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This page has been created to offer continuing education, updates, and insights as news and information can change at a rapid pace. 

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We appreciate all the work all of you continue to do and hope that the information on this page can assist you in both your content, knowledge, and your lives.

Does a statement do any of the following: delegitimize, demonize, or show a double standard?

Example: “It is not antisemitic for Ben and Jerry’s to stop selling to parts of Israel due to the company’s ‘values.’”

• This is holding Israel to a double standard since it is apparently still within the company’s values to sell to China when they have been accused of far more human rights violations against Rohingya Muslims. So, yes, Ben and Jerry’s deciding not to sell in parts of Israel is antisemitic in this case.

While the above example is a statement about Israel, the “three D’s” can be used to examine claims and statements made about Jews, Judaism, and Israel, to help determine if they are antisemitic.

This is a statement that comes from the common misconception that Israel, and the history of the Jewish people there, only began in 1948. The Jewish people are native to the land of Israel. Today the majority of Israelis trace their roots to the Middle East and North Africa. The Jewish people have had a constant presence in Israel for thousands of years that can be traced through an abundance of archeological evidence and family histories. Indigenous rights do not expire. Jews had one of the longest diaspora experiences of any people living outside of their land and were forbidden by empires to return. But, no matter what, Indigenous rights do not expire.

The Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement signed in September of 1995 established the Joint Water Committee, stipulating how water must be addressed in the West Bank. The agreement was supposed to last 5 years but continues to exist. The agreement was signed by Israel and the Palestinians and witnessed by the US, Russia, the EU, Norway, Jordan, and Egypt. Water Rights in the West Bank are recognized.

In 2015 the Joint Water Committee announced doubling water delivery to Gaza and Palestinian territories. Water provided to the territories is about 10% of the water consumed in the territories.

Though Israel is often accused of “stealing” water or otherwise misallocating supplies to the disadvantage of the Palestinians, a study by Professor Haim Gvirtzman found “there is almost no difference in per capita consumption of natural water between Israelis and Palestinians.”

In 2018 the EU organized $559 million to improve Gaza’s water situation including a desalination facility.

The Palestinians are not developing any new water sources through sewage treatment or desalination. Israel makes extensive use of recycled wastewater in agriculture; the Palestinians do not recycle.

Again, the short answer is no. This claim usually comes from a misunderstanding, where it is assumed that Ashkenazi Jews are the only Jews in the world. Under this misconception, some people claim that Israeli food in particular (say hummus, or falafel) is appropriated. However, Mizrahi Jews have lived in Israel and the Middle East for thousands of years. Israeli cuisine leans heavily on Mizrahi influences. Saying that Jews appropriated foods from other cultures erases the experiences and the history of Mizrahi Jews as a whole. 

• The earliest written record of the name ‘Israel’ was inscribed for Egyptian Pharaoh Merneptah around 1209 BCE
• King David and King Solomon reigned around 1000 BCE, which is also when the first Temple was built
• The Kingdom of Israel split after the death of King Solomon into the Northern Kingdom of Israel and the Southern Kingdom of Judea.
• The Kingdom of Israel was conquered by the Neo-Assyrian Empire around 720 BCE
• 587-586 BCE King Nebuchadnezzar II destroyed the first temple and exiled the Jewish people
• 538 BCE Jewish exiles returned from Babylon and the second Temple was constructed.
• 333 BCE Greek conquest of the region by the army of Alexander the Great
• King Antiochus IV desecrated the Temple. The actions of the Greeks led to the revolt by the Maccabean family.
• The Romans conquered Jerusalem and destroyed the second Temple in 70 CE
• 313-636 CE was the Byzantine period. Ruled over by Emperor Constantine, Christianity became widely practiced in the area and churches were built in Jerusalem, Nazareth and the Galilee.
• 638 CE was the beginning of the Arab period after the Rashidun Caliphate conquered the area.
• 1023 CE the Dome of the Rock was built by Caliph Abd el-Malik on the grounds of the second Temple.
• Later rebellions, the final of which was at Masada, led the Romans to erect a pagan city in place of Jerusalem, in which Jews were forbidden to live.
• At this time, the Romans renamed the region “Palestine” and exiled a portion of the population.
• 1099 - 1291 CE was the period of the Crusades. The crusaders came from Europe to capture the Holy Land after an appeal by Pope Urban II. They massacred much of the non-Christian population.
• 1517 and 1917, the area was part of the Ottoman Empire. Initially
  prosperous, as the Empire declined, it was reduced to a sparsely
  populated, impoverished, barren region.

In history and literature, there is no evidence of any ancient Muslim people being referred to as “Palestinian”. Before the State of Israel, the term “Palestinian” was used by the Jews to refer to themselves. One of the first times Arabs were referred to as “Palestinians” was when Egypt’s President, with the help of the USSR, established the “Palestinian Liberation Organization” in 1964.

​Many of today’s Arab Palestinians arrived as migrants in the late 19th and 20th centuries. 453,000 descendants of indigenous Muslim residents constitute only 4.3% of the current “Palestinian” population. 

If we go back further the first major Arab population in the area known as Israel came in the 7th century CE when the Rashidun Caliphate conquered the area. Jews resided in the area long before this. 

Riots and clashes on the Temple Mount seem common on the news. While the King of Jordan and the Islamic Waqf manage the Temple Mount, Israel still supplies security. Sometimes Israeli soldiers must enter the site, including the Al Aqsa Mosque, to remove rioters who are throwing rocks at soldiers or civilians. The idea is to make sure freedom of prayer is promoted, and that includes Muslims being able to pray in peace. However, while Non-Muslims are allowed to visit the Temple Mount at fixed times, Jews and other non-Muslims are not permitted to pray on the Temple Mount.

Often, the entrance of soldiers into any situation suggests that Israel instigated violence rather than reacted to it. Often, when rumors spread that Jews are going to visit an attempt to pray on the Temple Mount, Palestinians gather in the area where the hurling of rocks and fireworks can often lead to an escalation in violence on the site. 

The Mount is a symbol, as well as an important holy site, to both Jews and Muslims. Jews must understand that Muslims have a deep connection to the area, and Palestinians must not deny the Jewish connection to the site and stop the disinformation campaign that Jews have no roots in the area. 

The Nakba refers to the consequences of Israel’s 1948 war. The term was coined by a Syrian historian. After Israel declared its independence (based on UN resolution 181 that divided the former Palestinian mandate into a Jewish and an Arab state), Palestinian Arabs refused to recognize the agreement and five Arab nations invaded the former Palestinian mandate territory, the attacking armies encouraged Palestinian Arabs to leave until the fighting was over. When Israel successfully repelled the attack and Arabs lost land and could not return to where they had been living before the conflict. This led to a permanent displacement of Palestinian Arabs, in part due to the war, and in part, due to the fact other Arab countries would not take them in as citizens.

Palestinians see it as “the catastrophe,” and the ongoing persecution, displacement, and occupation of the Palestinians. This view ignores a large number of historical facts surrounding how, when, and why Palestinians left the area that was once the British Mandate of Palestine.

• Specificity - if someone is against a policy, a politician's rhetoric, a single instance, or a leader. It is fine and encouraged, that people disagree with Israel, but there has to be knowledge behind the claim.
• The 3 D’s - do not delegitimize, demonize, or show a double standard toward Israel as a country. 
• Reference the IHRA (International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance - made up of 31 member states, including the USA, Canada, Israel, and Germany) statement on antisemitism. The IHRA uses a non-legally binding statement on what antisemitism is to help highlight when actions or words can be considered antisemitic. It states “Antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.” 
• Make sure to never use any antisemitic tropes, ex: Jews are greedy, power-hungry, conspiring to eliminate non-Jewish peoples, or that Jews have control of the media.

• Times of Israel
• JPost
• Haaretz (note, they lean left politically)

• Al Jazeera - often criticized for its involvement in controversies ranging from slanted journalism to anti-Hindu bias and anti-Israel bias, Al Jazeera also has a strong tie to the Qatari government.
• Eye on Palestine- always be wary of news sources that are completely social media based and do not sight any sources or provide context for their content
• Jewish Voices for Peace - Known to falsify Jewish history, holidays, and solemn observations. JVP often inches toward Holocaust denial, including stating that “The Holocaust justifies the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians
• IMEU (Institute for Middle East Understanding) often shares information from Al Jazeera and is known for being specifically pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel
• Amnesty International - Promote the idea that Israel is an “apartheid” state, despite all the evidence to the contrary.