A very big thank you to all the people who have read and responded to this article, but especially those who have left the maximum claps for this article. Why? Because this also sends a much -needed reassurance to any publication afraid of a backlash in terms of being smeared with the label, 'anti-semitic'.

Unfortunately this has been used as a cudgel to beat down anyone saying anything critical about zionism and Israel, for the past 80 years, ever since zionism reared its ugly fascistic head, to ropose the takeover of Palestinian lands by setters, claiming it based on their interpretations of Jewish texts and narratives.

I have always deeply respected Jewish culture and the people I have known, from my teenage years onwards, and I am active with an organisation supported by Jewish Voices for Peace and Justice, called 'We Are Not Numbers' which is/was based in Gaza. This offered mentorship to young Palestinians wanting to write about their experiences in English.

Even Jewish people seeking to promote human rights for Palestinians, have been tarred constantly with the brush of 'self-hating Jew'.

This is simply fear tactics and manipulation, to silence people and that seems to be what supporters of the so-called 'plucky little democracy' of Israel, have expended a lot of time, energy and resources doing, for decades.

Of course in doing his, they are following in the example of the USA/UK/NAto bloc who sanction or invade other sovereign nations for daring to oppose their policies. Like the entity they created, Israel, the policies of both are all about resource theft from the Global South and Indigenous peoples.