Affirming, Desiring, Calling for Violence

Even though freedom of speech, which constitutes a pillar of many countries’ constitutions, allows any individual to say and believe in whatever they wish, it is a common consensus that it does not include the right to incite to violence or lawless actions. In the case of antisemitism, according to the IHRA definition, “calling for, aiding, or justifying the killing or harming of Jews” is a form of antisemitism; it is important to recognise that if such speech acts target Israelis, Israel and Zionism or Zionists, they can also be antisemitic. In other terms, in order to establish whether an affirmation of, desire and call for violence is antisemitic, it is first crucial to determine if such a demand or the perpetrated brutality itself is motivated by antisemitic ideology—that is, if it attacks its target for being Jewish.