We hear a lot these days, from assorted boycotters and human rights campaigners, that there is no connection between anti-Zionism and antisemitism, that the two positions have as little to do with each other as supporting Manchester United has with a passion for philately.
It’s a pity the news didn’t reach the Mumbai terrorists before they murdered Aryeh Leib Teitelbaum. Had they known that he was neither a Zionist nor an Israeli, they would surely have asked him to step to one side as they conducted their slaughter. Or perhaps they did know, but Teitelbaum failed to clarify his political views fast enough to save his life. I mean, what’s an honest jihadi to do? In the heat of the moment mistakes get made.
Maybe the anti-Zionist human rights campaigners could get together to draw up a quick reference card for jihadis - to be carried with them when they set out on an operation - that would help them to rapidly distinguish those Jews who deserve to live from those who don’t.
ha! brilliant, as always
I think that, as Norman Geras mentioned in your podcast, while many anti-Zionism may indeed be anti-Semites, not all are. There are many people who have no intrinsic dislike of Jews per se, but cannot see how Jews have a greater claim to a land than the Palestinians, who are considered the indigenous population. They see the Jews as having emotional ties to the land based on their on folklore or theology, but they don’t see this as translating into viable claims in terms of international law. The Jews, they say, were indeed there in ancient times, but the land now belongs to the Arabs, who have mostly populated that region for the 1,700 years since.
I don’t agree with that view, and I am pro-Zionist, but it is a hard view to argue against. So it can convince a lot of honest people who have little or no prejudice against Jews, especially if their knowledge of the region’s history is superficial.