When I was active on Facebook, I got into many (fruitless) arguments with self-styled progressives (most of whom I didn't know) who were essentially anti-Semitic in their outlook and used "Zionism" as a rallying cry and an excuse for their intolerance. Now there are many valid reasons in my view to criticize the Israeli government's settlement policy, but you don't criticize all Israeli citizens as purveyors of genocide or write off their concerns for their own safety, nor (still my opinion) do you punish the entire country with a bludgeon like BDS. I would find it irrational for the rest of the world to sanction the U. S. for the anti-Islamic statements and policies of the Trump administration.

If there are paths to establishing peace (and I believe there are), any of them based on anti-Semitism or Islamophobia are bound to fail. But the anti-Zionists apparently see no contradiction in rescuing one group of victims by using victimization as their tool. And you certainly don't extend that intolerance to all Jews, many of whom (in Israel and abroad) oppose anti-Palestinian policies.

It's not a contest, but the intolerance of the anti-Zionists on the left is about as pernicious as that of the white supremacists on the right or the tawdry Christian evangelists who, as the saying goes, love Israel but hate Jews.

I'm sorry that anti-Semitism appears to be so acceptable in New Zealand--one of the few countries I used to consider open-minded--but you find it on the rise among intellectuals in France, the Netherlands and the Scandinavian countries as well, (and it never died out in Poland, Russia, or the U.S.).

I don't have any advice for you. Raising kids in this environment is an ongoing challenge, but I think you're doing the right thing in being open with them and in sharing your story with others.

You may find this poem by Anthony Hecht a bit of solace: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/49087/it-out-herods-herod-pray-you-avoid-it