This is a theme we have explored exhaustively here, in connection with the Boycott, Divest and Sanctions movement and anti-Semitic rallies and violence in Europe.
There is a theoretical difference between being anti-Zionist and anti-Semitic. But that theoretical distinction has been completely lost on the street and campus thugs in Europe and elsewhere, who use anti-Zionism as cover for hate of Jews. That they are urged on by some left-wing Jews doesn’t change the reality on the street or campus.
That’s why anti-Zionists attack Jews for appearing Jewish (what I call Walking While Jewish).
The Prime Minister of France called it what it was:
“There is a new anti-Semitism in France,” he told me. “We have the old anti-Semitism, and I’m obviously not downplaying it, that comes from the extreme right, but this new anti-Semitism comes from the difficult neighborhoods, from immigrants from the Middle East and North Africa, who have turned anger about Gaza into something very dangerous. Israel and Palestine are just a pretext. There is something far more profound taking place now.”In discussing the attacks on French synagogues and Jewish-owned businesses this summer, during the Gaza war, he said, “It is legitimate to criticize the politics of Israel. This criticism exists in Israel itself. But this is not what we are talking about in France. This is radical criticism of the very existence of Israel, which is anti-Semitic. There is an incontestable link between anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism. Behind anti-Zionism is anti-Semitism.”
And now a German Judge has also, via Times of Israel, German judge rules: Anti-Zionism is code for anti-Semitism:
At the height of this summer’s Israel-Hamas conflict, Europe erupted with anti-Israel sentiment. From London to Paris, large-scale violent demonstrations were seen in most European capitals and throughout Germany…The wheels of justice move slowly, but they are inching forward in Germany. In a unprecedented case heard half a year after these violent anti-Israel demonstrations, last week in Essen, German Judge Gauri Sastry convicted 24-year-old Taylan Can for incitement against an ethnic minority for events at a July 18, 2014, anti-Israel demonstration in the town.Eyewitness accounts report hostile anti-Israel chants and stones thrown from the anti-Israel camp to the smaller group of Israel supporters. According to the Anti-Defamation League, a breakaway group headed toward a local synagogue, intending to attack it.A YouTube video of the demonstration shows fields of Palestinian flags and Turkish flags, and a motley group of young men running and chanting “Adolf Hitler” and “Death to the Jews.” In the video, popular Essen Muslim rapper Sinan-G speaks to the camera explaining this is a counter-demonstration against the Jews. “The Jews insulted us, man, this is crazy stuff,” he said.Despite the large police presence, the crowd was clearly out of control. According to Die Welt, police arrested 49 protesters. Forty-five cases were dismissed in December.Born in Germany to a Turkish family, Can is well-known for his anti-Israel activism. According to Die Welt, Can was caught on tape at a Copenhagen protest shouting into a borrowed police megaphone, “Death to the Jews,” “Hamas, Hamas, Jews to the gas chamber.”At his Essen hearing this winter Can was prosecuted for his use of the term “Zionist” as incitement against a minority.During the hearing, Can claimed he was not an anti-Semite and had nothing against the Jewish people but only against the Zionist state. In response, Judge Sastry is quoted by Die Welt saying, “‘Zionist’ is the language of anti-Semites, the code for ‘Jew.’”Sastry’s judgment, which does not form a binding precedent in German law, essentially semantically equates anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism.Can was sentenced to three months’ probation and a fine of 200 euros. He has until Friday to appeal.On his Facebook page this week, Can reiterated he that he is not against Jews and stated his intention of appealing to both the district and federal courts.
Don’t think it happens on our campuses?
In addition to all the other videos and coverage we have had, consider how pro-BDS students at UC-Davis chanted “Allahu Akbar” at pro-Israel students protesting an anti-Israel divestment vote, via Washington Free Beacon:
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