As used by Yitzhak Santis and Gerald M. Steinberg, who originate the phrase in On 'Jew-Washing' and BDS:
These were the “Jew-washers” – very visible actors in many such political attacks on Israel, particularly in Christian frameworks.They are influential beyond their actual numbers, providing a convenient means for cleansing such actions from the stains of double standards, demonization and sometimes anti-Semitism against the Jewish state of Israel, and even Judaism itself.Read the whole thing
Over at The Forward, Philo-logos gives the background to the term Jew-Washing and the long history of its cousin term Pinkwashing. He writes that despite the applicability of the new term, 'Jew-Washing’ Is Bad Practice and Phrase:
Still, it’s a term that is likely, as I said, to catch on, for the simple reason that it refers to something real — the use of Jews to conceal the anti-Semitism in boycotts of Israel (Have the Presbyterians considered boycotting China because of Tibet? India because of Kashmir? Russia because of Chechnya?) — that has no other short, handy way of describing it. Perhaps, indeed, “washing” is on its way to developing a new meaning, so that alongside “Jew-washing,” we will be seeing such expressions as “Muslim-washing” (using Muslims to criticize Islam), “poor-washing” (using poor people to attack the raising of taxes on the rich), “whiplash-washing” (using victims of car accidents to oppose lowering speed limits), etc. I sincerely hope not, though.Read the whole thing
But considering the use of BDS to wage a war of delegitization and demolition against Israel, both the use of Jew-Washing and its labeling as such is unlikely to go away.
