Anti-Semitism On the Rise ... Again

There's a new breed of discrimination we need to guard against. Apparently bigots got tired of practicing the same ol' hate.

Ottawa is hosting the international conference of the Inter-parliamentary Coalition for Combating anti-Semitism this week, prompting some assessments of the current state of global anti-Semitism from the op-ed pages.

Writing in the National Post, Irwin Cotler warns that there is a new breed of anti-Semitism afoot that is “reminiscent to many of the atmospherics of the 1930s.” He doesn’t say exactly how this new form of hatred resembles what happened in the lead up to the Holocaust, but defines it as “the discrimination against, denial of, or assault upon the right of the Jewish people to live as an equal member of the family of nations, with Israel as the targeted ‘collective Jew among the nations.’” The only issue one can take with such a definition of anti-Semitism is that it is vague. By neglecting to include any specific examples of the kind of discrimination he’s talking about, or acknowledge that there are potentially legitimate criticisms of Israel's policies, Cotler leaves open the possibility that any criticism of Israel is an extension of this rising anti-Semitism. Some of Israel’s defenders could use Cotler’s definition to label this piece in The Mark, which attacks Israel's nation-building Jewish National Fund, as anti-Semitic, though whether Cotler would agree with that label is not at all clear.

The Globe and Mail’s Kenneth Marcus also says anti-Semitism is linked to the targeting of Israel, specifically growing anti-Zionist sentiment in the wake of the second intifada and the blockade of Gaza. What’s most alarming, he says, is “the most serious concerns emanate from the very institutions usually thought to be bulwarks against irrational prejudice – the major research universities.” He cites a scary incident wherein two Carleton University students were attacked by a machete-wielding fellow student who called them “Zionists.” Marcus says the problem is severe enough to warrant immediate action, which includes defence of free speech whether it be of the pro- or anti-Israel variety. That seems like a wonderfully balanced argument in a debate whose opponents often try to force middle-grounders to pick a side.