When Did We Decide Antisemitism Was Okay?

Since October 2023, the passive observer has witnessed seemingly unending cruelty and bloodlust exerted by the Israeli war machine. The state’s obtrusive expansion, retaliation and settlement policies have been in place practically since its inception, of course, but these have happened largely away from the public eye. The American, European or global audience has been aware, perhaps even against the actions of state, yet the public consensus on the Israeli regime has been an afterthought in comparison to what has followed in recent years.

The actions of the Israeli government and the IDF are deplorable, and the land and hearts of Palestinians will remain scarred forever as a result. This is a fact that should never be diminished nor forgotten. However, another glaring result of the Israeli regime’s actions is the irreversible damage done to the distinction, or lack thereof, between Zionism and Judaism, and the meteoric rise of accepted antisemitism in popular discourse.

While the definition may vary from whoever you may ask, Zionism is a political belief. It is a nationalist, colonial ideology which dictates that Jews constitute a nation, and that this nation belongs on the Jewish holy lands of Jerusalem, the West Bank and its surrounding areas. Judaism, on the other hand, is a religious faith, originating some 4,000 years prior to the establishment of modern Israel around the teachings of Abraham. In short, Judaism is the belief in God and Abraham, while Zionism is the belief that Palestine should instead be Israel.

This somewhat rudimentary history lesson is important to understand why antisemitism is so rife throughout today’s Western world. It follows that, naturally, the vast majority of Zionists are Jews – it is an ideology rooted in the protection and expansion of Jewish land, after all. However, not all Zionists are Jews, and certainly not all Jews are Zionists. US President Donald Trump, for example, certainly appears to believe in the expansion of Israel while struggling to abide by even the most elementary teachings of the Christian Bible. On the other hand, groups of Orthodox Jews are present at nearly every major documented march or protest opposed to the Palestinian genocide. This should mean that public outcry against the murder of Palestinians is directed specifically at Zionists, Jewish or not, yet this is unfortunately not the case.

In online spaces, such as X, in the months following the October 7^th escalation, it was becoming apparent that this distinction was being skewed. On one hand, some of the criticism against individual soldiers and the IDF as a whole was fuelled by antisemitic remarks and stereotypes, while on the other, widespread coverage of the genocide drew in commentators unfamiliar with the difference between the religious faith and the political perpetrators who cowered behind it.

This lack of distinction or education was also aided massively by the reluctance of governments, such as the UK’s, to separate the two ideals. As Palestine Action was ruled a terrorist organisation under the 2000 Terrorism Act in July 2025 on the grounds of antisemitism, criticism of Israel suddenly became criticism of Jews and the Jewish faith. For our aforementioned passive onlooker, what reason was there for thinking any otherwise?

While still persistent, the ever-turning cycle of online social justice has thankfully begun to catch wind of the antisemitic sentiment behind some of the more overzealous commentary online. However, in its place has developed an even more confusing and arbitrary form of hatred – one with far deeper roots and with far worse consequences for the younger generations.

Louis Theroux’s newest documentary, Inside the Manosphere, took the world by storm these past few weeks, examining the inner workings of the far-right and often extremist streamers and influencers occupying a large corner of the internet. The misogyny, racism and bigotry they expel is closely examined and exposed, in a way that only Theroux seems to be able to extract from his subjects, but something that stuck out as intriguing was the lack of regard for the “manosphere’s” almost vitriolic antisemitic remarks. Not a critique of Theroux, specifically, as it’s more than likely the issue was noticed and not included in the final edit of the documentary. Further, the comments were nonsensical, indicative of a five-year-old repeating a swear word overhead from their father, and likely not addressed in the documentary to make their ramblings seem even more unhinged. But despite that, their comments almost left the worst taste in the mouth. While the rest of the manosphere act appears calculated, and with an expressed concern not to detract from the truly dangerous sentiment these influencers leave towards women and minorities, the hatred of Jews seemed a callous afterthought, given as much consideration as a Klan member would give their hatred of a Black man. 

On a personal note, it bothers me slightly that I’m unable to truly decipher why the manosphere has adopted “the Jews” as a common enemy – as I’ve grown up, I’ve remained close to the internet’s never-ending waves of trends and commotion, in a way that I find gives unique insight into topics like these. However, my guesses of, perhaps, old Rothschild conspiracy theories, Netanyahu’s supposed control over the West or simply old-fashioned fascist populism tactics are as good as any.

It acts as a good segue to a final question, however: when did all of this become okay? A hyperbolic sentiment, of course, as many of those perpetrating antisemitism online would likely disagree with the idea, and even those with genuine hatred would probably still agree it wasn’t necessarily “okay”. But with that being said, we can now see it everywhere we turn, with seemingly no consequences. X users are not banned for antisemitism, nor are far-right streamers who spout conspiracies daily for an impressionable audience. The same way that women and LGBTQ+ members have been made to feel unsafe as a result of online bigotry, non-Zionist Jews, opposed to Israeli bloodlust and in the pursuit of a free Palestinian state, will soon be the same. While often seen as a fringe issue, it creates an incredibly worrying sentiment that hatred can be spread so freely towards a group so broad.

Image: Wikimedia Commons/German Federal Archives

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