jaja
27-11-03, 09:55
Viewpoints: Anti-Semitism and Europe
Israel's prime minister says anti-Semitism is rising in Europe, citing attacks on Jews and Jewish interests. His remarks followed an EU poll which showed many believe Israel is the greatest threat to world peace. Is anti-Semitism really increasing? Is hostility towards Israeli policy in the Middle East becoming anti-Jewish? BBC News Online asked 12 experts on Jewish affairs from Europe and Israel to reflect on the charge. Click on the quotes below to read more. If you would like to tell us what you think, please use the form provided.
--
Robert Wistrich, director of the Vidal Sassoon International Center for the Study of Anti-Semitism in Jerusalem:
There was outrage and shock over the recent EU poll. Many Israelis regard this as anti-Semitism of sorts. Even if there were other factors involved, people feel there must be a lot of general prejudice around for such results to occur. There is a clear feeling from the Israeli point of view that what is at stake now is the very legitimacy of the state of Israel in a moral, historical and political sense.
When we get to a point when it is becoming acceptable in many places in Europe and even in mainstream opinion to label Israel as a Nazi state, or, in more diplomatic language, an apartheid state, the Israeli citizen feels that their very right to exist in any form, whether politically or as a nation, is being challenged. Israelis feel that their country, whatever criticisms they have of it - and Jews in Israel are gold medallists where it comes to criticising their own government - is being made into a pariah.
People here have a sense of systematic stigmatisation and even a demonisation of Israel. I think that one of the more hopeful signs in recent months is a growing realisation by governments, however reluctantly, of the need to come to grips with anti-Semitism. President Jacques Chirac and the French Government were in denial for a long time. Mr Chirac was saying there was no anti-Semitism in the French republic. Now, there has been a complete turnaround. I fear it is a bit late, but better late than never.
--
Henri Wajnblum, former president of the Union of Progressive Jews in Belgium:
It is certainly true that we have seen more incidents of anti-Semitic violence in the recent past: graffiti, arson attacks and the like, which are indeed worrying. But it is wrong to talk about a new wave of anti-Semitism gripping Europe.
What we are seeing is mounting hostility towards Israel - particularly among Arab immigrants who feel solidarity with the Palestinians. It is Israeli policy in the Middle East which is fuelling this to a large extent, and in that sense, the government of Ariel Sharon itself must take a share of the responsibility. The idea that we are seeing a new wave of anti-Semitism is in part stirred up by those Jewish communities in Europe who ally themselves closely with Israel, but also the Sharon government. Mr Sharon wants more Jews in Israel, he wants to gain the demographic advantage. He is, in part at least, exploiting fears of anti-Semitism to persuade Europe's Jews to emigrate.
---
Peter Sichrovsky, Austrian MEP and former general secretary of Joerg Haider's right-wing Freedom Party:
It is not that Europe has become more anti-Semitic, it is simply that, over the past few years, people have felt much more at ease in expressing their prejudices. In part this is to do with the situation in the Middle East. Obviously people must have the right to criticise Israel, but it frequently appears to be the case that a standard is applied to Israel that isn't to the rest of the world. The US is also a victim of this kind of hypocrisy - thousands will turn out to protest against President Bush and yet they'll be silent when it comes to a genuinely bloody dictator.
It's not the far-right that are the problem, as they have been brought under control in Europe. It is the politically-correct, centre-left which simultaneously condemns acts of anti-Semitism while defending regimes which support terrorism against Israel. We're not seeing naked hostility to Jews, but the line between valid criticism and anti-Semitism is being crossed, and that is a threat for European Jews. At the same time we should not get this out of proportion. There is not an anti-Semitic vote in Europe, and no politician has anything to gain by trying to stir up hatred towards the Jews.
And we should also remember that anti-Semitism can come from Jews and non-Jews alike. I was described as Joerg Haider's "court Jew" for my association with the Freedom Party. Jews are still expected only to have certain sorts of political beliefs, which is a ridiculous sentiment. We should be free to pursue whatever beliefs we want.
---
Yaron Ezrahi, professor of political science at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem:
The right-wing in Israel describes every criticism of the country as a form of anti-Semitism. It is very convenient for the present government - which is the most right-wing in Israel's history and headed by a prime minister who has not taken the smallest initiative in the direction of a diplomatic effort in the peace process - to blame everything on anti-Semitism. This way, they try to write off any criticism of their own policies.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has a long record in defining Israeli critics as disloyal. Any attempt to make the current government and its very questionable policies invincible to legitimate criticism should be wholly rejected. When Yithzak Rabin was leading the peace process, there were extremely positive attitudes in Europe. It was very rare during that period to hear anti-Semitic voices.
--
Barry Kosmin, executive director of the London-based Institute for Jewish Policy Research and co-editor of A New Antisemitism - debating Judeophobia in 21st century Britain:
There has not been a rise in Nazi-style, racist anti-Semitism, although in certain countries, such as Belgium and France, there has been a rise in what we call anti-Semitic incidents - attacks on synagogues and individual Jews. In Britain, this has not been the case. But, there has been a rise in other forms of anti-Semitism, so in the British context in particular, we came up with the term Judeophobia. We see it as extreme criticism of Israel and American Jews that moves over into bigotry against Jews as a whole.
One facet of the anti-Semitic mindset is to generalise. So there are the Jews, but you are not quite sure whether the Jews means a group of American politicians, the government of Israel, or Jewish people in general. The current problem arises from a kind of fashionable prejudice in elements of what we might call the left-liberal media, who are asymmetrical in their outlook. They give an easy ride to Islamists and Marxists but are hypercritical of Israel and America. This sort of fashionable political bigotry can move over into incitement.
Part of the problem is the Middle East situation, which is not as simple to understand as people like to think. For example, in Arabic you don't talk abut Israelis you talk about "the Jew" or "Yahud". Many of the media commentators or journalists do not speak Arabic or know much about Middle Eastern history and culture, so they uncritically repeat the discourse of the place by talking about "Jews" rather than "Israelis". Criticism of the government of Israel thus becomes a criticism of the Jews. This kind of dumbing-down of the media, as well as the fact that news stories have to be produced quickly, leads to a lack of care and attention, which can be manipulated to advance a propaganda that results in incitement to violence and even justification for terrorism.
---
Frank Furedi, sociology professor at the UK's Kent University and a commentator on contemporary approaches to the Holocaust:
It is unfortunate that when we think about the problem of anti-Semitism, we tend to invoke the spectre of the Holocaust and images of Adolf ******. That kind of danger simply does not exist today. If anything we suffer from Holocaust overdose. Relatively insignificant episodes of violence and hatred are equated with the tragic events of the 1940s, thereby trivialising the significance of the Nazi experience.
While there is no need to worry about a Nazi revival we should be concerned about the emergence of disturbing public attitudes towards the Jews. It is worth noting that opinion polls suggest that Europeans regard Israel as the biggest threat to world peace. No doubt many criticisms can be made about the role of Israel. But the biggest threat to world peace? Negative perceptions about Israel do not necessarily mean that it is the Jews who are seen as the threat. However the reality is a complex one. Many find it difficult to distinguish between Zionism and Judaism. And others with more sense are often too embarrassed to insist on the salience of such a distinction. Sadly, the view of Israel as the principal force of world evil has for some endowed anti-Semitism with a degree of legitimacy.
---
William Wolff, chief regional rabbi of the eastern German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern:
I have just been away for a few days, and when I came back there were two rather unpleasant letters waiting for me, both anti-Semitic. I then went for a walk in the town - the manager of the launderette saw me and came out to greet me. He embraced me, asked how things were going. This latter experience is what is representative of modern Germany, not the former. The anti-Semites are a tiny minority who are given far more attention than they deserve.
It is true that people feel less frightened of criticising Israel, but that is not the same as anti-Semitism. In Germany, because of what has happened here, one must simply be more careful about how one does this. Language must be chosen carefully. Some people have pointed to the sorry affair of that conservative German politician who recently compared the Jews with Nazis as an example of rising anti-Semitism. If anything, however, this should be seen as just the opposite. The man was widely condemned, he was expelled from the party. It is in fact a positive story, not a negative one. There are many Jews in my area who are from the former eastern bloc. They have come to Germany to escape anti-Semitism, and they have found a home here.
---
Diana Pinto, historian and author of The Wager: Reconciling Europe and the Jewish world in the 21st century:
The debate over Europe's new anti-Semitism has an Alice in Nightmareland quality to it. Jews as well as non-Jews are trapped in a looking glass where the horrors of the past and the dangers of the present intermingle and where, as in Alice's case, the proportions have been not only distorted but totally altered.
Let there be no misunderstanding. We live since 2001 in an extremely dangerous world where a new type of anti-Semitism among some Muslims has surfaced, whose tenets are worthy of the worst Nazi propaganda, and whose hatred is no longer aimed at Israeli "Zionists" but at the entire Jewish people. Europe, and France in particular, have been hit by this type of anti-Semitism anchored in our globalised world.
This genuine and dangerous anti-Semitism should not be confused with the unsavoury critiques against Israel which can be found in the ranks of Europe's left-wing or with the often unpalatable Holocaust "fatigue" which many Europeans, in Germany in particular, may be experiencing.
These three strands cannot come together to alter Europe's face, to topple its democratic governments, and to isolate or eventually extirpate the Jews from their body politics. Out of respect for the Jewish victims of the violent and all-encompassing European anti-Semitism of the 1930s and of the Holocaust, who found themselves utterly powerless in a world without hope, we must fight all the above dangers while ensuring that the ghosts of the past do not kidnap our present. For this is a life-size battle in which we, unlike Alice, have neither shrunk nor mushroomed.
to be continued
Israel's prime minister says anti-Semitism is rising in Europe, citing attacks on Jews and Jewish interests. His remarks followed an EU poll which showed many believe Israel is the greatest threat to world peace. Is anti-Semitism really increasing? Is hostility towards Israeli policy in the Middle East becoming anti-Jewish? BBC News Online asked 12 experts on Jewish affairs from Europe and Israel to reflect on the charge. Click on the quotes below to read more. If you would like to tell us what you think, please use the form provided.
--
Robert Wistrich, director of the Vidal Sassoon International Center for the Study of Anti-Semitism in Jerusalem:
There was outrage and shock over the recent EU poll. Many Israelis regard this as anti-Semitism of sorts. Even if there were other factors involved, people feel there must be a lot of general prejudice around for such results to occur. There is a clear feeling from the Israeli point of view that what is at stake now is the very legitimacy of the state of Israel in a moral, historical and political sense.
When we get to a point when it is becoming acceptable in many places in Europe and even in mainstream opinion to label Israel as a Nazi state, or, in more diplomatic language, an apartheid state, the Israeli citizen feels that their very right to exist in any form, whether politically or as a nation, is being challenged. Israelis feel that their country, whatever criticisms they have of it - and Jews in Israel are gold medallists where it comes to criticising their own government - is being made into a pariah.
People here have a sense of systematic stigmatisation and even a demonisation of Israel. I think that one of the more hopeful signs in recent months is a growing realisation by governments, however reluctantly, of the need to come to grips with anti-Semitism. President Jacques Chirac and the French Government were in denial for a long time. Mr Chirac was saying there was no anti-Semitism in the French republic. Now, there has been a complete turnaround. I fear it is a bit late, but better late than never.
--
Henri Wajnblum, former president of the Union of Progressive Jews in Belgium:
It is certainly true that we have seen more incidents of anti-Semitic violence in the recent past: graffiti, arson attacks and the like, which are indeed worrying. But it is wrong to talk about a new wave of anti-Semitism gripping Europe.
What we are seeing is mounting hostility towards Israel - particularly among Arab immigrants who feel solidarity with the Palestinians. It is Israeli policy in the Middle East which is fuelling this to a large extent, and in that sense, the government of Ariel Sharon itself must take a share of the responsibility. The idea that we are seeing a new wave of anti-Semitism is in part stirred up by those Jewish communities in Europe who ally themselves closely with Israel, but also the Sharon government. Mr Sharon wants more Jews in Israel, he wants to gain the demographic advantage. He is, in part at least, exploiting fears of anti-Semitism to persuade Europe's Jews to emigrate.
---
Peter Sichrovsky, Austrian MEP and former general secretary of Joerg Haider's right-wing Freedom Party:
It is not that Europe has become more anti-Semitic, it is simply that, over the past few years, people have felt much more at ease in expressing their prejudices. In part this is to do with the situation in the Middle East. Obviously people must have the right to criticise Israel, but it frequently appears to be the case that a standard is applied to Israel that isn't to the rest of the world. The US is also a victim of this kind of hypocrisy - thousands will turn out to protest against President Bush and yet they'll be silent when it comes to a genuinely bloody dictator.
It's not the far-right that are the problem, as they have been brought under control in Europe. It is the politically-correct, centre-left which simultaneously condemns acts of anti-Semitism while defending regimes which support terrorism against Israel. We're not seeing naked hostility to Jews, but the line between valid criticism and anti-Semitism is being crossed, and that is a threat for European Jews. At the same time we should not get this out of proportion. There is not an anti-Semitic vote in Europe, and no politician has anything to gain by trying to stir up hatred towards the Jews.
And we should also remember that anti-Semitism can come from Jews and non-Jews alike. I was described as Joerg Haider's "court Jew" for my association with the Freedom Party. Jews are still expected only to have certain sorts of political beliefs, which is a ridiculous sentiment. We should be free to pursue whatever beliefs we want.
---
Yaron Ezrahi, professor of political science at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem:
The right-wing in Israel describes every criticism of the country as a form of anti-Semitism. It is very convenient for the present government - which is the most right-wing in Israel's history and headed by a prime minister who has not taken the smallest initiative in the direction of a diplomatic effort in the peace process - to blame everything on anti-Semitism. This way, they try to write off any criticism of their own policies.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has a long record in defining Israeli critics as disloyal. Any attempt to make the current government and its very questionable policies invincible to legitimate criticism should be wholly rejected. When Yithzak Rabin was leading the peace process, there were extremely positive attitudes in Europe. It was very rare during that period to hear anti-Semitic voices.
--
Barry Kosmin, executive director of the London-based Institute for Jewish Policy Research and co-editor of A New Antisemitism - debating Judeophobia in 21st century Britain:
There has not been a rise in Nazi-style, racist anti-Semitism, although in certain countries, such as Belgium and France, there has been a rise in what we call anti-Semitic incidents - attacks on synagogues and individual Jews. In Britain, this has not been the case. But, there has been a rise in other forms of anti-Semitism, so in the British context in particular, we came up with the term Judeophobia. We see it as extreme criticism of Israel and American Jews that moves over into bigotry against Jews as a whole.
One facet of the anti-Semitic mindset is to generalise. So there are the Jews, but you are not quite sure whether the Jews means a group of American politicians, the government of Israel, or Jewish people in general. The current problem arises from a kind of fashionable prejudice in elements of what we might call the left-liberal media, who are asymmetrical in their outlook. They give an easy ride to Islamists and Marxists but are hypercritical of Israel and America. This sort of fashionable political bigotry can move over into incitement.
Part of the problem is the Middle East situation, which is not as simple to understand as people like to think. For example, in Arabic you don't talk abut Israelis you talk about "the Jew" or "Yahud". Many of the media commentators or journalists do not speak Arabic or know much about Middle Eastern history and culture, so they uncritically repeat the discourse of the place by talking about "Jews" rather than "Israelis". Criticism of the government of Israel thus becomes a criticism of the Jews. This kind of dumbing-down of the media, as well as the fact that news stories have to be produced quickly, leads to a lack of care and attention, which can be manipulated to advance a propaganda that results in incitement to violence and even justification for terrorism.
---
Frank Furedi, sociology professor at the UK's Kent University and a commentator on contemporary approaches to the Holocaust:
It is unfortunate that when we think about the problem of anti-Semitism, we tend to invoke the spectre of the Holocaust and images of Adolf ******. That kind of danger simply does not exist today. If anything we suffer from Holocaust overdose. Relatively insignificant episodes of violence and hatred are equated with the tragic events of the 1940s, thereby trivialising the significance of the Nazi experience.
While there is no need to worry about a Nazi revival we should be concerned about the emergence of disturbing public attitudes towards the Jews. It is worth noting that opinion polls suggest that Europeans regard Israel as the biggest threat to world peace. No doubt many criticisms can be made about the role of Israel. But the biggest threat to world peace? Negative perceptions about Israel do not necessarily mean that it is the Jews who are seen as the threat. However the reality is a complex one. Many find it difficult to distinguish between Zionism and Judaism. And others with more sense are often too embarrassed to insist on the salience of such a distinction. Sadly, the view of Israel as the principal force of world evil has for some endowed anti-Semitism with a degree of legitimacy.
---
William Wolff, chief regional rabbi of the eastern German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern:
I have just been away for a few days, and when I came back there were two rather unpleasant letters waiting for me, both anti-Semitic. I then went for a walk in the town - the manager of the launderette saw me and came out to greet me. He embraced me, asked how things were going. This latter experience is what is representative of modern Germany, not the former. The anti-Semites are a tiny minority who are given far more attention than they deserve.
It is true that people feel less frightened of criticising Israel, but that is not the same as anti-Semitism. In Germany, because of what has happened here, one must simply be more careful about how one does this. Language must be chosen carefully. Some people have pointed to the sorry affair of that conservative German politician who recently compared the Jews with Nazis as an example of rising anti-Semitism. If anything, however, this should be seen as just the opposite. The man was widely condemned, he was expelled from the party. It is in fact a positive story, not a negative one. There are many Jews in my area who are from the former eastern bloc. They have come to Germany to escape anti-Semitism, and they have found a home here.
---
Diana Pinto, historian and author of The Wager: Reconciling Europe and the Jewish world in the 21st century:
The debate over Europe's new anti-Semitism has an Alice in Nightmareland quality to it. Jews as well as non-Jews are trapped in a looking glass where the horrors of the past and the dangers of the present intermingle and where, as in Alice's case, the proportions have been not only distorted but totally altered.
Let there be no misunderstanding. We live since 2001 in an extremely dangerous world where a new type of anti-Semitism among some Muslims has surfaced, whose tenets are worthy of the worst Nazi propaganda, and whose hatred is no longer aimed at Israeli "Zionists" but at the entire Jewish people. Europe, and France in particular, have been hit by this type of anti-Semitism anchored in our globalised world.
This genuine and dangerous anti-Semitism should not be confused with the unsavoury critiques against Israel which can be found in the ranks of Europe's left-wing or with the often unpalatable Holocaust "fatigue" which many Europeans, in Germany in particular, may be experiencing.
These three strands cannot come together to alter Europe's face, to topple its democratic governments, and to isolate or eventually extirpate the Jews from their body politics. Out of respect for the Jewish victims of the violent and all-encompassing European anti-Semitism of the 1930s and of the Holocaust, who found themselves utterly powerless in a world without hope, we must fight all the above dangers while ensuring that the ghosts of the past do not kidnap our present. For this is a life-size battle in which we, unlike Alice, have neither shrunk nor mushroomed.
to be continued