Reuters, one of the anti-Israel news agencies that has managed to stir up British anti-Semitism, is noticing that anti-Semitic attacks are up on the eve of Britain’s celebration of 350 years of Jewish history.
Say, did you know that last year, American Jews celebrated 350 years of Jewish history, too? Interesting. And while I’m sure we’re going to read that anti-Semitic attacks were up in America, too, we live in a country that actually, you know, does something about that. Unlike the Brits, who blame Israel for all Jewish problems. And Reuters seems to have noticed that it’s a long-term trend.
A surge in incidents during the latest Israeli/Hizbollah conflict added to a general rise in anti-Jewish feeling that has been evident since the turn of the century.
[…] That was the third highest recorded monthly figure and while there were few violent incidents, it included death threats, hate-mail and the daubing of graffiti, such as “kill all Jews” scrawled over the home of a Jewish doctor in London.
More seriously, a 12-year-old girl was beaten unconscious by seven youths on a London bus after being asked what her religion was.
“The basic trend is now that we are seeing about 75 percent more incidents than we were during the 1990s and that’s something that is really concerning,” Gardner told Reuters.
Imagine, if you will, a 12-year-old Muslim girl being beaten unconscious by a group of “youths.” Imagine the outcry. Now realize that this is the first you (and I) have heard of such an incident—a 12-year-old girl being beaten unconscious by a gang.
And by the way, no one did a thing. Not the bus driver, not the four other passengers.
Britain’s Jewish leaders have warned that since 2000 the number of attacks on their community has been steadily rising, coinciding with the renewed outbreak of violence between Israelis and Palestinians in the Middle East.
In January, Britain’s Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks said a “tsunami of anti-Semitism” was sweeping across Europe, and warned that Holocaust denial and hatred of the Jewish people was becoming increasingly evident on television and in books.
Gardner said global events always served as a trigger for racist attacks, but that there had been a growing anti-Israeli sentiment in Britain which often manifested itself as general anti-Semitism.
“Like any type of fanatic or extremist, certain things happen that cause them to come out of the woodwork and act,” he said.
Some commentators would also substitute the word “Zionist” for Jewish so as not to appear racist, he added, but “Jews end up getting attacked”.
“Over the last 20 or 30 years it has become increasingly trendy and politically correct to attack Israel,” he said.
“Anti-Semites don’t make these fancy distinctions between Zionists, Israelis and Jews.”
Counting down to the whines by British Muslims that nobody’s paying attention to the “Islamophobia” in Britain. Then stop and count the number of Jews arrested for planning terror attacks in Britain.
Britain really needs to straighten out her priorities. She’s going after the wrong group.
Hi Meryl – the problem here in the UK is that there are only 300,000 of us out of a population of 60 million, compared to an unofficial estimate of 2 – 3 million Muslims, nobody’s desperate for our vote, and instead of rewarding us for our good citizenship, the government placates those who make the most noise. We are not the only minorities who toe the line but whos complaints are pretty well ignored, the Hindus and Sikhs are in the same boat.
As I’ve mentioned before, this is a relatively new phenonomon. Don’t think that because things are still good for you in the USA at the moment that the situation will continue. I am reading other websites and blogs, and you should be organising now, and certainly looking over your shoulders.
Except for Israel, Jews in other countries are effectively without any domestic allies.
That isn’t the case in the United States. Conservative Christians in the US do support the Jewish people, and the state of Israel, {there are various religious reasons behind their support, but because those reasons are religious, they’re not apt to change}.
Moreover, with each atrocity, with each act of muslim intimidation, each time a Steve Centanni is forced to convert, each time a Daniel Pearl is beheaded on television, and each time a muslim leader issues a “convert or die” message, conservative Christians are becoming more firmly convinced that they are holding a trenchline along the far frontiers of civilization itself. And that the only people in that trenchline they can truly rely upon are Israelis. Not to mention, there is a theme from the old West that still features in our national makeup. These threats to Americans and to America runs the risk of riling up ordinary Americans. Recall how many Americans after 9/11 were literally spoiling for a fight, and not just in Afghanistan. GW could’ve easily asked Congress for a declaration against all muslim states on the State Department’s list of state sponsorship of terrorism, and he’d a gotten it, no problems. Americans aren’t Europeans. Nothing like the Parisian riots could’ve occurred here, at least not without huge political ramifications. Look at the American people beginning to impose their political will upon the elites in relation to the border. Americans are getting weary of being an unappreciated welcome mat for Latin political/economic pathologies. The open border is beginning to close. But look at Europe, there doesn’t seem any ability by ordinary Europeans to close their border to muslim immigration. Europeans are deeply anxious about their future, and about the European future, but they feel so impotent in the face of their elites, that they haven’t even attempted to impose their will on their putative elected “representatives.”
So it would be wise to assess America separately from the rest of the West.
It isn’t a mystery that recent polling indicates American “support” for the Palestinian agenda is at an all time low.
Americans are observing events. Americans remember that deal that Arafat refused, which was generous, {and many a conservative deemed OVERLY generous}, and was made in good faith.
Europe is dominated by the Left, doesn’t have a talk-radio medium to offset complete Lefty dominance of the airwaves and print media, and is increasingly regulating the blogosphere, thus hampering the ability of conservative voices to get their message out. Witness the difficulties the Brussels Journal is experiencing. And Fjordman has also had some problems reporting events in Scandinavia.
I’m convinced that the wave of anti-semitism is going to dramatically intensify. That it will soon cease to be a momentary, temporary “wave,” and become simply a global given, so much so, that it begins to exert enormous influence over the course of international diplomacy. Far worse than it ever has heretofore. America is unique in her ability to resist that prejudice, but will not be wholly untouched thereby. You will see it here too, it’s already part of many a campus tapestry, such as Columbia University.
The isolation of Israel economically and diplomatically will gather pace.
You know, Dan, I stopped myself on the other thread because I could not be civil, but you are mistaken if you think that the only friends Jews have in America are conservative Christians.
You need to take off your blinders.
Yes, there are some on the left who are anti-Semites. So are some on the right. Let’s not forget, David Duke ran—and won—in Louisiana as a conservative Republican. Patrick Buchanan, Jew-hater extraordinaire, considers himself a conservative Christian.
You need to stop tarring all liberals with that brush. With the exception of my being a hawk on Israel and the War on Terror, my values are nearly all progressive, or one might say, liberal. Pro-choice, pro affirmative action, pro gay rights, for progressive taxation—all of those stances are anathema to your conservative Christian buddies.
Don’t mistake this blog for a conservative weblog. It is not. It is a weblog that covers mostly Jewish issues, whose owner and operator voted for Bill Clinton twice, and Al Gore in 2000.
Before you start slamming all liberals, and this time, you had better listen to me: Do not dare call liberals anti-Semites on this weblog again. Liberal does not equate with anti-Jewish. SOME hard lefties are anti-Semites. So are some centrists, some lefties, and some right and hard-right conservatives.
No, you didn’t do it in this post. But you did on the last one, and I will not stand for it.
Meryl – I do hope you are right. Until recently the liberal left here were pro-Israel and certainly not antisemitic, but that has changed. Supporting the underdog is very big in the UK, a country whose culture rewards failure, as long as it’s done in a British sort of way, and somehow certain Middle Eastern groups have managed to convince liberals here that they are the victims.
I am in no way criticising your country or your liberals, but have a look around, American Muslims are organising, and they have access to vast funds from oil rich nations.
A couple of months ago I happened upon a spoof site which looked a little way into the future where the USA had ceased to exist, and instead there were two countries, in the north the ISA (Islamic States of America), and in the south The Bible Belt. Yes, fiction and a little far fetched, but it sent a shiver down my spine. Just look at what happend in Moorish Spain, which we have always been told was a ‘golden age’. A lot of the Christians converted to Islam for expediency. People don’t change that much, and oftern opt for the easy way. I’m only saying it could happen anywhere.
You’ve mistaken me.
There is a distinction between the Left, and ordinary Liberals. Just as there is a distinction between Conservatives and the Right. Libertarians figure in there somewhere too. But this is all political gradation stuff. Usually I confine my observations about the growing hostility towards Jews and the state of Israel within our country to the Left. But that doesn’t mean EVERYONE TO THE LEFT of the political aisle. Such a broad, sweeping judgement on my part would be out of it. I’m sure you’re aware of these distinctions. So when I say the Left, that doesn’t mean American Liberals, it means American, Leftist radicals. Michael Moore, Noam Chomsky, they’re famous Leftists, they’re not American Liberals.
You’re dead right about Buchanan, and you can throw in columnist Robert Novack. It wasn’t a coincidence that Armitage and Novack hooked up in their conversations about the policy direction of this Administration. Armitage, Wilkerson and Powell have caused enormous damage to this Administration, to this war effort, and to the course of our foreign policy. As for Duke, even if he won, which he didn’t, the Senate Republicans already said that he wouldn’t be welcome. Duke was going nowhere. And now, supposedly he’s off making speeches in Damascus, according to some blog I came across recently. Go figure, an anti-semite making his way to Damascus, isn’t that a shocker.
As for your views being “anathema” to me, they’re not an “anathema.” It seems like you’re already walking down a path that many a neo has followed before you. You voted for Clinton twice, and Gore once. But what of Kerry? Could it be that we both voted for the same ticket. I voted For Bush/Cheney, {though I didn’t have a bumper sticker, for the simple reason I didn’t want my new car keyed, as many another was keyed in this area, which sported the Bush/Cheney sticker, I live in the Philly area}.
But your comment really asks where is the locus of the anti-semitism we’ve been seeing. That’s a huge question of course, and I haven’t read a single book dealing squarely with anti-semitism in at least a decade. Probably not since college. But more precisely, your post requires an elaboration of MY opinion, and if I give the wrong answer, I’ll warrant the blogging equivalent of the hook.
But that’s OK. It’s your blog.
Another related issue, which is way beyond my response, is whether this new anti-Zionism is but a cover for the age old anti-semitism. I’m beginning to conclude that those who are ferociously anti-Israeli also harbour anti-semitism. It’s mere political colouration.
So let’s say straight off, that NO, I don’t consider all Libs anti-semites. Good grief….
Is anti-semitism on the political Right? Yes. Especially in Europe. But not so here, {THIS BY THE WAY TRIGGERED MY earlier comment, because an earlier post suggested that America would in the future prove an unsafe refuge for Jewish people, I suggested that America is in many ways distinct from Europe, and would thus prove a permanent refuge}. Buchanan never won any office. And did Buchanan ever win a primary? I know he did well in New Hampshire one election year, but I can’t recall if he won the thing. And he certainly didn’t campaign on anti-semitism. Moreover, he’s a writer, not a leader of the GOP. He makes money and gets his face on television by being provocative, like Ann Coulter. Out there throwing bombs here, bombs there. Getting people all riled up, and getting viewership up. He spoke at the GOP Convention, in an election we went on to lose by the way. Buchanan is Catholic, and is angry at what he’s called “the Amen Corner” in American politics, {the Bible Belt, Conservative Christians} for their unswerving support of Israel. He thinks their support for Israel is compromising American national security, because he deems the Amen Corner’s influence so powerful on foreign affairs. It’s almost an intramural Christian dispute, the Catholic Buchanan versus Protestants from the Bible Belt. Buchanan’s worried that we’re getting ourselves involved in a civilizational showdown with islam, a showdown that supposedly could be avoided by steering clear of the Israelis. I think that’s a shallow read of the situation, that’s not untouched by a great deal of wishful thinking by the way. And Buchanan loves to think of himself as someone capable of making the hard call, the brutal assessment. But he’s dodging this one. But he has no pull within the party.
For my part, I don’t think it’s the Bible Belt or the Amen Corner exercising an unhealthy influence upon American foreign policy. I’d say it’s the State Department. I don’t think they have a clue. I think they’re clearly out of their depth, and are almost institutionally incapable of placing this modern Arab/Israeli dispute in any historical context.
Is anti-semitism present on the Left? Yes. Indisputably so.
I don’t know whether this anti-semitism we’re seeing is truly new, or is but the same, age old prejudice emerging from hibernation, an enforced hibernation after the exposure of the camps. There is significant disputation on that subject. But regardless of whether this is truly a new political and cultural virus, or it’s but the old, finding new salience from the issues of the hour, it must be resisted. Which means that political allies must be found with the will, and the staying power capable of resisting it. And that is the crux, STAYING POWER. Does American Liberalism have the staying power for a long, drawn out struggle with anti-semitism, especially when Europe seems the hotbed of that anti-semitism? That’s the question.
So NO, I don’t think ordinary Liberals are anti-semitic.
I’m somewhat surprised that you imputed as much to me though. But misunderstandings happen. But before you get angry with something I’ve posted, why not just ask for a clarification.
Dan – as someone who lives in Europe, please believe me when I say that there is far more antisemitism on the left than on the right. The only party in this country to come out unequivically on the side of Israel was, surprisingly and sadly the BNP. Here it is our leftist newspapers, and of course, the BBC which consistantly demonise Israel. Unfortunately after the brilliant PR job done by Hizbollah and our very own Islamic organisations, all of the newspapers here criticised Israel to some degree. If you think the New York Times (to which I subscribe) is bad, take a look at the Independent, or the Guardian (which used to be the paper of choice for the Jewish Intelligentsia), better still, get on line and read the Guardians CIF (comments is free) if you want to see what the caring left think here.
Sometimes I feel like a lone voice in the wilderness. The Caliphate is round the corner, and nobody’s looking.
I don’t think I mistook these words, Dan:
You didn’t exactly specify “extreme left” in that comment.
I am happy that you have done so since. Let it drop, then.
Chairwoman, I think the British problem with Jews is that the British have always had a problem with Jews.
They’ve been anti-Semites for centuries there. I don’t believe it will change. Unless it gets worse.
I know it is extremely un-PC to say so but it is the Liberals who are currently making anti-semitism fashionable. Hence, I will vote accordingly next week.
The last time Pitchfork Pat B. ran for office it was on the Reform Party ticket, not the GOP. And his running mate, Lenora Fulani, was a Marxist most of her life. That’s Conservative? That’s Republican? Gimme a break.
When David Duke won a primary in Louisiana the national GOP urged Republicans to vote for his opponent. That was where the phrase originated, resurrected in 2002 to describe the Chirac-Le Pen faceoff, “Vote for the crook, not the fascist.”
On the other hand Al Sharpton is a kingmaker in the Democratic Party, so much so that Lieberman had to go lick his boots to get the nod for VP. “It profiteth a man not to sell his soul for the world, Joseph, but for the Vice-Presidency?”
Michael, nothing in your comment changes the facts that Duke ran as a Republican and Buchanan considers himself a conservative Christian. In fact, he considers himself a true conservative, and the rest of the Repubs (especially the Jewish ones) “neo-cons.”
I didn’t mention Buchanan’s last run for office. You did. The word “Republican” didn’t come up when I mentioned him.