Anti-Israel rhetoric is the new anti-Semitism. What does this mean? Anti-Semitism is another term for Jew hatred, which has been around for thousands of years, even in places where Jews do not reside.
It is irrational. After the Holocaust ended it was globally accepted, at least in Western countries, that it was not OK to say blatantly anti-Semitic statements.
Some countries like Germany passed laws against hate speech and against Holocaust denial. But, little by little, it became acceptable to attack Israel. Around the world you could hear people, including prominent politicians rationalize, we are only criticizing the Israeli government, not the Jews.
Lies about Israel are leading a lot of good-hearted people into opposing the only country in the entire Middle East that doesn’t segregate and oppress its minority population.
Think about this. There is only one country in the world whose very legitimacy is questioned, only one country that is openly threatened with annihilation. There is a huge movement around the world, including the United Nations, Amnesty International and the BDS movement to delegitimize Israel, all of whom hypocritically target Israel, the one and only Jewish state.
To give you a little context, in the world there are roughly 50 Muslim majority countries and 61 Christian majority countries, but only one Jewish country. When universal standards are applied so selectively to only one country, they cease to become standards at all. And by disproportionately focusing on Israel to such an extreme degree, the plight of millions of human rights victims around the world are ignored.
Kenneth Meshoe, a member of the South African parliament and a Black South African who lived through apartheid, has said that “labeling Israel as apartheid betrays and destroys the memory of the real Apartheid and minimizes the suffering of those who lived in South Africa.”
He continues, “This malicious slander will not help to promote peace and harmony in the Middle East. Its only purpose is to demonize Israel and to isolate her in an attempt to de-legitimize Israel’s existence.”
Let’s remember that Nelson Mandela took up struggle and went to prison in South Africa for fighting for the rights that all Israeli citizens enjoy.
Rabbi Jonathan Sacks who served as chief rabbi in the U.K. and was knighted by the queen said, “Human rights are the rights we have because we are human, they are universal or they are nothing. So the test of any movement in support of human rights is it really universal or is it rights for some but not for others?”
For instance, the aim of the “human rights group” BDS is to persecute Jews and deny them the same rights as other people. Whenever you hear human rights invoked to deny Israel’s right to exist, you are hearing the new antisemitism. Anti-Israel is the new antisemitism.
(Linda McGrath of Hampton is a member of NH4Israel.org.)