The Israeli war on the Gaza Strip raised discussion again in academic and research circles about the noticeable change in the trends of Jewish public opinion critical of the Zionist narrative and its relationship to Jewish identity in the largest Western capitals in support of Israeli policies, in light of the escalation of controversy over Israeli politicians’ deliberate intention to label every speech that opposes their settlement policies and rejects Zionist ideology is called "anti-Semitism."

The results of an opinion poll conducted by the Institute for Jewish Policy Research (based in London), released this February, showed a decline in the percentage of British Jews who identify themselves as Zionists from 73% 10 years ago to 63%, especially among young people. The institute's survey, the largest of its kind in studying the formation of Jewish identity in Britain, indicates that young people prefer to separate their Jewish identity from association with Zionism as a political and ideological movement.

The study sheds light on the nature of the relationship between adopting the Zionist ideology and party affiliation among the Jewish minority in Britain, which does not exceed 300,000 Jews but is the second largest Jewish community in Europe. The survey concludes that most British Jewish supporters of the Conservative Party define themselves as 73% are Zionists, while this percentage drops to around 27% among supporters of the Green Party, which is affiliated with the far left of Britain.

The same results also indicated that approximately 88% of the respondents stated that they had visited Israel at least once, while 73% confirmed that they felt some kind of connection towards Israel.

Israel's racism

In an interview with Al Jazeera Net, Braden McGeever, an expert in anti-Semitism and professor of sociology at the University of London, said, “This emotional attachment to Israel no longer means unconditional support for its policies,” referring to a similar poll of the opinions of American Jews regarding Israel’s political behavior and its management of the peace process with the Palestinians, which Reflecting strongly critical positions of those policies.

While a previous poll among Jewish voters conducted by the Jewish Electoral Center found that more than a quarter of respondents agreed with describing Israel as an “apartheid state.”

MacGyver added that “an estimated quarter of the Jewish community in Britain prefers to put a distance between themselves and the Zionist ideology and refuses to be described as Zionists,” considering that these numbers embody a turning point that must be paid attention to, and work to examine and monitor the shifts that will occur in the trends of Jewish public opinion after the events of the 7th of September. Last October, to understand in depth the extent of the impact of the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip on shaping public opinion among Jewish communities around the world in the coming years.

With the escalation of protests in the British street against the war on the Gaza Strip, the “Jewish Voice for Peace” movement emerged, which organized solidarity movements with the people of the Strip in a number of British cities, and went out in protests demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. The movement, which is active in More than one Western capital raises the slogan “Not in our name.” It rejects Israel committing its crimes against the Palestinians in the name of the Jews by monopolizing the representation of their religious and cultural identity.

This trend represents a shift in the mood of Jewish public opinion, especially in Western countries, where the margin of freedom of opinion and expression expands, and a new generation of Jewish communities emerges that is more open and learns about another narrative of the conflict through various channels that is different from the narrative promoted by Israel and the governments that support its policies.

Deliberate confusion

But the accusation of anti-Semitism by Israeli officials in the face of every critic of Israel revives the debate about the necessity of drawing a dividing line between rejection of Zionism and anti-Semitism, especially after Israel accused UN officials who criticized the Israeli military operation against the Gaza Strip of anti-Semitism, a speech that some saw as a deliberate confusion between anti-Semitism. As a racist and discriminatory practice against Jews because of their religious identity, and criticism of Israel and the Zionist settlement project on Palestinian lands.

The British arena experienced this dispute more than once, as it was renewed with the rise of voices criticizing the Labor Party’s handling of what was described as “anti-Semitic statements” made by some of its members commenting on the Israeli war in the Gaza Strip, and holding Israel responsible for the events of October 7. The first is 2023, when the party leadership took the initiative to withdraw its support for two electoral candidates due to their critical views of the occupation.

Meanwhile, a trend within the party warns that the charge of “anti-Semitism” has become a justification to protect Israel from accountability, and a pretext to prevent it from being held accountable for discriminatory policies against the Palestinians.

Source: Al Jazeera