Some people deny antisemitism the way some adults refuse to acknowledge that Santa Claus isn’t real.
Saying “anti Zionists/pro Palestine protesters aren’t antisemitic!” is a functional response rather than something they believe or or something supported by logic/their personal experience. It’s the same way some parents refuse to acknowledge Santa isn’t real for their children’s benefit even if their children aren’t with them.
The reason to keep up the fiction that Santa is real is 1. Their relationship with their children is affected by it 2. Their nostalgia for childhood Christmas 3. They like Santa and want him to be real 4. The magic of Christmas isn’t magic unless there is a Santa 5. Christmas is a religious holiday without Santa rather than an inclusive holiday so people can opt out of the fiction.
The reason to keep the fantasy “PAnon and anti Zionists aren’t antisemitic,” (contrary to what is obvious from the words and actions of the people involved) is 1. Their relationship to antisemitic leftists is affected 2. Their nostalgia for past leftist movements 3. They like hating a socially acceptable target and want it to be real and justified 4. If anti Zionism is antisemitic the magic of leftism automatically making them a good person doesn’t work 5. That anti Zionism and leftism is a racial and religiously exclusive movement that isn’t actually considerate of oppressed minorities and is largely controlled by Christian tropes, morality, bigotry and practices.
But unlike infantilizing your children during a holiday (an appropriate and delightfully loving way to engage with a child’s emotional and mental development as they grow up,)
infantilizing yourself to spread hateful and destructive propaganda about Jewish people is GROSS, embarrassing, and makes you a hypocrite. It’s dressing up in a red suit and beard so you can say,
“I’m not a bad person who likes hating people based on their identity and likes being friends with people who hate minorities!…
“We’re all just Santa Claus! Merry Christmas!”