Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Anti-Semitism: It's Back

An annual study conducted by the Stephen Roth Institute for the Study of Contemporary Anti-Semitism and Racism at Tel Aviv University states that there has been a steep rise in anti-Semitism in 2009. According to the report:

“The year in the wake of Operation Cast Lead was the worst since monitoring of anti-Semitic manifestations began, in terms of both major anti-Semitic violence and the hostile atmosphere generated worldwide by the mass demonstrations and verbal and visual expressions against Israel and the Jews.”

http://www.jpost.com/JewishWorld/JewishNews/Article.aspx?id=172884

The study particularly alludes to heightened levels of anti-Semitism in England, France and Canada.

Elsewhere, we have recently witnessed attempts by certain Catholic clergy members to blame the "New York Jewish lobby" for the worldwide pedophilia scandal rocking the Vatican, while in Hungary, Monday's general election saw Jobbik, an anti-Semitic and anti-Gypsy party, garner 16.7 percent of the vote, which represents the strongest showing of a far right party since democracy returned to this country.

Why this sudden rise in anti-Semitism? Most likely there is a convergence of factors at work, including the Goldstone Report and the severe economic recession gripping the globe with its attendant unemployment.

However, there is also no mistaking the "Obama Effect". Although Obama is perhaps closet New Left, I do not view him as anti-Semitic, particularly given the presence of court Jews, Axelrod and Rahm. On the other hand, his refusal to visit Israel as president notwithstanding journeys to nearby Egypt and Turkey, his recent shabby treatment of Netanyahu during the Israeli prime minister's most recent trip to Washington, and Netanyahu's absence from the U.S. nuclear summit (according to the Israeli economic newspaper Globes, Netanyahu was encouraged by Washington not to attend), all give rise to a global perception that Israel - and the Jews - are once again fair game.

If he had any say in the matter, Netanyahu should have insisted upon attending the Washington summit. Sure, Meridor arrived instead of Netanyahu, but there is still a sense of ostracism among nations, which Israel and world Jewry cannot tolerate or afford.

3 comments:

  1. Existence of court Jews generally does not mean that the ruler is not anti-Semit.

    ReplyDelete
  2. You're correct, but I have never seen any anti-Semitic expressions attributed to Obama. Yes, I know, he remained associated with Wright for two decades, and "actions speak louder than words."

    Jews can also be anti-Semitic; however, I perceive Rahm Emanuel as a power hungry brat and Axelrod as someone who, despite his age, is still seeking a father figure to replace the real father who committed suicide.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Obama would not paint swastika on a synagogue. He does not call Rahm a "dirty Jew". Yet:

    1. He does believe that Jews and AIPAC have too much and too harmful influence on American politics. It is why he promotes J-Street, as a counter-balance to AIPAC.
    2. He does believe that Jews use Holocaust to justify their presence in Middle East. He said it in his Cairo speech.
    3. He does believe that all the problems in the Middle East are caused by Jews. His team tried to attribute this statement to Petraeus.
    4. He believes that Israel owes everything to USA, and have to do what he demands. He showed it many times.
    5. He does believe that Arabs and Muslims have moral superiority overall, and especially comparing to Jews. It is clear from his Cairo speech and his treatment of Netanyahu, comparing with Arab dictators.
    6. He teams up with most prominent anti-Semites around (like Brzhezinski, Friedman and so on).

    This is what is called "anti-Semite" these days, or "new anti-Semite".

    ReplyDelete