Excerpts from the Guildford Shul Magazine

REIM

As Passover descends there is so much to think about; changing dishes, buying food, making plans for Seder, mailing letters to family abroad.  The last few months have been interesting in Britain; a nation-wide Holocaust Remembrance, the ongoing Ken Livingstone flap and reports of record level anti-Semitic attacks. 

 

Last week an MP was pelted with eggs visiting a Jewish war memorial.  What’s the connection between these?  The answer is anti-Semitism.  Auschwitz was the probably the most efficient killing machine the world has witnessed, Ken Livingstone’s remarks smack of old fashioned anti-Semitism and vandals attacking cemeteries and Jews, is obvious.  Or is it? 

 

Livingstone defended himself in this week’s Jewish Chronicle by citing reports of Jewish massacres against civilians during the war of Independence.  He said Israel and the Palestinians need a “truth and reconciliation commission” as South African has had. 

 

Does Livingstone have a point?  Do Israelis and Jews need to atone for the creation of the State of Israel?  Is Livingstone, who defends Qaradawi’s praise of suicide bombers and then tells his critics they are manipulated by the “Zionist media,” anti-Semitic?  What is our response to this?  Is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict the root of recent violence against Jews? 

 

Anti-Semitism or, what I call, “the longest running hate show,” exists because it’s effective.  Leaders of repressive regimes, particularly those with large populations of the poor and illiterate, use anti-Semitism artfully; blaming Jews deflects criticism of their own governments.  To date, Jews/Israel have been blamed for 9/11, the Tsunami, world-wide terror, AIDS in African American communities and Bush’s policies.  The Malaysian president two years ago stated “the Jews rule the world by proxy” and received a standing ovation.

 

But what explains European masses, purportedly educated people, believing Israel is the greatest threat to world peace? An excellent read is an interview with Phyllis Chesler in the National Review about the upsurge of anti-Semitism and its marriage with the Left.  By new anti-Semitism I refer to the phenomenon of “peace marches” in Europe featuring signs of “death to the Jews.”  Which is not to say rightwing, or old fashioned anti-Semitism, as practiced by neo Nazis, is gone.  We are simply battling anti-Semitism on at least two fronts.

 

What do we do?  Holocaust education may hold the key and can do more than memorialize the dead.  We need to illustrate how blaming Israel has become a means of scapegoating much as blaming Jews was in the 1930s.  We need to understand the phenomenon of anti-Semitism ourselves and the role it plays in world history.  Jewish communities need to take the lead here in defining this discussion.  Otherwise, Holocaust memorials are little more than words and pictures.

 

The views expressed in this article are those of the individual and do not necessarily represent those of the community.

 

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Selections from REIM

Opinion Column Passover 5765

by Barbara Gellman