While we must always be vigilant against racism in all its forms, it should be remembered that Israel is a state, not a race. As such, it may legitimately be criticised, like any other. This is not to deny that some such criticism may be racially motivated, but no state is automatically insulated from all criticism by virtue of its people, nor is all criticism of a state automatically directed also at its people.

When Andrew Bolt was convicted under the Racial Discrimination Act in 2011, there were loud protests that this infringed free speech, although Bolt wrote unequivocally about the race of his subjects. These critics are deafeningly silent now that the same law is being used in an attempt to stifle BDS, which, whatever its merits as applied to Israel, is a peaceful form of political expression directed at a state, not a people.