The Liberal Anti-Semites: The New Face of an Ancient Hatred
In the aftermath of the 1975 UN motion that condemned Zionism as a form of racism, Italian artist Herbert Pagani wrote:
"Now that the Jews have a homeland, anti-Semitism rises again from its ashes, or better, our ashes, and it is called anti-Zionism. Before it was applied to individuals, today it is applied to a nation. Israel is a ghetto, Jerusalem is Warsaw. We are no longer besieged by the Germans but by the Arabs, whose crescent has often been disguised as a sickle to better fool the Left around the world. I, a left-wing Jew, do not care about a Left whose wish is to liberate all mankind at the expense of one minority, because I belong to that minority."
Today, in the aftermath of the 2001 UN human -rights summit in Durban, we are back to the future. The chorus of harsh international criticism and condemnation of Israel merely resurrects this same dark phoenix. Interestingly, the main promoters of the increasing hostility toward the Jewish state belong to the liberal camp - an old ally and protector of the Jewish people.
In her latest book The Liberal Anti-Semites, Italian journalist Fiamma Nirenstein follows the development of the relationship between the Italian Left and the Jewish people, from the aftermath of the Second World War until today. Nirenstein provides a compelling analysis of the dynamics of this relationship, and of how the Left took an increasingly anti-Israel stand since the Six Day War, eventually becoming one of its most vociferous opponents.
The consequences of this liberal anti-Semitism are very serious: a legitimization of terrorism and a failure to understand its origins. As a result, Nirenstein contends, we fail to see its only possible solution: democracy in the Arab world.
Nirenstein invites the Left to reconsider its position vis-a'-vis Israel and terrorism, warning that Europe, willing or not, will soon have to fight the same war that Israel is fighting today.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/Printer&cid=1095131866150&p=1006953079969.............................................................
compelling read.