In recent weeks, three high profile Britons have shown the three faces of contemporary anti-Semitism as it exists among the nations of the world. This is highly instructive for all Jews who are intellectually and morally honest enough to see the lessons inherent in these revelations.
The conviction of the pseudo-historian David Irving draws attention to the type of anti-Semitism that virtually anyone – Jew or non-Jew, right of center or left of center – will acknowledge: the explicit hatred that fascists harbor for Jews wherever they are and whatever they are. There is nothing subtle or hidden here – no euphemism.
This is the anti-Semitism that in its extreme manifested itself in the brownshirts and the Black Hundreds – the anti-Semitism that reached the depths of its depravity in the concentration camps. This is the acme of the hatred and oppression that for centuries Jews had to endure in Europe and which the recent action by the Church of England on disinvestment from Israel has done much to recall. Despite all the oppression of Christians in Muslim lands and by Palestinians, the Church of England could think only to show hatred of the one force in the Middle East that actually protects Christians and Christianity.
This type of anti-Semitism is not, however, much of a threat at present – although, as the social order continues to disintegrate in the UK and Europe thanks to leftist policies and economic problems, it could become more of a problem in the future.
The second particularly ugly, almost satirical face of Anti-Semitism was highlighted in the conviction of the Muslim racist hate preacher Abu Hamza. Here is a man whose physiognomy practically screams “Look, anti-Semite.” He embodies the anti-Semitism that is endemic in the Muslim world, and while not universal, is dominant in country after country.
In its essence this type of anti-Semitism is the same as that of David Irving, only it is the hatred of Ishmael, not Esau. It is naked, open, venomous, and violent to the point of being murderous. Worst of all, it is an anti-Semitism that is given theological justification by men like Abu Hamza. There is little or no attempt by Muslims to hide this anti-Semitism, though there are many, especially Jews, who adamantly refuse to see it, or, if they do see it, to blame it on the victims. Would these same good people blame racism against African Americans on African Americans?
The danger from this type of anti-Semitism is very much physical, and it threatens Jews everywhere, not only in Israel. Throughout Europe it is Muslims who are responsible for nearly all violent anti-Semitic incidents. These are the people who kill Jews because they are Jews.
The third face of anti-Semitism is the most dangerous form of the Western variety and is represented by Ken Livingstone – “Red Ken” – the leftist mayor of London. Livingstone has long been anti-Israel, but it seemed for the longest time that he was the rare leftist who was anti-Zionist but not anti-Semitic. Over the years Livingstone’s political thuggery, deceit and bully-boy nature became increasingly apparent until he was finally forced out of the Labor Party. It also became apparent to many that Red Ken was a leftist-style anti-Semite.
When the Greater London Authority was set up and the office of Mayor of London established, Livingstone ran as an independent in the first election and won a resounding victory over the three main parties. But in an act of rank political opportunism, Prime Minister Tony Blair took Livingstone back into Labor as its candidate in the second London mayoral election, which Livingstone won (but with a much reduced majority).