Hajj Amin al-Husseini (left), Heinrich Himmler (right)

“For the most part, postwar Germany has repudiated and dissociated itself from its Nazi past and has made a serious commitment to the writing of honest history. In contrast, the Arab world has failed to take this important step.”

This post is a collection of resources which provide background on this question: How can we distinguish antisemitism from legitimate criticism of Israel and Zionism? The quote above is from the main article, by Joel Fishman, in the Fall, 2014, issue of the Jewish Political Studies Review, linked to below (# 11).

Please note that half of the items listed below (the odd numbers) are from pro-Zionist sources that generally agree with the definition of antisemitism from the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA). That definition is also supported by the Anti-Defamation League, the World Jewish Congress, etc., and it is found in the first item on the list below. The very next item after that is an Al Jazeera article attacking the defintion. Which brings me to the other half of the list (the even numbers), which are all from sources that are anti-Zionist, and who vehemently reject the IHRA definition (according to which they are all proponents of antisemitism, not to put too fine a point on it). The only exception is the last item (# 13), which is an 80 minute long debate between articulate proponents of both sides of the issue.

  1. Working Definition of Antisemitism International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance
  2. An Al Jazeera “Explainer” on the IHRA definition of antisemitism
  3. The 1948 Arab war against Israel: An aftershock of World War II? by Matthias Kuntzel, fathomjournal.org, June, 2023
  4. Criticism of Israel’s war and occupation is not anti-Semitism Maximilian Hess, Al Jazeera, March 13, 2024
  5. 3D Test of Anti-Semitism: Demonization, Double Standards, Delegitimization by Natan Sharansky, Jewish Political Studies Review 16:3-4 (Fall 2004)
  6. Targeting Free Speech & Redefining Antisemitism: How Pro-Israel Actors Are Using US Laws to Attack Palestinian Activism & Solidarity Lara Friedman, University of the Pacific Law Review, July, 2023
  7. About the IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism Anti-Defamation League
  8. Distorted Definition: Redefining Antisemitism to Silence Advocacy for Palestinian Rights palestinelegal.org
  9. The BDS Pound of Flesh Einat Wilf, tabletmag.com, May 10, 2022
  10. Israel, Palestine, BDS, and the right to boycott in the US Al Jazeera (youtube video),
  11. The Historical Problem of Haj Amin al-Husseini, “Grand Mufti” of Jerusalem Jewish Political Studies Review Volume 26, Numbers 3–4 (Fall, 2014)
  12. Blame it on the mufti Khaled Diab, Al Jazeera (opinion), Oct 22, 2105
  13. Anti-Zionism is Anti-Semitism intelligencesquared.com, a conversation with Melanie Phillips, Einat Wilf, Mehdi Hasan, and Ilan Pappé, chaired by Carrie Gracie