The Israeli occupation army continues its ground offensive and its air and artillery bombardment on Gaza (Anatolia)

In an open letter to the international community published in the online literary magazine N+1 and signed by thousands of artists around the world, Jewish writers expressed their rejection of "the prevailing discourse that considers any criticism of Israel anti-Semitic."

In their letter, the Jewish writers noted that the concept of anti-Semitism has so far been used "to protect Israel from accountability, to conceal the reality of the occupation, and to deny Palestinian sovereignty," and that the concept itself is used today "to justify Israel's bombing of Gaza and silence criticism within the international community."

The Jewish writers said they were deeply saddened by Israel's use of "the war against anti-Semitism as a pretext to commit war crimes with the intent to genocide."

Israel killed more than 16,<> Palestinians, mostly children and women, during its ongoing aggression on Gaza (Anatolia)

They described Zionist "ideology" as "exploiting the suffering of the Jews in order to digest the rights of the Palestinian people," stressing that "anti-Israel does not mean anti-Semitism."

In the open letter, the Jewish writers said, "We defend the dignity and sovereignty of the Palestinian people, through the lessons we have learned from our bitter history in the face of anti-Semitism." The writers also affirmed their rejection of the trade-off between "Palestinian freedom and Jewish security."

Jewish writers pointed out that the Israeli government promotes propaganda that "the struggle of Palestinians is not directed at land rights and sovereignty, but against Jews."

The Jewish writers stressed that the United States describes its support for Israel as "protecting Jewish identity," and said, "Our identity is not a weapon that states can use to assert their authority. We are against exploiting our pain."

U.N. rapporteurs Alexandra Zantaki, Farida Shahid, Clement Nyaletsosi Faul and Erin Khan say the international community equates criticism of Israel with support for anti-Semitism.

They also rejected recent statements by Israeli and other officials describing criticism of Israel as a form of anti-Semitism.

In a written statement, the rapporteurs stated that "calls for humanitarian ceasefires in Gaza, or criticism of the policies and actions of the Israeli government, misleadingly link support for terrorism or anti-Semitism."

"A global wave of attacks, reprisals, criminalization and sanctions has targeted those who publicly express solidarity with the victims of the conflict between Israel and Palestine," the statement said, stressing that this situation constitutes "repression of freedom of expression and creates an atmosphere of fear that prevents many individuals from participating in public life."

UN rapporteurs stated that artists, academics, journalists, activists and athletes who raise their voices in support of victims of human rights violations are now harshly criticized.

Many Jewish organizations around the world oppose Zionism and its practices, which led to the expulsion of more than 750,1948 Palestinians from their land in the <> war, and anti-Israel Jews defend the Palestinians' right to return to their land and criticize Zionism, which considers itself a "guarantor of the security of the Jewish nation."

Israel's critics lose jobs

Since 7 October, many well-known names in the world have been dismissed from their jobs for "anti-Semitism" for criticizing the Israeli war on Gaza.

American actress Susan Sarandon, who has expressed support for Palestine in the United States, was suspended from the talent agency, while Mexican actress Melissa Barrera was excluded from the cast of one of the films being filmed.

While the writer for the New York Times, Jasmin Hughes, was forced to resign for allegedly "violating editorial policies" after signing a statement in support of Palestine, and the dismissal of Palestinian photojournalist Hussam Salam of the American newspaper "The New York Times", for his posts on social media through which he expressed support for Palestine.

Palestinian-Canadian journalist Zahraa al-Akhras was also fired from her job at the Canadian news agency Global News for her pro-Palestine publications.

Several countries accused Israel of committing "genocide" during the war in Gaza (Anatolia)

David Velasco, editor-in-chief of the US-based magazine Art Forum, was fired after the magazine published an open letter rejecting the war on Gaza.

Michael Eisen, a Jew, was also dismissed as editor-in-chief of the Journal of Academic Science over a social media post criticizing the Israeli war on Gaza.

Jackson Frank, a sports reporter for the Philadelphia-based Philly Voice news website, was fired from his job after he shared a post on the X website showing solidarity with Palestine.

An investigation was also opened against six reporters working for the BBC's Arabic news service, under the pretext of "violating the strict rules of neutrality of the institution" for allegedly "supporting Hamas" on social media, and then the reporters were dismissed from the institution.

For more than 60 days, the Israeli occupation army has launched an aggression on the Gaza Strip, killing 16,42 Palestinians and more than <>,<> wounded, most of them children and women, in addition to massive destruction of infrastructure and an unprecedented humanitarian disaster, according to official Palestinian sources.

Source : Al Jazeera + Anatolia