Israel/Palestine

But if you pay attention to the rest of the article, much of the Jewish exodus was triggered by extreme violence, official acts against the local Jewish populations, and outright expulsions from their homes where they lived for centuries.

I am not in a habit of arguing with extremist religious nutcases, so you shouldn't be surprised with me declining that honor. However, since you found merit in the Rabbi's argument, I will respond to you: in the same way that anti-Zionism should not equate to antisemitism, antisemitism should not mask itself as anti-Zionism.

It takes some homework, but it is easy enough to distinguish between antisemitism and anti-Zionism. First, one should take time to learn what Zionism is. If one is ignorant on the subject and calls oneself an anti-Zionist, the conversation ends right there: being anti-something without the basic knowledge of what that something is betrays an argument out of ignorance. Learning about Zionism also helps articulate what specific aspects of Zionism one is "anti-".

Second, one should take time to learn what antisemitism is. In addition to overt anti-Jew hatred, there is a whole category of more covert antisemitic sentiments. There is a large collection of baseless sentiments associated with antisemitism. They are called antisemitic tropes, and they have been used time and again to level unfounded accusations against Jews (BTW, accusations of genocide and ethnic cleansing are nothing new - they have been sporadically leveled against Jews for centuries, way before Gaza)

So here is how to tell the two apart: first, look for hyperbole in describing grievances. It is not antisemitic in itself, but it raises suspicions of an argument being non-factual. Then, look for bias. If the standards for anti-Zionist criticism is applied capriciously towards Zionists and no one else under comparable circumstances, it's a dead giveaway that there is more to it than legitimate criticism. Finally, look for references to antisemitic tropes. If there are accusations resembling them, there is no question: that's antisemitism.