THE GLOBAL REACH OF CONTEMPORARY ANTI-SEMITISM*****
http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/publications/id.7949/pub_detail.asp
Israeli Professor on the rise of Anti-Semitism
In an interview that appeared recently on Israel National News TV, Professor Robert S. Wistrich, Neuberger chair for Modern European History at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, gave some serious warnings about the rise of Anti-Semitism. With no trace of hype or scare-mongering, he argued cogently that most examples of anti-Zionism are merely a cipher for anti-Semitism. With a hat-tip to Ruth S. King, a review of the interview can be found on Arutz Sheva.
Professor Wistrich states:
“I believe that anti-Semitism has reached a scale and a volume, both in the number of incidents and the gravity of the accusations and stigmatization – not to say demonization – of the Jewish people, including the state of Israel, but also diaspora Jewry, it has reached a level that we have not seen since World War II. In other words, we are living through what is potentially the most dangerous period for Jews in terms of the way they are perceived by others, by the nations of the world, by public opinion, in the mass media.
We’ve reached a more dangerous period than at any time since the end of World War II and the establishment of Israel.”
He continues:
“One of the reasons that people don’t fully grasp the seriousness of the phenomenon is that when you say Anti-Semitism, most people have a somewhat stereotypical, and I would say anachronistic view, of what Anti-Semitism is. They tend to identify with a very simple and obvious – images in their mind, like jack-booted Nazis, like cries of Sieg Heil, fascist demonstrations, calls to throw the Jews out of a particular country. Many of those types of anti-Semitism are much less visible today.
Also, the softer variety of anti-Semitism that was very familiar before the Second World War, before the Holocaust, the sort of anti-Semitism that discriminated against Jews, in housing, in jobs, in university positions – this in the Western world no longer exists. That is because anti-Semitism has changed its form. It uses a different mode, it has different tones, its clothing if you like. I argue in my book, in the last 14 years, the most dynamic form of anti-Semitism is the one that is transmitted through anti-Zionism and the hatred of Israel.”
The full interview can be seen below:
Professor Robert S. Wistrich is in no doubt that there is a culture of denial that prevents the reality of the situation from being properly addressed:
“The problems of today, including the rabid incitement in neighboring countries in the Arab world, we don’t talk about it. We don’t protest about it. We keep it quiet,” said Wistrich. “This is a huge mistake. We have claims. We have grievances. We have a right to demand that in the context of any peace agreement if this does not stop then that agreement will be meaningless.”
Adrian Morgan, with many thanks to Ruth S. King.
The Editor, Family Security Matters
AUSTRALIA: Jewish Students Note Rise in Anti-Semitism
From Ynet News, a report that Jewish students in the state of Victoria in Australia have responded in a survey and note they have experienced or witnessed some form of prejudice on campus, including verbal insults and assault. The questionnaire from the B’nai B’rith Anti-Defamation Commission (ADC) found this response from 68 per cent of the students. They appeared to witness more such incidents at La Trobe University than the three other popular universities in the state.
Most students made no distinction between traditional anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism. There was a strong crossover between abuse of Israel and abuse of Jewish symbols and individuals. Swastikas and anti-Semitic graffiti are used by a range of groups to attack Jews and Israel.
The questionnaire also uncovered cases of faculty members using their positions to launch polemics against Israel or make anti-Semitic statements in ways which intimidated Jewish students.
TEXAS: Anti-Semitism Becomes a Feature of Local Politics
From a blog on the Houston Chronicle, Rabbi Amy Weiss writes of the anti-Semitism invoked in the House of Texas Legislature in bids to remove Joe Straus (a Republican). Christianity is being invoked in ugly ways.
Rabbi Weiss gives some examples, such as an email circulating among his opponents that claims: “that our nation will again prosper and hold to values that the Christians and Republicans hold so dear in their souls.”
An email from Ray Myers, who claims to be the Chairman of the Kaufman County Tea Party, claimed that “we finally found a Christian conservative who decided not to be pushed around by the Joe Straus thugs.”
A treasurer of the Hardin County Republican Party regularly posts to a website called VDare which has anti-Semitic articles such as this.
Automated calls from the Houston Area Pastor Council “tell voters to call their state rep and tell them to support a true Christian for Speaker.”
No wonder Thomas Jefferson and James Madison supported the separation of Church and State.
BRITAIN: UK Muslim Brotherhood Contributing To Anti-Semitism
In the first instalment of Anti-Semitism Watch I referred to the Community Security Trust which has produced two documents recently. One is entitled “Antisemitic Discourse in Britain 2009” (pdf document link here), and the other is called the 2009 Antisemitic Incidents Report (pdf document link here).
The Global Muslim Brotherhood Daily Report examines some key points from the “Antisemitic Discourse in Britain” document, found on pages 22 to 23.
Demonstrations against Israel’s 2009 conflict with Hamas in Gaza and Southern Israel were marked by repeated allegations that Israel was in some way analogous with Nazi Germany. Such allegations have been heard on previous anti-Israel demonstrations, but the charge was significantly more pronounced than ever before.
The tone was set by the profusion of “STOP the Holocaust in Gaza” placards produced by British Muslim Initiative (BMI), one of the main organisers of the Gaza demonstrations. Placards of another organising group, the Palestinian Forum in Britain (PFB), featured a swastika entwined with a Star of David and the words “HISTORY SEEMS TO BE REPEATING ITSELF”. Many individual demonstrators carried their own home-made signs and banners making similar statements.
BMI and PFB are ideologically orientated towards the Muslim Brotherhood (as is Hamas), and are currently in broad alliance with Far Left groups whose complicity and enthusiasm for the Israel-Nazi comparison is troubling: especially given their influence within many less obviously extreme groups, such as trade unions and other NGO’s, including anti-racist groups.
In particular, the Socialist Workers Party has long practised the tactic of infiltrating and influencing other groups. During the Gaza conflict, one of its commentators, Richard Seymour, asserted that those attending a Jewish community rally for peace
“ought to be shunned, and treated as the moral and political degenerates that they are. ”
George Galloway, (then) Respect MP for Bethnal Green and Bow, repeated the Israel-Nazi allegations, telling thousands of anti-Israel demonstrators:
“Today, the Palestinian people in Gaza are the new Warsaw Ghetto, and those who are murdering them are the equivalent of those who murdered the Jews in Warsaw in 1943. ”
“Holocaust Survivors – Some Graphic Pictures – Stand up to Hatred”
The importance of electronic media was demonstrated by a viral email campaign, entitled Holocaust Survivors – Some Graphic Pictures – Stand up to Hatred, in which the recipient received (unsolicited) images comparing Israel to Nazi Germany. Each image consisted of two photographs, one relating to Israelis and/or Palestinians; the other relating to the Holocaust victims and/or World War Two.
The email was accompanied by an introduction saying:
“The grandchildren of Holocaust survivors from World War II are doing to the Palestinians exactly what was done to them by Nazi Germany”
CST was forwarded many copies of the email by individuals who had received it in extensive emailing lists that included staff at universities, local and regional councils, commercial and cultural premises, as well as private email addresses. It is likely that thousands of people received the email.
The Muslim Association of Britain (MAB) had for many years been the most active organization in the U.K Muslim Brotherhood. Many of the leaders of the MAB left in 2007 to form the British Muslim Initiative (BMI). According to sources in the U.K, the breakup appeared to be the result of a conflict between traditionalists in the MAB who were unhappy with the high level of involvement in U.K left-wing politics while those who who formed the BMI wished such activity to continue. Anas Al-Tikriti, the leader of the BMI, is the son of Omar Al-Tikriti, one of the leaders of the Iraqi Islamic Party representing the Muslim Brotherhood in that country.
For the full CST report, go here.
Reprinted with permission from the Global Muslim Brotherhood Daily Report.
PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY: PA TV Promotes Anti-Semitism
The website Palestinian Media Watch is of great interest to us at Family Security Matters. Founded by Itamar Marcus, who grants us permission to reproduce his articles, PMW documents incidents of anti-Semitism that are openly promoted in the areas controlled by the Palestinian Authority.
As stated on its website, Palestinian Media Watch has “documented the systematic demonization of Israel by the PA through libels and lies, including:
Israel is intentionally spreading AIDS
Israel is intentionally spreading drugs and prostitution
Israel is doing medical experiments on prisoners
Israel killed Arafat with poison.”
Israel is intentionally spreading AIDS
Israel is intentionally spreading drugs and prostitution
Israel is doing medical experiments on prisoners
Israel killed Arafat with poison.”
The warlike nature of the PA TV shows and their blatant anti-Semitism should call into question the notions peddled by the current U.S. administration that the PA (currently under the tenuous control of “Abu Mazen, ” Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah) should be involved in “peace talks” with Israel.
We will be reproducing more articles and media from Palestinian Media Watch, but for now, we present a short video grabbed from PA TV, broadcast a decade ago in the West Bank and Gaza. Sadly, since that time, there has been little improvement from PA TV:
FamilySecurityMatters.orgAnti-Semitism Watch will be an on-going occasional series on these pages.
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