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Issue: Anti-Semitism in Europe


One particular aim of Israel has been to limit European criticism of its policies with regards to the Palestinian issue by claiming all of Europe was driven by ‘anti-Semitism’.

Chris Patten for the Commission became outraged but through his response he revealed more how his family was involved in the founding of the Israeli state in 1948 (see International Tribune, 10.5.2002), than speaking about current political affairs. Thus his defense of Europe does very little to substantiate the criticism one may wish to uphold against all claims by the Israeli or Palestinian authorities, nor does he ever come around to address the wider issues of terrorism and violence affecting foreign policy and international relations.

That deplorable situation expresses itself in Europe being either left outside real negotiations or else cornered by Israeli accusations of being driven by ‘anti-Semitism’ when trying to criticize.

All that adds to the risk of misunderstanding when European officials rather than taking sides with either Israel or Palestine, attempt to pursue a policy of independent mediator.

Sadly enough Europe cannot really explain itself adequately nor convincingly enough to make a difference in world affairs.

Thus the way Sharon and the Israeli government handled Solena when attempting to see Arafat for the first time during the siege in Ramallah early April, shows how downgraded Europe has become. As a result European experiences with regards to resolving peacefully conflicts are not asked for nor upgraded by being demanded.

This means equally such efforts by the European Commission to start an ‘intercultural dialogue’ are not really taken seriously. As one Jewish participant who attended that attempt at dialogue, ‘Europe still needs to look Israel in the eyes’.

This demand appears justified when recalling what happened to the Jews in Europe and what nowadays Jewish people fear is on the rise again in Europe, namely new waves of ‘anti Semitism’.

Thomas L. Friedman writes:

“Yes, yes, many Europeans really do just want an end to the Israeli occupation, but the anti-Semitism coming out of Europe today suggests that deep down some Europeans want a lot more. They want Sharon to commit a massacre against Palestinians, so that the Europeans can finally get the guilt of the Holocaust off their backs and be able to shout ‘Look at these Jews, they’re worse than we were’.”

(Thomas L. Friedman, “This war is only about a border”, International Herald Tribune, 17.5.2002)

Here is an example of a ill defined term anti-Semitism to suggest a search by ‘some’ Europeans to unload their guilt feelings towards the Jewish people. He finds testimony from what he heard at a recent conference:

“I just attended an Arab media conference and was on a panel with Eric Rouleau, the Middle East correspondent of Le Monde, who said he had recently spoken to some French generals who told him that what Israel did in Jenin was worse than anything France did during the Algerian war. A million Algerians were killed in that war and 2 million made homeless. So far 60 bodies have been recovered in Jenin, many of them fighters. You do the math.”

Why French generals reflecting upon Algeria should be linked to the guilt feeling related to the Holocaust, that needs explanations. Still, Friedman’s point is not clarifying but distorting further the impression of France and with it Europe has adopted a different accounting system and would be relieved if someone would be proven to acting worse than they have in history.

In reality such argumentation will substantiate further fears in Israel about anti-Semitism on the rise in Europe. Although it exists, as a political fact it can be largely exaggerated and used for quite deliberated political intimation.

There is the case in Germany with the FDP accepting a former Green who is said to be a conscious anti-Semitist although he himself is from Syria and therefore belongs, ethnologically speaking, to the Semitist line.

However, as pointed out by one contributor to the “Moderated Discussion on the Middle East” as posted by the New York Times on the WEB page http://forums.nytimes.com

7.19 p.m.Apr 13, 2002 EST, there should be taken into consideration that:

“It’s not anti-Semitic to deplore hatred and abuse of power, and, it may well be those who step and protest with clarity, while providing accurate information to support their viewpoints, who are proven to be the best and most loyal long term supporters of Israel, and Jews everywhere.”

Criticism of Peace dimension perverted

President Bush has after Powell returned started to praise Sharon as man of peace, while leaving aside Yasser Arafat.

No wonder then that silence reigns when tanks decide between right or wrong. Or even worse, any critical viewpoint is lumped together with anti-Semitism. That then is itself a perversion of all human judgment.

This goes hand in hand with painting the sharp contrast what kind of support Israel enjoys in America compared to America. Many articles link this to the not only the successful work of the Jewish lobby groups in the United States bringing about a vote in Congress that supports fully Sharon’s current policy, but also how the Religious Right in the United States rally behind the cause of the pro-Israeli fraction. This particular political climate in the United States adds to the strain in relationships with Europe and reinforces the impression that there is a rise of Anti-Semitism. The vote in France becomes with LePen in the run-off for presidential election not just another, equally perturbing sign. Rather it seems to confirm worries expressed already by the ‘foot soldier’ early March about rising tendencies of Anti-Semitism in Europe, but particular in France.

Anti-Semitism and Europe

In a lead article of the Herald Tribune on June 18, 2002, the Washington Post asks, “is anti-Semitism once again infecting European politics?”

All of sudden the proof for that is derived from a German politician of the FDP evoking questions about what is to come. The article points out that “as elsewhere in Europe, where harsh criticism of Israel is now commonplace and attacks on synagogues are on the rise, the political incentives for anti-Semitic appeals in Germany seem to be growing even as the post-Holocaust taboos fade.”

Yet Habermas was quick to point out it is not a matter of breaking taboos or not since after the war a collective learning process influenced the attitude adopted towards Israel.


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