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What is Natan Sharansky's 3D test for distinguishing criticism of Israel from antisemitism?
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antisemitism
Demonstrators protesting antisemitism during a silent march in Paris. The march commemorated Mireille Knoll, a Jewish woman who had survived the Holocaust and was murdered in her home on March 23, 2018, in what authorities called a hate crime.
In 2004, Natan Sharansky, a former Soviet human rights activist and Israeli cabinet minister, proposed the "3D test" to help distinguish between legitimate criticism of the Israeli government and antisemitism. According to this framework, the line into antisemitism is crossed when any of the following three elements are present:1
- Double standards: Judging Israel by a standard of behavior that is not applied to other countries.1
- Delegitimization: Denying the fundamental right of Israel to exist.1
- Demonization: Portraying the Israeli state not merely as mistaken or wrongheaded, but as a demonic or evil force in the contemporary world.1
The 3D test serves as a tool for scholars and observers navigating the complex discourse surrounding modern antisemitism, particularly when criticism of state policies shifts toward rhetoric that marginalizes or targets Jewish people as a whole.1