There is no question in my mind that so-called anti-Zionism serves as a fig leaf for Jew-hatred.
There is no other explanation.
I know of no other country whose legitimacy is as relentlessly questioned and undermined as is Israel’s. You would think that those who espouse the love of human rights and rejection of violence and government oppression would attack, with proper fury, countries like Congo, Sudan, Jordan, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Cuba, Libya, Dubai, Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Venezuela, and of course the most repressive country on the planet, North Korea.
But Israel is the target of choice, and a fetish is made of the so-called Palestinians (before World War II, “Palestinians” were understood to be the Jewish residents of modern-day Israel, while the Arabs were called … well, Arabs.
I get a fair amount of hate mail accusing me of being a Zionist pig, a dirty Jew, a Zionist Jew usurper of Palestinian land and (alas, the unkindest cut of all) a filthy Hollywood Jew.
Call me hypersensitive, but I have a feeling these rabid e-mails do not come from people interested in historical fact or reasoned argument.
I also get a fair amount of mail challenging me to defend Zionism. When I quote various articles and books the response always goes something like this: “Your sources are well known Zionist propagandists; why don’t you reference legitimate academic sources?”
Of course, delegitimizing the authors I quote is much easier than refuting their arguments. It’s the same tactic used in exaggerating Israel’s sins in order to delegitimize the entire Jewish state and, by inference, Judaism.
Much of the current Israel-bashing originates, or at the very least acquires an intellectual patina, on our college campuses. I’m always amused by the trust placed in the judgment and morality of academics. Some (though by no means all) of the most stupid people I know are respected academics, and they have less common sense than an amoeba.
As far as ethics and values are concerned, if you want your children to unlearn everything you spent a lifetime instilling in them, send them to a liberal arts college for four years and watch their brains turn to jelly under the unrelenting assault of charismatic radical professors.
You think American terrorist Bill Ayers is unusual in academic circles? Ayers is more like the norm. I spent four years in a liberal arts college and can’t even count the number of my professors who were proud and vocal Marxists.
(Historical note: As the Nazi party gained traction in Germany, the first professional classes to sign up to the genocidal Nazi program were academics and physicians. The Nuremberg Laws were written and legislated by Ph.D.s and lawyers.)
No, almost all anti-Zionism is Jew-hatred. Western Jew-haters, mostly found these days on the Left, understand their proclivity is a bit of an embarrassment – in the Muslim world it’s a badge of honor – so hatred of the Jewish state provides the perfect cover for those who would rather their anti-Semitism have a human face.
Of course, when we label Jew-haters as Jew-haters, they rear back in self-righteous horror and ask, “Can’t I criticize Israel without being accused of anti-Semitism?”
Which is a lot like asking, “Can’t I beat my wife without being accused of domestic abuse?”
The answer is no.
The truth is, these creatures aren’t criticizing Israel, they’re demonizing Israel, preparing the groundwork for the end of the Jewish state.
Once upon a time Jews were despised because they were a people cruelly exiled from their homeland. Now Jews are despised because they have returned to their biblical homeland.
The Australian’s Greg Sheridan, in a recent article addressing the phenomenon of Western liberals aligning themselves with some of the most ferocious haters on the planet while singling out Israel for opprobrium, cited, among other examples, the case of the Bahais.
“The Bahais, wrote Sheridan, “fled to Israel and India, two states where minority religions are not subject to official persecution, because of the murderous repression they suffer in Iran. Yet the Western Left is infinitely more active about Israeli human rights abuses, real or alleged, than Iranian human rights abuses.”
Indeed, the hypocrisy and the double standards are as remarkable as they are never ending.