I pressed his hand when we said goodbye with some emotion: thinking This is to press a famous hand. . . . I perceived that he had worked out a complete psychology, which I could only catch on to momentarily in my alarming ignorance. . . How crude & jaunty my own theories were beside his. . . Wherever one cut him, with a little question, he poured, spurted fountains of ideas. And I was impressed by his directness, his terseness. No fluff & dreaminess. (About W.B. Yeats - Woolf's diary entry for November 8, 1930) – Virginia Woolf
The 'new' anti-semitism: is Europe in grip of worst bout of hatred since the Holocaust?
Jewish leaders claim rising Muslim influence has altered mood of continent
Chris McGreal in Jerusalem Tuesday November 25, 2003 The Guardian
Sixty years after the Holocaust, European Jews and Israelis are increasingly wondering if Europe is being sucked into the worst wave of anti-semitism since the second world war.
In the past few weeks, a German MP was forced to resign after saying that Jews were responsible for Soviet atrocities, and the commander of the German army's special forces was sacked for agreeing with him.
Then came the observation by the Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis that Jews are at the root of all evil, and the firebombing of a Jewish school in Paris.
But Israelis felt their fears were confirmed by an opinion poll of EU citizens that placed Israel as the greatest danger to world peace. Israelis were shocked, perplexed and outraged that they should be seen as a bigger threat than North Korea or Iran.
"Anti-semitism has become politically correct in Europe," said Natan Sharansky, the former Soviet dissident and minister in Ariel Sharon's government.
Yesterday Mr Sharon warned European governments that they need to do more to combat a revival of old hatreds responsible for rising anti-semitism. He described Europe's burgeoning Muslim population as a threat to Jews and dismissed accusations that rocket attacks on Gaza and tanks in Jenin have contributed to growing hostility.
"What we are facing in Europe is an anti-semitism that has always existed and it really is not a new phenomenon," the prime minister said in an interview with EUpolitix.com, an online newswire dedicated to EU affairs. "This anti-semitism is fundamental, and today, in order to incite it and to undermine the Jews' rights for self-defence, it is re-aroused. These days to conduct an anti-semite policy is not a popular thing, so the anti-semites bundle their policies in with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict."
Last week, Mr Sharon said growing anti-semitism in Europe contributed to the bombing of two synagogues in Istanbul, the destruction of part of a Jewish school in Paris and a series of smaller attacks on Jewish targets.
"It's 60 years since the Holocaust and we are again the target of attacks, fires," said Cobi Benatoff, president of the European Jewish Congress. "Anti-semitism should have been part of the history of old Europe by now, but unfortunately it is very present and alive in the Europe of today."
For the chairman of Israel's Holocaust memorial council, Avner Shalev, Mr Theodorakis's anti-Jewish statement is a "symptom of the systematic flooding of Europe with incitement against the Jewish people and the state of Israel".
The Israeli Forum to Coordinate the Struggle Against Anti-semitism - a group of Israeli intelligence and foreign ministry officials - defines anti-semitism in three forms: classic, new and Muslim.
The forum asserts that the most dangerous strand has its roots in Islam and that the rising number of Muslims in Europe is responsible for fuelling terror attacks, street violence and general harassment of Jews.
Muslims are also blamed for the spread of anti-semitism to countries such as Denmark, previously renowned for its efforts to save Jewish lives during the Holocaust. Mr Sharon described the growing Muslim population in Europe as "endangering the life of Jewish people."
"Of course the sheer fact that there are a huge amount of Muslims, approximately 70 million in the EU, this issue has also turned into a political matter. I would say, in my opinion, EU governments are not doing enough to tackle anti-semitism," he said.
That view was confirmed for many Israelis when it was revealed that the EU's racism watchdog has suppressed a report on anti-semitism because it concluded that Muslims were behind many incidents.
Israeli officials say the comments of Mr Theodorakis and the German MP, and a claim by the outgoing Malaysian leader, Mahathir Mohamad, that Jews rule the world by proxy and get others to fight and die for them, fall into the category of "classic" anti-semitism.
But it is the "new" anti-semitism that most disturbs some Jewish leaders because they say it emanates from influential groups such as academics, politicians and the media and is dressed up as criticism of Israel's occupation of Palestinian land.
Deborah Lipstadt, the academic who won a libel victory after describing the rightwing historian David Irving as a Holocaust denier, this month described the "new" anti-semitism as directed at the "Rambo Jew, the Jew who is the aggressor".
"What we have seen in these attacks is an obsession with the vilification of Israel; a use of Nazi and Holocaust images to describe Israel and its politics, and a focus on Israel's failures regarding human rights, while totally ignoring the Arab world's failures of human rights," she told a conference in Jerusalem.
Some Israeli critics say a country that claims to be at the forefront of defending western civilisation cannot then demand to be judged by the standards of the states it portrays as terrorist regimes.
But Robert Wistrich, director of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem's international centre for the study of anti-semitism, says human rights is merely a cover. "On the left we see a trend to believing there is a worldwide conspiracy in which Jews and Zionists are implicated," he said. "You have a link of money, Jews, America, world domination, globalisation. The notion that the Jews are a superpower that controls America is both a classic and revamped form of anti-semitism. The most interesting phenomenon is the singling out and demonisation of the state of Israel, that brands it as a Nazi-like state or accuses it of genocide. This kind of discourse is often put forward under the banner of human rights. This is new."
Many on the Israeli left are sceptical.
"We should bear in mind that during the time of the peace process, when Rabin and Peres were leading, Israel was the favourite of the west," said Yaron Ezrahi, an Israeli political scientist. "There was so much support from Europe and its public. Why was anti-semitism so limited during the time Rabin and Peres led the peace process and gave the world the message that Israel was prepared to abandon the occupied territories? Sharon has a long record of calling Israeli critics of his policies traitors, and foreign critics anti-semites. The left is concerned that Sharon's policies are endangering Israel's future by fuelling virulent and violent anti-semitism."
The highlighting are things that strike me.
A couple of questions that come to my mind: Is the European public really against Israel and Jews in general? Is it true, as Mr. Sharon puts it, that you cannot separate criticism of Israeli politics and anti-semitism? Is it true that criticism of anything ever done by Jews equals anti-semitism? Is it really a bad thing that today there are more Muslims in Europe? And is it possible that it's their influence that induces European criticism of Israeli politics?
[Edited by Patrick Füldner on November 25, 2003 6:47 AM]
Mother tongue: Polish Joined: February 18, 2003 Location: Poland
RE: Is Europe anti-semitic?
Thank you Patrick for this interesting topic.
Off topic (that was fast!): When Claude Lanzmann was shooting his film Shoah back in the 20th century, the typical response I would hear in the US to a topic like this one was: "Because the Poles suckled their antisemitism with their mothers' milk." Looks like in the 21st c. the phenomenon is more complex than that. (Should you be interested in some of the fallout of that 20th c. Polish debate, here is one link: http://www.nybooks.com/articles/5129)
Extreme Veteran Mother tongues: Galician, Spanish Posts: 553 Joined: September 15, 2002 Location: Bosnia and Herz.
RE: Is Europe anti-semitic?
Hi
I think Europe is antisemitic, but not as much as the US. Nevertheless, Europe is mainly anti-Zionist, and the US media understands it as antisemitism (which I do not think that is right, since Zionism is just a non-religiuos political ideology).
Nevertheless, if we have to set the Israeli mentality, they are certainly Europeans, and I do not think that the average Israeli considers Europe an anti semitic Continent. Nor I think the thousand of Europeans who are Jews consider Europe antisemit, though, again, there is antisemitsm in Europe.
Mother tongue: Italian Joined: September 23, 2003 Location: Italy
(removed)
RE: Is Europe anti-semitic?
Hi everybody and thanks Patrick for this interesting topic.
Here's another point of view:
Israel's Jewish Critics Aren't 'Self-Hating' There is no path to Jewish security that does not also lead us to global security for all peoples.
by Rabbi Michael Lerner
"Every day, I receive anguished letters, e-mails and phone calls from members of my congregation and others who have been tagged with the label "self-hating Jews." Why? Solely because they've raised questions about Israel's policy toward Palestinians.
There is something deeply hurtful about that term and about the way the Jewish community is treating its dissenters, something reminiscent of the cultural repressiveness of 1950s McCarthyism and its labeling of dissidents as "anti-American." Jews in America are all Jews by choice. Those who wish to leave their religion and ethnicity behind can easily do so. Increasing numbers, when asked about their ethnicity or religion, answer, "my parents are Jewish," indicating that they no longer feel connected to that identity. But most Jews don't make that choice. They feel a special resonance with the history and culture of a people that has proclaimed a message of love, justice and peace while others pursued paths of cruelty and domination. They feel a special pride in being part of a people that has insisted on the possibility of "tikkun," a Hebrew word expressing a belief that the world can be fundamentally healed and transformed. They know that the Jews have paid dearly for that belief, and, though they are angry at the history of anti-Semitism and convinced that no one should ever have to endure again what we endured from Christian Europe, they are also proud that Jewish values kept us from becoming like our oppressors.
A Los Angeles Times poll in 1988 found that some 50% of Jews surveyed identified "a commitment to social equality" as the characteristic most important to their Jewish identity. Only 17% cited a commitment to Israel. Similar statistics have been reported many times in the subsequent 14 years by other pollsters. No wonder, then, that these social-justice oriented American Jews should feel betrayed by Israeli policies that seem transparently immoral and self-destructive.
All of us are outraged at the immoral acts of Palestinian terrorists who blow up Israelis as they sit at a Seder table, or shop in their stores, or sit in cafes or ride in buses. We know that these acts cannot be forgiven, no matter how they have been provoked.
But many of us also understand that Israeli treatment of Palestinians has been immoral and outrageous. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fled their homes in 1948, and recent Israeli historical research has shown that most of them fled not because they were responding to the appeal of Arab leaders, but because they were terrified at the acts of violence by right-wing Israeli terrorists or because they were actually physically forced from their homes by the Israeli army. (The slaying of some 250 Palestinian civilians in a town that had indicated loyalty to Israel, Deir Yassin, was intentionally aimed at convincing Palestinians that they would not be safe in a new Israeli state, no matter how much they wished to live in peace.) Palestinian refugees and their families now number more than 3 million, and many live in horrifying conditions in refugee camps under Israeli military rule. "
Personally I don't think antisemistism is getting stronger in Europe - of course, most people don't agree with Sharon's politics, but personally speaking I don't identify Jewish people with Israeli's current government. It's the same absurd mechanism which led somebody to label anti- Bush manifestations as "anti-American" & consider this a sign of "the hatred against America"
Mother tongue: Polish Joined: February 18, 2003 Location: Poland
RE: Is Europe anti-semitic?
The recent surge of antisemitism, as the media refer to it, may be due to the protracting of the old Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the latest American escalation of tension in the Middle East, especially since we have more and more time to speculate about a possible link between the two.
Mother tongue: Polish Joined: February 18, 2003 Location: Poland
RE: Is Europe anti-semitic?
Originally written by Patrick Füldner on November 25, 2003 6:45 AM
"Anti-semitism should have been part of the history of old Europe by now, but unfortunately it is very present and alive in the Europe of today."
I agree that antisemitism should have become history a long time ago. But this seems to be rendered difficult by constant references to the exclusive rights which were written down in Heaven thousands of years ago and which therefore the chosen people cannot renounce. The same goes for all the other mythologies which are parties to the bloody conflicts we are witnessing.
Primor sieht keinen wachsenden Antisemitismus in Europa
Interview mit Avi Primor, ehemaliger Botschafter Israels in Deutschland
Avi Primor, ehemaliger Botschafter Israels in Deutschland (Foto: AP)
Dirk Müller: Herr Primor, das was Schalom gesagt hat, musste das den Europäern aus israelischer Sicht endlich einmal gesagt werden?
Avi Primor: Ich glaube, dass das gar nicht neu ist. Wir hören das in Israel seit Jahren. Zunächst einmal, dass die Europäer unausgewogen sind gegenüber dem Nahostkonflikt und eher proarabisch oder propalästinensisch seien. Das ist die Tradition in Israel zu mindestens seit 1980, seit dem Gipfel in Venedig, der für einen Palästinenserstaat sich ausgesprochen hat. Damals war dies in Israel noch streng verboten und galt sogar als Sakrileg. Es gab eine kurze Pause während der drei Jahre der Rabin- und Peres-Regierungen, aber sonst ist es immer das gleiche und immer dieselben Vorwürfe. Jetzt spricht man sehr viel von Antisemitismus, zunächst einmal, weil es tatsächlich Antisemitismus gibt, aber ich glaube nicht, dass der Antisemitismus in Europa wächst. Es gibt antisemitische Vorfälle, aber die werden meistens von arabischstämmigen Europäern verursacht und sind mit dem Nahen Osten verbunden. Auf jeden Fall ist es sehr üblich, und ich würde sogar sagen bequem, die Europäer mit Antisemitismus zu beschuldigen, sobald sie die israelische Politik kritisieren. Das ist ja bequemer so, da muss man die Thesen der Kritiker nicht widerlegen, weil man behauptet sie wären nicht rational, sondern emotional.
Müller: Sehen Sie denn, Herr Primor, auch die Europäische Union auf dem Weg der Einseitigkeit?
Primor: Nein, ich glaube nicht, dass die Europäische Union einseitig ist, aber was man sagen muss, ist, dass die Europäische Union keine gemeinsame Außen- und Sicherheitspolitik hat und insofern gibt es verschiedene Stimmen aus Europa. Auf jeden Fall ist klar, dass die Mehrheit der Bevölkerungen der Europäischen Länder eher die israelische Politik kritisiert. Jetzt muss man differenzieren zwischen einer Kritik gegen eine bestimmte Regierung oder sogar besonders gegen eine bestimmte Politik, mit einer Feindseligkeit gegenüber einem Land oder einer Nation. Die Israelis machen diese Differenzierung nicht und insofern glaube ich, dass sie nicht im Recht sind. Aber was Schalom sagt, dass wenn die Europäer eine ausgewogene Politik betreiben würden, anders gesagt, wenn sie eher die israelische Regierung und weniger die Palästinenser unterstützen würden, würden sie mehr Gewicht im Nahen Osten haben, das glaube ich nicht, weil ich fest davon überzeugt bin, dass die Israelis nur Augen für die Vereinigten Staaten haben, weil wir von den Vereinigten Staaten total abhängig sind und auch weil die Vereinigten Staaten uns bedingungslos oder fast bedingungslos unterstützen.
Müller: Sie kennen den europäischen Kontinent ja sehr gut durch ihre politische Erfahrung ja auch in Deutschland. Gibt es da so eine Art politische Falle für die Europäer, gerade auch für die Deutschen, dass ein Anti-Israelismus mit scharfer Kritik an der Regierung Scharon in Israel mit Antisemitismus gleichgesetzt wird?
Primor: Die Israelis haben ja eine gewisse Tradition mit der sie in den Schulen als Kinder schon aufwachsen und das ist die Tradition des Antisemitismus in Europa. Wir lernen als Kinder schon sehr viel von der Verfolgung der Juden in Europa zweitausend Jahre lang und natürlich ist dann der Gipfel dieser Geschichte der Holocaust. Und dann sagt man, die Europäer sind sowieso sehr anfällig, sehr schnell werden sie zu Antisemiten - und damit erklärt man jegliche Kritik gegen eine bestimmte Politik.
Müller: Habe ich Sie denn richtig verstanden, dass der Holocaust und Antisemitismus zum Teil in Israel politisch instrumentalisiert wird?
Primor: Ja, ich würde sagen, es gibt Politiker die instrumentalisieren den Antisemitismus und auch die Erinnerungen an Tragödien der Juden in Europa. Damit meinen Sie eigentlich nicht die Politik, die wir in den besetzten Gebieten zum Beispiel betreiben, oder die Politik gegenüber den Palästinensern, sondern sie sind gegen uns, sie hassen uns und das hat ja seine Wurzeln in der Geschichte. Das wird mehrfach überholt und es gibt Politiker, die das fast täglich der Bevölkerung sagen. Und die Bevölkerung, die diesbezüglich sehr empfindlich ist, aus verständlichen Gründen, glaubt das sehr leicht.
Müller: Wie hat die Bevölkerung, wie haben die Medien auf diese Umfrage reagiert, wonach fast 60 Prozent der EU-Bürger gesagt haben, das Israel eine Gefahr für den Weltfrieden ist?
Primor: Diese Umfrage war tatsächlich sehr verkehrt. Wie kann man fragen, wer oder von wem die größte Gefahr für die Welt besteht, ohne von Palästinensern, El Kaida, Weltterrorismus und Fundamentalismus zu sprechen oder überhaupt von dem Nahen Osten, sondern nur Israel nennen. Also ich gehe davon aus, dass die Leute, die behauptet haben, die größte Gefahr für die Welt und für den Weltfrieden sei Israel, meinten eigentlich den Nahen Osten. Ich glaube, es gab auch solche, die Israel meinten, es gibt ja auch echte Antisemiten. Aber die meisten haben wahrscheinlich an den Nahostkonflikt gedacht und nicht an Israel, aber in dieser Meinungsumfrage haben sie keine Wahl gehabt, sie haben nur Israel gehabt. Aber in Israel versteht man das nicht so. Man sagt: Aha, Sie sagen, das Israel einen Gefahr für sie ist, weil sie Israel hassen, weil sie eigentlich einen Staat Israel eigentlich überhaupt nicht haben wollen und das ist doch die europäische Tradition des Antisemitismus. So erklärt man sich die Sache sehr leicht.
Müller: Helfen diese Töne, die jetzt nun zu hören waren von Schalom, im Friedensprozess weiter? Ist das konstruktiv? Werden die Europäer einlenken?
Primor: Was können die Europäer eigentlich machen? Die Europäer unterstützen ein wenig die Palästinensische Behörde und das tun sie seitdem wir, die israelische Regierung zu Zeiten Rabins und Peres darum gebeten haben. Außerdem brauchen wir eine palästinensische Behörde. Selbst die israelische Regierung weiß, dass wir eine palästinensische Behörde haben. Also insofern sind die Europäer eher nützlich und nicht schädlich. Aber die Europäer, so oder so, wie schon gesagt, werden keinen Einfluss auf die Krise im Nahen Osten haben, oder auf einen Friedensprozess, weil die Amerikaner alles in den Händen halten und wir von den Amerikanern so total abhängig sind, dass wir davon gar nicht ablenken können und auch nicht ablenken wollen.
Müller: Letzte Frage Herr Primor, wer ist der verlässlichste Partner in Europa?
Primor: Also, normalerweise denkt man an Deutschland.
Müller: Und das ist auch so?
Primor: Ja, das ist auch so. Ich glaube nicht, dass Deutschland alleine ist. Es gibt auch andere Länder in Europa, die eine Neigung zu Israel haben. Heute gilt auch Italien als ein Freund Israels, aber das liegt an der Regierung Berlusconi, weil Berlusconi mit seinen Ideen eher sehr antiarabisch ist. Aber als Land, als Tradition, würde ich sagen eher Deutschland.
Müller: Avi Primor war das, früherer israelischer Botschafter in Deutschland, vielen Dank für das Gespräch.
[Edited by Ulrike S on November 25, 2003 11:38 AM]
Mother tongue: Polish Joined: February 18, 2003 Location: Poland
RE: Is Europe anti-semitic?
A rash of doomsday articles in the American and American Jewish press, warning of the approach of a "Second Holocaust," is prompting a rash of, well, bewilderment in Israel, wrote last year http://www.forward.com/issues/2002/02.06.07/news3.html, quoting, among others, Avi Primor, vice president of Tel Aviv University and former Israeli ambassador to Germany, who said that Americans are "overreacting" to the threat of European antisemitism because of lingering psychological scars. "They have a complex that American Jewry did nothing to save European Jewry. During World War II, they didn't act like a strong Jewish lobby. If they'd had AIPAC then, B-52 bombers might have bombed the railroad tracks. So they are trying to do today what they didn't do then, and save European Jewry that no longer needs saving."
Mother tongue: Polish Joined: February 18, 2003 Location: Poland
RE: Is Europe anti-semitic?
Quoting, for the record, from another thread:
Le sionisme a été le dernier mouvement national européen. Le colonialisme israélien, également, est arrivé deux cents ans trop tard. Aussi peut-être est-il normal que le défi d’une nouvelle conception nationale arrive relativement tard.
Uri Avnery
* * *
Selon un sondage de Newsweek effectué juste après le 11 septembre 2001, 58 % des Américains considéraient eux aussi que le soutien de leur pays à Israël était, dans une certaine mesure, responsable des attentats....
"Nous devons comprendre que nous avons une obligation particulière, différente de tout ce que nous avons connu depuis la Seconde Guerre mondiale, de soutenir l’effort de guerre de notre précieuse communauté à tous, les Etats-Unis d’Amérique. Joel Kotkin"
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