Support for Palestine Anti-Semitic?

Question

There are lists on the internet of celebrities who support Palestine following October 7. They have not verbally condemned Jews as a whole, just expressed support or concern for Palestinians. In fact, some of these lists include a few Jews.
If someone is on that list, does that automatically give them the label ‘antisemite?’ Does publicly supporting Palestine in the absence of open support for the existence of a Jewish state render someone an antisemite?

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Answers

  1. The Just Ask! - AskTheRabbi.org Team

    I think that it really comes down to what they are supporting. If they support the idea of a separate country for the “Palestinians” living in peace next to the State of Israel, then I do not think that that can be described as anti-Semitic. I, personally, feel that such people are ignorant of the history that brought into being the “Palestinian people,” but I do not think that that is anti-Semitism.

    If, on the other hand, they are supporting kidnapping, beheading, rape, kidnapping and a long list of other despicable and disgusting acts of barbarity that were done to the Jews, they are not just anti-Semites – they are lacking even the most rudimentary moral compass that would give them the ability to differentiate between the most basic of all concepts: good and evil.

    Best wishes from the AskTheRabbi.org Team