Tweet
SUMMIT ON HOLOCAUST: GAZA WAR LEGITIMIZED EQUATING JEWS WITH NAZIS
By Cnaan Liphshiz
Ha'aretz
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/sp ages/1059089.html
Jan 27 2009
Israel
The operation in Gaza put an end to the European taboo on equating
Jews to Nazis. That message was one of the conclusions of the
first international panel discussion on anti-Semitism following
the Gaza invasion, which was held in Jerusalem Monday on the eve of
International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Speaking at the panel, which was part of the World Jewish Congress
plenary assembly, Professor Dina Porat said, "the comparison has now
become self-understood." She added this applied not only to Muslims
in Europe, but among "leftist circles."
Porat, an international authority on anti-Semitism and head of
Tel Aviv University's research body on this phenomenon, added that
Operation Cast Lead has "left no doubt" that Muslims in Europe had,
"prepared in advance a public campaign against Jews and Israel,
which they see as one and the same."
"[Muslims] were waiting for a signal or a pretext to launch this
campaign and the Nazism comparison," she said.
This tactic, she elaborated, proved most effective when Europeans
from the left wing "worked in unison" with Muslims.
"Europeans are burdened by the Holocaust, and accusing the victims of
being like the Nazis helps distribute some of the burden and guilt,"
Porat told the 500 people who came to the event, at the Inbal Hotel.
WJC Treasurer Cobi Benatoff of Italy, who attended the panel, urged
Jewish communities to "complain less and do more."
He hinted criticism of European coreligionists in comparing the level
of involvement in the Middle East by Muslims in Europe to that of the
continent's Jews. "I don't remember demonstrations by Jewish Europeans
when the Negev came under Palestinian fire every day," he said.
Also speaking at the event was Lina Filiba of the Jewish Confederation
of Turkey.
"There was much preparation in the reaction of Muslims," she said. "The
first rally came on the day of the first attack in Gaza." She added
the operation exposed anti-Semitism in Turkey's highest levels of
government, including Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who called
for Israel's exclusion from the United Nations.
She showed a picture of a group of people holding a dog outside a
shop near Istanbul with a poster hanging over it reading, "Jews and
Armenians are not allowed, but dogs are allowed". Despite Jewish
protests, she said, the poster was not removed until 15 days later,
following intervention from liberal groups.
Anne Sender, head of the Jewish community of Oslo, spoke of an
"explosion of violence" in anti-Jewish protests, which, according
to her, the likes of which had never occurred in the past. She also
mentioned the case of a Norwegian diplomat who, as reported by Haaretz,
last week sent an e-mail saying that Jews, "learned from the Nazis."
Preliminary analyses by Jewish organizations estimate that during the
Gaza operation, the volume of anti-Semitic attacks in Europe multiplied
more than four-fold compared to the correlating time last year.
By Cnaan Liphshiz
Ha'aretz
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/sp ages/1059089.html
Jan 27 2009
Israel
The operation in Gaza put an end to the European taboo on equating
Jews to Nazis. That message was one of the conclusions of the
first international panel discussion on anti-Semitism following
the Gaza invasion, which was held in Jerusalem Monday on the eve of
International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Speaking at the panel, which was part of the World Jewish Congress
plenary assembly, Professor Dina Porat said, "the comparison has now
become self-understood." She added this applied not only to Muslims
in Europe, but among "leftist circles."
Porat, an international authority on anti-Semitism and head of
Tel Aviv University's research body on this phenomenon, added that
Operation Cast Lead has "left no doubt" that Muslims in Europe had,
"prepared in advance a public campaign against Jews and Israel,
which they see as one and the same."
"[Muslims] were waiting for a signal or a pretext to launch this
campaign and the Nazism comparison," she said.
This tactic, she elaborated, proved most effective when Europeans
from the left wing "worked in unison" with Muslims.
"Europeans are burdened by the Holocaust, and accusing the victims of
being like the Nazis helps distribute some of the burden and guilt,"
Porat told the 500 people who came to the event, at the Inbal Hotel.
WJC Treasurer Cobi Benatoff of Italy, who attended the panel, urged
Jewish communities to "complain less and do more."
He hinted criticism of European coreligionists in comparing the level
of involvement in the Middle East by Muslims in Europe to that of the
continent's Jews. "I don't remember demonstrations by Jewish Europeans
when the Negev came under Palestinian fire every day," he said.
Also speaking at the event was Lina Filiba of the Jewish Confederation
of Turkey.
"There was much preparation in the reaction of Muslims," she said. "The
first rally came on the day of the first attack in Gaza." She added
the operation exposed anti-Semitism in Turkey's highest levels of
government, including Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who called
for Israel's exclusion from the United Nations.
She showed a picture of a group of people holding a dog outside a
shop near Istanbul with a poster hanging over it reading, "Jews and
Armenians are not allowed, but dogs are allowed". Despite Jewish
protests, she said, the poster was not removed until 15 days later,
following intervention from liberal groups.
Anne Sender, head of the Jewish community of Oslo, spoke of an
"explosion of violence" in anti-Jewish protests, which, according
to her, the likes of which had never occurred in the past. She also
mentioned the case of a Norwegian diplomat who, as reported by Haaretz,
last week sent an e-mail saying that Jews, "learned from the Nazis."
Preliminary analyses by Jewish organizations estimate that during the
Gaza operation, the volume of anti-Semitic attacks in Europe multiplied
more than four-fold compared to the correlating time last year.