As Elizabeth Wurtzel herself says, "If you are looking for antisemitism, you can find it anywhere". But just because paranoia is allowed by some to reign supreme over all other emotions, that doesn't make the leap from fact into fiction a legitimate one; hence the rest of her heartfelt argument is, ultimately, rendered utterly redundant by her doing so.

The first of the many false premises she peddled in her piece is the idea that Israel should be collectively judged alongside the worst dictatorships, rather than (as Israel itself would like to be seen) in the company of societies such as those of western Europe and the United States. When Israel was created, the hope was not that it should sink to the level of the worst regimes across the world, but rather emulate the nobler traits of the enlightened nations. That it has, by and large, failed in its attempts to do so does not instantly turn any critic of Israeli policy into a rabid antisemite, any more than an anti-Bush protester is by definition a hater of the entire American people. Israel's shocking lack of adherence to democratic values, its inequitable treatment of its non-Jewish citizens, and the never-ending subjugation of the Palestinians under its control deserves condemnation at every juncture; not to do so would be to abet decades-old injustice in one of the most fractious regions on earth.

Voicing opposition to Israel's policies vis a vis Operation Cast Lead is an entirely understandable, and acceptable, reaction for opponents of the offensive, both inside and outside Israel. Despite a large majority of Israelis supporting the operation, there are daily protests against the war within Israel, in which hundreds of Jewish Israelis take part – yet, by Wurtzel's reckoning, that would render those same Jews as self-hating antisemites for daring to exercise their democratic right and criticise their government's actions.

Turning abroad, when British and American troops invaded Iraq, there was a massive outpouring of opposition in both the UK and the US, by a public utterly at odds with their leaders' actions: did Wurtzel look for, and find, antisemitism latent in those protests? And, if not, then why suggest that the latest round of anti-war protests are fuelled by antisemitism rather than seeing them as simply an extension of the global movement against the mass-bombing, and collective punishment, of civilians?

Of course, amongst the thousands of demonstrators worldwide, there have been some pretty reprehensible expressions of support for Hamas war criminals, as well as some out and out antisemitic sloganeering. Nothing can excuse such occurrences, and the perpetrators of such offences deserve to be roundly castigated for their actions. But Wurtzel isn't concerned with individual hate crimes; rather, she sees any rally in opposition to the Israeli war machine as fundamentally antisemitic, even if all that those taking part in the protests are doing is calling for negotiations over war – because, in her eyes, focussing on Israel at all is equivalent to seeking the downfall and demise of the world Jewry in its entirety. What is occurring in Gaza has, rightly, spread outrage throughout the world; whilst many (myself included) believed, and continue to believe, that Israel's citizens have the right to live free from rocket barrages and terror attacks, there is no doubt that the savagery and scale of Israel's response has overstepped the mark and wrought intolerable suffering on innocent Palestinians. Just because Hamas promote indiscriminate slaughter of civilians does not mean that the IDF must stoop to their level in return. Criticising Hamas doesn't make one Islamophobic – so why should protesting IDF actions mean that those speaking out are falsely tarred with the brush of antisemitism? Perhaps the worst part of her attack on anyone daring to criticise Israel is her duplicity when it comes to blurring the boundaries between Jews and Israelis. It's OK for Wurtzel to pretend that Israel is just a collective mass of Jews all anguishing and agonising over every military move like six million Woody Allens, but woe betide anyone else who portrays Israel as being intrinsically linked to Judaism and the Jewish people. She can't have her angel-food cake and eat it. If people falsely claim that Israeli policy is a manifestation of Jewish values and Jewish thinking, it is precisely because people like Wurtzel give them the opportunity to do so with such conflations as this. As do Aipac and the other lobby groups which purport to represent the Jewish people, yet in fact – by blindly promoting an agenda of Israel right-or-wrong – do immense damage to international Jewry's reputation and safety with their aggressive campaigning.

Muslim leaders around the world have been quick to distinguish between being anti-Israel and antisemitic, in an effort to encourage their followers to demarcate between legitimate protests against the Israeli government and unconscionable attacks against Jewish schools, synagogues and individuals. Wurtzel could learn a lot from their stance, if only she wasn't so deeply embedded in her siege-mentality bunker.