PC anti-Semitism spreads in Europe

Is a new wave of anti-Semitism engulfing Europe?

An unusually intense sequence of events this month has left observers wondering. The incidents included controversial remarks in the German parliament and provocative results in a survey sponsored by the European Union.

The apparent rise in anti-Semitism has stirred discussion at Zionist institution meetings now being held in Jerusalem. The topic dominates discussion among the various delegates who are registered in hotels in the capital.

"Anti-Semitism has become politically correct in Europe," Minister for Jerusalem and Diaspora Affairs Natan Sharansky said. Yet among other government officials, there are other interpretations of alarming trends on the continent.

Yesterday, the Israeli Forum to Coordinate the Struggle against Anti-Semitism, a body comprised of Foreign Ministry professionals, the Jewish Agency, and the intelligence community, met in Sharansky's office. Surveys presented by forum members depicted a complex, multi-faceted trend.

Meeting participants identified three types of anti-Semitism in today's Europe - "classic," "new," and "Muslim." The Muslim variant is the most dangerous type, participants claimed. Muslim extremists progress from spontaneous street violence to planned terror attacks, forum members stated. In Europe and elsewhere, terror cells plot attacks against Jewish targets, and thus far, no successful major attack has been perpetrated on the continent. Such terror schemes have been exposed in recent months in Germany and Britain. Forum participants defined this Muslim anti-Semitism as "an existential threat posed to the Jewish people."

Derogatory statements such as "Jews are the source of evil" or "Jews control the world," were described by forum participants as "classic" anti-Semitism. Most anti-Semitic incidents in recent weeks belong to this category.

Along with Sharansky, notable figures such as Labor leader Shimon Peres and financier George Soros agreed that anti-Semitism is on the upsurge. However, Foreign Ministry officials are not so pessimistic. "The important thing is not the statements themselves, since they are not surprising, but rather the responses displayed by governments in Europe," a top Foreign Ministry official said. "The forceful condemnations [of anti-Semitic statements] prove that the struggle against anti-Semitism is succeeding."

The "new" brand of anti-Semitism, some forum participants said, is aimed against the state of the Jews, rather than Jews themselves. But there is no clear consensus in Israel on this issue: when does criticism of Israel transmogrify as anti-Semitism? Sharansky and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon believe that anyone who believes that Israel is a threat to world peace is a new type of anti-Semite. Regarding this interpretation, the results of the recent European Union survey (59 percent of Europeans view Israel as the country most threatening to world peace) suggest that a new wave of anti-Semitism is sweeping the continent. But Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom sees things differently. He said in an interview this week that the survey results reflect over-exposure of the Palestinian-Israeli dispute in the media. "We cannot exempt ourselves from responsibility for the survey results, if only because we have neglected public explanation work."