On May 30, the Universities and Colleges Union voted not to accept the ‘working definition’ of anti-semitism drawn up by the European Monitoring Centre for Racism and Xenophobia, now commuted into the FRA – European Fundamental Rights Agency. The ‘working definition’ is at the bottom of this post

As antisemitic outbursts from John Galliano, Charlie Sheen and Julian Assange make the headlines, Antony Lerman questions some of the easy conclusions that have been drawn, arguing that “Antisemitism is a hot issue which demands cool and rational differentiated analysis”.

“Because of the Holocaust and Germany’s responsibility for World War II, solidarity with the Jewish state founded in 1948 is a fundamental tenet of German policy. Israel’s security is “part of my country’s raison d’être,” Merkel said in a speech to the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, in 2008.” This interesting report in Der Spiegel Online shows quite how difficult it is for German politicians to make even the slightest criticism of Israeli policy.

Critics of Israel are increasingly accused of delegitimising Israel and encouraging antisemitism. This creates a climate of suspicion in which the onus is on critics to somehow demonstrate they are not antisemitic. In this JNews post, Richard Kuper looks at how the EUMC ‘Working Definition of Antisemitism’ functions to delegitimise criticism of Israel.

Anthony Lerman looks at the TV series the Promise, of which two of the four episodes have now been screened: “That such a major and challenging series—in which the Israeli characters are drawn sympathetically and realistically, with not a hint of demonization—appears on one of the country’s mass audience television channels and is positively received throws an interesting light on what I believe are grossly exaggerated claims that London is the hub of international efforts to delegitimize Israel and that British Jews are subject to a constant barrage of media-driven anti-Zionist propaganda that borders on, or overlaps with, antisemitism…”

The attempt by prominent Zionists in South Africa to denounce Archbishop Tutu as antisemitic and force the South African Holocaust Foundation to dismiss him as a patron has been seen off. Thanks to the over five thousand who signed a petition in his support, including former chief justice Arthur Chaskalson, human rights lawyer Joel Joffe, Annie Lennox, Adam Hochschild, Andrew Feinstein, Neve Gordon, Justice Albie Sachs, Zackie Achmat, Justice Dennis Davis, Geoff Budlender, Barbara Hogan, Pregs Govender and Jan Kavan.

An appeal from South Africa: Archbishop Tutu has been labeled an “anti-Semite” and a “bigot”. Please read the appeal and sign the petition in his support.

StandWithUs, on the openly racist end of the mainstream Jewish institutional world in the United States, has produced a new comic book hero Captain Israel to fight the demons of the present, leading among which is the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, portrayed in Palestinian colours as the evil serpent so beloved by the antisemites. Cecile Shurasky of Muzzlewatch draws out the parallels with Nazi propaganda. Plus Roi Maor comments (added 19 Jan)

Stephen Shalom challenges the accusation that Israel is unfairly singled out for criticism, that double standards are applied. Here he counters the arguments suggesting that Israel is held to higher standards than other countries; that Israel’s attempts to make peace are overlooked; that the United Nations singles Israel out while overlooking far more egregious behaviour; and many related arguments…

On 5 November Der Spiegel online reported that the Jewish community in Germany was ‘outraged’ by the choice of Alfred Grosser to give the Reichskristallnacht memorial talk at the Paulskirche in Frankfurt. His crime? He has criticised Israel for its treatment of the Palestinians. He has said: “As a Jewish boy in a Frankfurt school, [...]

Time magazine’s Karl Vick published an article observing that solving the conflict with the Palestinians is very low on the agenda of most Israelis today. It wasn’t long before the Abe Foxman of the ADL accused Time magazine of being antisemitic!

Jeremiah Haber develops the ideas advanced by Daniel Luban in his article in the Jewish Tablet “The New Anti-Semitism: Recent attacks on Islam in the United States echo old slurs against Jews”. In the context of the proposed mosque at Ground Zero, Haber comments :”Why, then, are so many Jews hemming and hawing about the Cordoba Center? Take it from me – it’s all about Israel…”

In a New York Times op-ed two months ago, following the Israeli assault on the flotilla, Tony Judt took a look at 6 clichés that bedevil discussions of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict…

Bradley Burston, Haaretz’s ‘a-special-place-in-hell’ columnist, is opposed to boycotting Israel and thus to the Olympia Food Coop’s decision not to store Israeli goods. He writes: “But I want to thank the Olympia Food Co-op for going an important step. Something extremely valuable is happening there. Something truly radical. An awareness that people who are truly in favor of social justice must take a stand against bigotry, no matter the target.”

Adam Keller, Gush Shalom activist and editor of The Other Israel, asks if Israel is being singled out by international civil society. His answer is yes – but that is a singling out which is easy to justify…

Gilbert Achcar notes the rise of Holocaust denial in the Arab world but argues that it “is not primarily an expression of antisemitism, as western Holocaust denial certainly is, but an expression of what I call the “anti-Zionism of fools”. Yet it remains a minority phenomenon in the Arab world, fought by enlightened intellectuals and politically educated activists who explain that such attitudes are not only based on ignorance but do a disservice to the Palestinian cause…”

Antony Lerman provides a substantial critical review of Anthony Julius’s massive tome “Trials of the Diaspora:A History of Anti-Semitism in England”.
“[Julius] accepts without question the central notion of the “new anti-Semitism”: that Israel is the “Jew among the nations.” This phrase posits an unsustainable equivalence between the powerless, vulnerable diaspora Jew and the state of Israel. Moreover, it dilutes the allegation of anti-Semitism. To warrant the charge, it is sufficient for someone to hold any view ranging from criticism of the policies of the current Israeli government to denial that Israel has the right to exist, without having to subscribe to any of the beliefs historians have traditionally regarded as constituting an anti-Semitic worldview. This is a fundamental redefinition of the term “anti-Semitism” for political purposes, one consequence of which is that if almost everything is anti-Semitic, then nothing is. The word is rendered useless…”

Cecile Surasky of Jewish Voice for Peace joins in the condemnation of Helen Thomas, doyen of White House reporters, for her recent off the cuff statement that Israeli Jews should go back to Germany…or Poland. But she finds the hypocrisy of the whole affair hard to stomach…

Gary Younge writes: “To rubbish the former judge’s report on Gaza, Israel has dredged up his record in South Africa – while forgetting its own.”

This important essay by Tony Klug is based on a talk given at Limmud in December 2009 and published on this website in January 2010. It was revised for publication in the May/June edition of Tikkkun magazine. The Tikkun website also carries an hour-long audio interview with Tony Klug…