Op-Ed: Anti-Semitism, Old and New

And so, twelve years after I started writing my now out-of-print book, "The New Anti-Semitism: The Coming Crisis and What To Do About It"; eleven years after I published it in 2003, I am counted as one of the experts on the subject.

My words are joined by those of Irwin Cotler, Hasia Diner, Michel Gurfinkiel, David Mamet, Cynthia Ozick, Alvin Rosenfeld, Charles Small, who are grappling with the question of "Anti-Semitism. Where Does It Come From and Why Does it Persist? What are its New Forms? Will It Ever Go Away?"

Our answers vary. Jews have always been "outsiders and enemies;" Judaism has been viewed as an "antiquated" or as a "corrupting" religion. Anti-Semitism is a way of "externalizing evil," explaining "economic patterns," provides a "convenient scapegoat," is "misdiagnosed in America," is "complex and contentious," is a "politically correct disease, "an example of "Holocaust inversion," of "state-sanctioned hatred," is due to "Radical political Islam," and remains "an omnipresent threat."

I recommend this issue of Moment Magazine and commend the editors for publishing this as a coverstory. Until quite recently, the subject itself--and those who were alarmed by its revival in both the Islamic and Western worlds--shared questionable, even pariah status.

Today, in my view, anti-Zionism = anti-Semitism. This is what I wrote in 2002-2003. This prejudice is shared by politically correct "good" people, bully right-wing fascists, world organizations, Palestinian terrorists, by Islamists, and by too many in the Islamic world.

Persia/Iran is again calling for "The Death of the Jews." This is how it has always been--and where, now, is our redeemer, Esther? Even in her noble tale, the King decides against exterminating the Jews, but decides to tax them instead. This is the story of infidels, dhimmis, especially Jews, under Islamic rule.