When Palestinian existence is presented as hatred | Israeli-Palestinian conflict

I am Palestinian. And increasingly, this fact alone is treated as a provocation.

In recent months, I have seen anti-Semitism – a real and deadly form of hatred with a long and horrific history – being emptied of meaning and weaponized to silence Palestinians, criminalize solidarity with us, and shield Israel from accountability as it commits genocide in Gaza. This is not about protecting the Jewish people. It’s about protecting power.

It is now impossible to ignore this trend.

A child educator, Ms. Rachel, whose entire public work is built around caring, learning and empathy, is being called “Anti-Semite of the Year” – not for engaging in any form of hate speech, but for expressing concern for Palestinian children. For recognizing that children in Gaza are being bombed, starved and traumatized. For expressing compassion.

As a Palestinian, I hear the message clearly: even empathy towards our children is dangerous.

Then there is Palestine Action, a protest movement that targets the arms manufacturers that supply the Israeli army. Instead of being debated, contested or even criticized in a democratic framework, it is proscribed as a “terrorist” organization, casually equated with ISIL (ISIS) – a group responsible for mass executions, sexual slavery and genocidal violence.

This comparison is not only obscene. It’s deliberate. This destroys the meaning of the term “terrorism” so completely that political dissent becomes by definition extremism. Resistance becomes a pathology. Protest becomes “terror”. And the Palestinians, once again, are presented not as an occupied people, but as a permanent threat.

Language itself is now criminalized. Phrases such as “globalizing the Intifada” are prohibited without any serious engagement with history or their meaning. Intifada – a word that literally means “to get rid of” – is ripped out of its political context as an uprising against military occupation and reduced to an insult. Palestinians are even denied the right to name their resistance.

At the same time, international law is being actively dismantled.

The staff and judges of the International Criminal Court are sanctioned and intimidated for daring to investigate Israeli war crimes. Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on Palestine, has not only been sanctioned, but also relentlessly vilified – because she uses the language of international law to describe occupation, apartheid and genocide.

When international law is applied to African leaders, it is celebrated.
When applied to Israel, it is treated as an act of hostility.

This brings us to Australia – and one of the most telling moments of all.

Following the horrific Bondi Beach attack, which shocked and horrified Australians, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused the Australian government of encouraging anti-Semitism. Not because of any incitement, nor because of inflammatory rhetoric – but because Australia was moving towards recognizing Palestine as a state.

Read it again.

Diplomatic recognition of the Palestinian state – long considered essential to peace and based on international law – is presented as a moral failure, even as a contributing element to anti-Semitic violence. Palestinian existence itself is seen as the problem.

What makes this moment so troubling is not only that Netanyahu made this claim, but also that so many centers of power followed it rather than challenged it.

Instead of forcefully rejecting the idea that recognizing Palestinian rights could “encourage anti-Semitism,” governments, institutions, and commentators have allowed this premise to stand. Some outright echoed it. Others remained silent. Almost none have confronted the dangerous logic that underpins it: that Palestinian political recognition is inherently destabilizing, provocative or threatening.

This is how moral collapse occurs – not with thunder, but with acquiescence.

The result is not the security of the Jewish people, but the erasure of the Palestinian people.

As a Palestinian, I find this devastating.

This means that my identity is not just contested: it is criminalized. My grief is not just ignored: it is politicized. My demand for justice is not debated – it is pathologized as hatred.

Anti-Semitism is real. It must be faced seriously and without hesitation. The Jewish people deserve safety, dignity and protection – everywhere. But when anti-Semitism expands to include child educators, UN experts, international judges, protest movements, songs, words and even diplomatic recognition of Palestine, then the term no longer serves to protect the Jewish people.

This protects a state from liability.

Worse, this militarization puts Jews in danger by collapsing Jewish identity in the actions of a government committing mass atrocities. It tells the world that Israel speaks for all Jews – and that anyone who opposes it must therefore be hostile to the Jews themselves. This is not protection. This is recklessness disguised as morality.

For Palestinians like me, the psychological toll is immense.

I’m tired of having to preface every sentence with warnings.

I am deeply saddened to see my people starving while they are being lectured on tone.

I am furious that international law seems to apply only in certain politically expedient cases.

And I grieve – not just for Gaza, but also for the moral collapse unfolding around it.

Opposing genocide is not anti-Semitism.

Solidarity is not “terrorism”.

Recognizing Palestine is not an incentive.

Naming your suffering is not violence.

If the world insists on calling me an anti-Semite because I refuse to accept the annihilation of my people, then it is not anti-Semitism that is being fought.

It is a genocide that is justified.

And history will remember who helped make this possible.

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of Al Jazeera.