Last week I wrote about anti-Semitism in the United States – specifically, anti-Semitism on the right wing of American politics. Let’s face it: right-wing anti-Semites aren’t exactly subtle with their hatred. They like to attack Jewish writers on social media and send death threats. Left-wing anti-Semitism – and it does exist – is far more insidious, and therefore far more destructive. It’s easy to recognize anti-Semitism in a Trump supporter who sends death threats to a Jewish writer. It’s harder to recognize it in your friends, and most importantly, in yourself. Therefore, I present to you all a checklist for how to determine if you’re a left-wing anti-Semite.

1. “I’m not anti-Semitic, I’m just anti-Zionist!”

Unfortunately, a lot of left-wing anti-Semitism centers around Israel. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is extremely fraught on both sides, and the fact that anti-Semitism is woven into the very fabric of the pro-Palestinian movement does not negate the very real issues with the situation of Palestinians in Israel and the Occupied Territories. However, the switching out of the phrase “anti-Zionist” in place of “anti-Semitic” has become a shelter for left-wingers who want to express toxic ideas about Jewish people without dealing with the fallout that right-wingers experience. The descriptor “anti-Zionist” can mean any number of things: holding Israel to a significantly higher standard than any other country in the world, treating terrorist attacks as “activism,” and supporting movements such as BDS (Boycott, Divest, and Sanction) and SJP (Students for Justice in Palestine) that make Europe and the United States increasingly toxic for Jewish citizens. Whichever meaning you choose, it all means the same thing. Anti-Zionism is just a cover for the ideals and behaviors that anti-Semitism makes explicit.

2. “Jews are a historically privileged group!”

OK, this one’s just inaccurate. What part of being systematically chased out of their homes, having their property stolen, and being murdered in large numbers for the past thousand years suggests privilege? Even ignoring more recent events such as the Holocaust (and believe me, there are people who do), the history of Judaism all over the world is marred with pillage and murder of Jewish people. Ask just about any Jewish person and they’ll have a list of all the places their ancestors were kicked out of. If that’s privilege, I don't want to know what oppression looks like.

3. “Jews are white”/“Jews have white privilege.”

This is sort of related to the last one, and it’s just as stupid. First of all, it erases Jewish people of color, who do exist, and have suffered more for the fact that they aren’t white-passing. Secondly, it puts white-passing Jewish people in a horrible position. Since no one can decide whether Judaism is a race or a religion, Jewish people who experience prejudice and oppression have no platform to talk about their experiences. In the religious arena, prejudice against Jewish people is treated as a thing of the past, and is often seen as nonexistent compared to prejudice against Muslims, and, shockingly, Christians. In the arena of racial issues, Jewish people are told that they’re white and have no right to speak about racial prejudice, despite the fact that Jewish people have been, and are still, treated as a distinct race. This systematic silencing of Jewish people and their experiences occurs mostly on the left wing.

4. “Jewish people are good with money.”

Now, you might be thinking, “Hey, that’s true!,” and I’m not going to comment on whether or not it is. I will say that it’s inappropriate for someone who isn’t Jewish to make that statement. The idea that Jewish people are good with money, or money-grubbing, or greedy, has been seen in anti-Semitic tropes for hundreds of years. Take, for example, Shylock from Shakespeare’s "The Merchant of Venice." The only Jewish character in Shakespearean canon, he’s portrayed as greedy, angry, money-hungry, and out for vengeance against non-Jews – despite the fact that he’s within his rights to be angry. Hitler and Nazi Germany also used this trope to great effect, claiming that Jewish people were taking money from hardworking Germans. These days, making a joke about money-grubbing Jewish people might be in vogue – that is, until you realize that there are people who talk very seriously about the existence of a “Jewish banking cartel" that controls the pursestrings of the entire world.

5. “It’s not terrorism, it’s activism!”

This week there was a terrorist attack in Tel Aviv, Israel that resulted in the deaths of three people and the injury of six more. It was perpetrated by a Palestinian assailant, just as the recent stabbing attacks all across Israel have been. Instead of treating these attacks like terrorism, major news outlets and social justice activists have been treating the attacks as a form of protest against Israel. It might be a form of protest, but it falls under the heading of “cool motive, still murder.” These attacks should be treated as murder first, protest a distant second – and if you see them as otherwise, you might just be a left-wing anti-Semite.

6. Comparing anything happening in the Occupied Territories to the Holocaust.

I don’t think there’s anyone reasonable who’s happy about the conditions Palestinians in the Occupied Territories live under. Similarly, I don’t think that anyone reasonable should compare those situations to the Holocaust, but it happens. I’ll make the distinction as simple as possible: the Israeli occupation of Gaza and the West Bank is a military action; the Holocaust was a genocide. Genocide is defined by the express intent to wipe a certain group of people off the face of the earth, and that in no way describes what is happening in the Territories. To conflate the two is to obscure the very real struggle that Palestinians face and to smear the memory of the six million Jewish people and five million others who were exterminated by the Nazi regime.

The left wing needs a wakeup call with regards to anti-Semitism. Although they believe their rhetoric is fresh and new and centered simply around the nebulous idea of social justice, they are actually playing into centuries-old anti-Semitic tropes that have been used to oppress, steal from and murder Jewish people. I’m tired of sitting by and watching in silence as the Jewish people are vilified once more on the national and international stage.

I’m speaking out. What will you do?