One of the most dishonest arguments defending the vilification of Israel in its war against Hamas is that the criticisms of Israel are not antisemitic. 

It is Zionism, not Jews, that is the focus of the protesters' ire. 

Except, if you actually watch the protests, listen to the criticisms, notice the references to a "final solution," and hear the arguments that Hitler was right, it's pretty clear that Zionism is one of the most rational things in the world. 

Just seen on Capitol Hill. pic.twitter.com/dGiGxpQufz

— Christina Hoff Sommers (@CHSommers) July 24, 2024

Jews need a homeland because they need a means to defend themselves against the legions of antisemites who literally and often call for their murder. 

It really is that simple. 

Gaza protesters have removed the American flags from Union Station, lit then on fire with a Netanyahu effigy and replaced them with Palestine flags. pic.twitter.com/c8hz90phqL

— Andrew Leyden (@PenguinSix) July 24, 2024

Jews need a homeland because they are all too often the target of pogroms. A moral panic grips the minds of open and latent antisemites, and they go on rampages. If you look at the protests around the country and around the world, they are not peaceful expressions of opinions, are not aimed at stopping the war, but calls for the elimination of Jews and the Jewish state. "From the River to the Sea" is the same sentiment as making Germany Judenrein. 

"Let's Go Bomb Tel Aviv!" Popular song these days. They all seem to know it at this nightclub in Madrid. It is also available on @AppleMusic @pandoramusic @BoomplayMusic & @tiktok_us. We are witnessing the integration & normalization of antisemitism before our eyes. pic.twitter.com/TsDc6txSf6

— Canary Mission (@canarymission) July 9, 2024

There is no subtlety about this. People are claiming Israel is an "apartheid state," but it is the countries around them that have kicked out the Jews, and Jews straying into the West Bank or Gaza are taking their lives into their own hands. Arabs, on the other hand, are lawmakers, lawyers, and judges with all the rights of citizenship. 

There are people who simply hate Jews and want them dead. No other group has been the subject of so many conspiracy theories, and while Jews are not the only persecuted class of people in the world, they have suffered millennia of hatred and persecution. It is an unbroken record unmatched in human history. 

American broadcaster @BenBergquam comes to London & meets pro-Palestine thugs at a London univeristy. One threatens to "shank" him the neck.

Why are these people not deported? pic.twitter.com/kn5eBYTeNi

— David Atherton (@DaveAtherton20) June 20, 2024

Jews need a homeland because, without the autonomy to act in self-defense, the Jews will be powerless. 

Having an independent state is no assurance of safety--that, too, is proven by recent history--but it does give Jews necessary autonomy. 

All this is to say that anti-Zionism is antisemitic. Without a homeland, Jews will always depend on the whims of others to defend them, and history shows that friends and allies are not always reliable in doing so. 

That's just a reality. We can all wish it weren't, but there it is.