A hot topic of debate these days is defining anti-Semitism — almost to the point where the definition is discussed more than the actual anti-Semitism. The hearing at Boulder Valley School District earlier this month was a perfect illustration. A large chunk of people spent more time decrying the IHRA definition of anti-Semitism, the ADL and Israel than they did expressing concern that children were physically harassed and bullied because they were Jewish.
For the record, the IHRA working definition of anti-Semitism does not mention Israel, though a number of its accompanying examples do.
The example that is blindingly obvious is this one: “Applying double standards by requiring of [Israel] a behavior not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation.” When the only permanent agenda item at the UN Human Rights Council is about Israel, the case is pretty much closed.
The typical response to the double standard argument is that it’s a form of whataboutism. As in, “Why are you asking me if I care about Syria/Sudan/Nigeria? It doesn’t change that what Israel is doing is wrong.” Potentially a sound argument. It falls apart when witnessing the mass hysteria of thousands of people becoming violently passionate about a topic and region they know almost nothing about.
Another argument is that “we are funding genocide with our tax dollars” and that has to stop.
Yet no similar protests exist against a different key US ally in the Middle East — Turkey — where until about two weeks ago, its Kurdish minority was personae non grata. Where were protests when Kurds were prevented from speaking their language, eating their cultural foods and forcibly moved? Even after the ceasefire in the mid-2000s, discrimination continued, including until about a year ago, forbidding Kurds from writing their university papers in Kurdish.
Where were protests against apartheid in Turkey? Against the US sending aid to Turkey?
That’s the double standard.
In countries like Syria and Lebanon, Palestinians are not permitted to acquire citizenship. Some even still live in refugee camps, close to 80 years later. It was and is apartheid — but never mentioned by so-called pro-Palestinia activists.
The double standard is real. It does not absolve anyone of bad behavior, but anyone who claims to be intellectually honest must acknowledge it.
Definitions matter.
© IJN 2026