Tuesday, January 06, 2009

ANTI-SEMITISM IN EUROPE

Israel's recent military action against the terrorists of Hamas has riled up the latent anti-Semitism of many in Europe. Hence the spectacle of thousands of middle-class Europeans taking to the streets to demand that Israel cease to defend herself, and passively allow rockets to continue to fall on Sderot and Ashkelon.



In some cases, members of European societies have reverted to age-old patterns. Let a few examples serve for all.




12/31/08
Assailants shot at Israelis in a shopping mall in Odense, Denmark, injuring two people. The attackers then drove off in a black car, which was subsequently left on the grounds of a local educational institution.

12/31/08
The AEL (Arab European league) handed out literature advocating war against all Jews world-wide at a demonstration in Belgium, along with religious literature justifying Jew-hate. The demonstration was marked by slogans calling for the extermination of Jews. The rally was also attended by members of several left-leaning parties.

01/03/09
Leaders of the Dutch Socialist Party joined hundreds screaming 'Hamas Hamas all Joden aan het gas' (Hamas Hamas all Jews to the gas) in the capitol city of the Netherlands on Saturday, along with many well-known anti-Israel activists and concerned racists.

01/04/09
During the night of January 4, attackers used petrol to set fire to part of a synagogue in London. The damage to the building was minor.

01/04/09
Greek politician and journalist George Karatzaferis in an editorial in a weekly news magazine called Jews Christ-killers and murderers of children, and said "it is known all over the world that a Jew smells of blood."

01/05/09
A firebomb was thrown at a synagogue in Brussels on Monday. The building was slightly damaged.

01/05/09
A synagogue in Toulouse, France, was rammed by activists driving two vehicles containing incendiary devices. The building was damaged in the ensuing conflagration, but there were no victims.


Undoubtedly there will be many more such incidents in the coming months. And considering that a pogrom of Antwerp's Jewish community was only narrowly averted, one has to wonder at the future of Judaism in Europe. Or leastways, about the future of Jews in Europe.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

"Israel's recent military action against the terrorists of Hamas has riled up the latent anti-Semitism of many in Europe. Hence the spectacle of thousands of middle-class Europeans taking to the streets to demand that Israel cease to defend herself, and passively allow rockets to continue to fall on Sderot and Ashkelon."

Nice debate tactic. How does this have to do with anti-semitism?

Oh right. List people making a march against the bombing of the Gaza strip by Israel, then list actual terrible acts of anti-Semitism.

Then declasre they are the same thing. Right.

The back of the hill said...

Nice debate tactic. How does this have to do with anti-semitism? Oh right. List people making a march against the bombing of the Gaza strip by Israel, then list actual terrible acts of anti-Semitism. Then declasre they are the same thing. Right.

Reading-comprehension is not your strong suit, is it?

The demonstration was marked by slogans calling for the extermination of Jews.

Hardly an example of a valid voicing of an objection to a military campaign.

Leaders of the Dutch Socialist Party joined hundreds screaming 'Hamas Hamas all Joden aan het gas' (Hamas Hamas all Jews to the gas) in the capitol city of the Netherlands on Saturday, along with many well-known anti-Israel activists and concerned racists.

Demanding that all Jews be sent to the gas chambers is clearly anti-Semitic, not by any stretch of the imagination a legitimate protest.

Greek politician and journalist George Karatzaferis in an editorial in a weekly news magazine called Jews Christ-killers and murderers of children, and said "it is known all over the world that a Jew smells of blood."

He made these statements in the context of anger over the attack on Hamas. From which one may infer that he is an anti-Semite, in addition to a supporter of Hamas.

I would urge you to return to school. One of the first two or three grades. Learn how to read. Try to understand texts. Apply yourself. And curb your own tendency to conflate rabid anti-Semitism with legitimate discourse. Such a course of action may, in good time, help you fill out a job-application or an insurance form.

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