It is entirely legitimate to engage in constructive discussions and critiques of Israeli government policies, its handling of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, or other domestic and international matters. The key is to maintain a focus on specific policies and actions, avoid stereotypes or prejudice, and promote a balanced and informed dialogue that seeks to contribute to a more peaceful and just resolution in the region.

An important issue is the distinction between this legitimate criticism and critique, and commentary that assumes an antisemitic character. Unfortunately, the article written by Ebrahim Harvey, “The endless war: Why peace between Israel and Hamas remains elusive”, crosses this threshold. 

The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism is a widely accepted and comprehensive framework that outlines various manifestations of anti-Jewish hatred. One of its goals is to distinguish legitimate criticism from discourse that employs antisemitic tropes or demonises, discriminates negatively against and delegitimises the state of Israel.

Included, in Mr Harvey’s original article published on News24 is the statement (that has subsequently been removed) that the reason for the formation of the State of Israel was “that Jewish Capital was a powerful force in all those countries, especially in Britain and the US. They had huge financial influence and power over those governments”.

The trope which alleges that Jewish leaders manipulate world events is extracted from the notorious antisemitic hoax “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion” that has been circulating for over a century. It is a fabricated conspiracy that has been used to fuel antisemitic hatred. It is widely discredited and rejected by governments, scholars, and responsible media organizations worldwide. Unfortunately, the Protocols continues to influence anti-Semitic narratives and conspiracy theories and is taught in Palestinian schools. 

Included in Mr Harvey’s diatribe is his explicit belief that the formation of the state of Israel was illegal, unlawful and illegitimate. Israel’s formation in 1947 was legal, lawful and legitimate and today has diplomatic relations with over 160 countries including Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco and Bahrain.

The Palestinian Authority led by the PLO recognised Israel in 1993. Harvey, however, has aligned himself with Islamist Jihadist terrorist organisations such as Hamas who in their charter reject Israel’s right to exist and call for its destruction. De-legitimising Israel’s right to exist is not a criticism of Israeli government policies and actions, but antisemitic. 

Mr Harvey’s criticism of the horrific pogrom perpetrated by Hamas last week is qualified by his desire for an explanation of how it advances and strengthens the Palestinian struggle. It is far from being an unequivocal condemnation.

Mr Harvey’s views are extreme, based on unfounded conspiracy theories, blatant misinformation, and therefore are not worth of responding to as this may give them inadvertent legitimacy, attention and credibility. However, the contention that the Palestinians were peace loving victims in when Israel was founded could not be further from the truth.

The Nazi sympathising political leader of the Palestinians in 1948 Haj Amien el Husseini had no desire to live in peace and resolved in 1948 ”to drench this land with your (Jewish) blood, to oust you from this land and save the land and honor from the gravest danger." The massacre of Hebron’s ancient Jewish community occurred in 1929 – who was “penned” in or “blockaded” or under “occupation then? 

The collateral deaths of Palestinian civilians in Gaze is terrible but Sam Harris in his recent podcast The sin of moral equivalence (Episode #338) states that there is no moral equivalence between collateral deaths and the intentional massacre of civilians and its celebration for the purpose of maximising horror.

Simply counting dead bodies is not a way of judging the moral balance. If Israel wanted to commit a genocide of the Palestinian people it could do so. Intentions matter. The death of non-combatants is inadvertent unwanted and regretted by Israel and they go to extra-ordinary steps to avoid it. Because Hamas terrorists deliberately imbed themselves in the heart of their own civilian population, however, this is sometimes unavoidable. Ultimately, it is Hamas, and Hamas alone who bears the guilt for those deaths.

As Harris further states, the truth is that Israel that would live in peace with its neighbours if its neighbours weren’t in thrall of genocidal fanatics. On the other hand, Mr Harvey confirmed that Hamas’ overt objective to overthrow the state of Israel is a legitimate goal that the vast majority of Palestinians support.

When Palestinian groups call for “the river to the sea Palestine will be free” they are not calling for a two-state solution but the destruction of the Jewish state and genocide of the Jews that live there. Last week’s pogrom reminded Jews around the world that when someone threatens them with genocide it is not rhetoric.

To Mr Harvey we say thank-you for revealing your true colours.

Joshua Schewitz is a former South African living in Israel.