John Mearsheimer

any way you want, right?

And you can define antisemitism to incorporate anti-Zionism.

And I think we have reached the point where antisemitism

is identified today, not just with anti-Zionism, but with criticism of Israel.

If you criticize Israel, people will say, some people will say, you're an anti-Semite.

And if that's your definition of anti-Semitism, it's taken an important term and stretched it to the point where it's meaningless, right?

So when Steve and I wrote the book,

wrote the article and then wrote the book, all sorts of people said that we were anti-Semites.

This is a ludicrous charge.

But what they meant was you're criticizing the lobby, you're criticizing Israel, and therefore you're an anti-Semite.

OK, if that's what an anti-Semite is, somebody who criticizes Israel, you know, probably half the Jewish community, if not more in the United States, is anti-Semitic.

And, of course, you get into all these crazy games where people are calling Jews self-hating Jews and anti-Semites because they're critical of Israel.

But even people who are anti-Zionist, I don't think they're anti-Semitic at all.

You can argue they're misguided.

That's fine.

But many of these people are Jewish and proud of the fact that they're Jewish.

They just don't believe that nationalism and Jewish nationalism is a force that should be applauded.

And you want to understand that in the American context, there is a rich tradition of anti-Zionism, right?

And these were not people who were anti-Semites, if you go back to the 30s, 40s, 50s.

And the same thing was even true in Europe.