Gevalt,
anti-Semitism!
Since its
establishment, more Jews were hurt in wars and terror attacks in Israel than
anywhere else. The war in Gaza endangered world Jews as well, as no other war
has before it.
Haaretz
By Gideon Levy | Aug. 14, 2014
Israel is
today the most dangerous place in the world for Jews. Since its establishment,
more Jews were hurt in wars and terror attacks that took place in Israel than
anywhere else. The war in Gaza took this one step backward – it endangered world
Jews as well, as no other war has before it. The Jewish home, the national
refuge, not only doesn’t provide refuge, but even threatens Jews everywhere
else. When you tote up the results of the war, include that too in the loss
column.
A wave of
animosity is washing over world public opinion. In contrast to the complacent,
blind, smug Israeli public opinion, people abroad saw the pictures in Gaza and
were aghast. No conscientious person could have remained unaffected. The shock
was translated into hatred toward the state that did all that, and in extreme
cases the hatred also awakened anti-Semitism from its lair. Yes, there is
anti-Semitism in the world, even in the 21st century, and Israel has fueled it.
Israel provided it with abundant excuses for hatred.
But not
every anti-Israeli sentiment is anti-Semitism. The opposite is true – most of
the criticism of Israel is still substantive and moral. Anti-Semitism, racist as
any national hatred, popped up on the sidelines of this criticism – and Israel
is indirectly responsible for its appearance.
But
Israel and the Diaspora Jewish establishment automatically tag any criticism as
anti-Semitic. It’s an old trick – the burden of guilt is shifted from those who
perpetrated the Gaza horrors to those who are tainted with so-called
anti-Semitism. It’s not us, it’s you, anti-Semitic world. No matter what Israel
does, the whole world is against it.
This is
nonsense, of course. Just as not every policeman who gives a Jewish driver a
traffic ticket is an anti-Semite, as the Jewish organizations try to put it, and
not every robbery of a rabbi is a hate crime, so not every criticism of Israel
is motivated by hatred of Jews.
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