures of an Israeli soccer player donning a Star of David containing a swastika while pledging “destroy Zionism fascism”; or even Mohammed Khatib, a Belgian pro-Palestinian activist, who called for an “Amsterdam free of Zionism.” And the list goes on.
Not surprisingly, the European Agency for Fundamental Rights reported in its last annual survey about antisemitism that “75% of participants feel that people hold them responsible for the Israeli government’s actions because they are Jewish.” Each of the antisemitism reports from last year notes that the overwhelming majority of antisemitic aggressions were linked to Israel and Zionism. My question is: why do policymakers turn a blind eye?
The European Commission, in an initiative to fight antisemitism, adopted the first-ever EU strategy on combating antisemitism and fostering Jewish life (2021–2030). However, their last report noted that among the 27 EU member states, only 14 have adopted standalone national strategies against antisemitism, while 9 address antisemitism as part of broader anti-racism efforts. The Commission has pointed out that many of these plans mention antisemitism in generic terms without addressing its unique challenges.
But what is this strategy? Well, it focuses on three main pillars: preventing antisemitism, protecting and fostering Jewish life, and promoting research, education, and Holocaust remembrance.
We can’t help but notice that while these preventive measures are critical, the alarming surge in antisemitic incidents demonstrates an urgent need for stronger reactive measures. The most effective among them would be the implementation of legal frameworks that would acknowledge its various manifestations, including forms of anti-Zionism. This part seems to be the real challenge: most laws against hate crimes or hate speech only include aggressions on account of one’s race, color, religion, sexual orientation, and gender. There are laws condemning Holocaust denial as well. However, this account of hate speech does leave out the most prominent manifestation of antisemitism, the magic word that instantly legitimizes hate speech toward Jews: Zionism.
Countries must address the fact that antisemitism has evolved, and today disguises under the « anti-Zionist » denomination, not only because the majority of Jews in Europe and outside of it are Zionist, but because it aims to demonize them, silence them, and spread pejorative resentment toward them, exactly like antisemitism. The ones who suffer most from it are, in fact, European Jews. Germany recently passed a resolution intended to fight antisemitism and is being heavily criticized for it. Critics are concerned this resolution would silence all criticism of the Israeli government. However, there’s no need to be a legal expert to notice that expressing criticism of a foreign government and insulting or demonizing all members of one nationality while targeting their local ambassador (here Jews or “Zionists”) are two radically different things. I believe that this distinction could be addressed in the laws defining hate speech, and in the current strategies of prevention and education.
I will give you an example. Recently Julia Layani, a Jewish LGBT militant in France, was chosen to be a jury member of an LGBT film festival. However, 12 of the festival organizers signed a petition to expel Julia from the festival, and this was because she is a « Zionist right-wing extremist ». Julia’s alleged ties with far-right-wing politics were based on the fact that she asked if the Israeli hostages could be mentioned along with the Palestinian and Lebanese victims of the conflict in the Middle East. She was discriminated against, and people used her Zionism to demonize her, silence her, and delegitimize her as a jury member. Europe has a duty to protect her and other victims from this hate that is currently being normalized.
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Sources:
https://www.ynetnews.com/culture/article/bjqgioyg6
https://samidoun.net/2024/11/amsterdam-free-from-zionism-for-a-total-boycott-globalize-the-intifada/
https://fra.europa.eu/en/news/2024/jews-europe-still-face-high-levels-antisemitism
https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2024/11/15/rising-antisemitism-in-belgium-a-call-to-action