The results of a recent poll are in and the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) claims that anti-Semitic attitudes are "up". In the poll, 3,000 adults in Europe were simply asked if the following were "probably true" or "probably false":
• Jews are more loyal to Israel than their country of citizenship.
• Jews have too much power in the business world.
• Jews have too much power in international financial markets.
• Jews still talk too much about what happened to them in the Holocaust.
According to the ADL, it is anti-Semitic to agree with any of the above statements because they are "the most pernicious notions of anti-Semitism" and "classical anti-Semitic canards that have persistently pursued Jews through the centuries" - this, of course, despite the fact that both the Holocaust and the state of Israel were obviously unheard of until the 20th century...whoops.
Anyway, I find it interesting that the ADL thinks anti-Semitism is knowing that a lot of Jews have a lot of power (see: 1, 2), a lot of Jews use the Holocaust to promote their own interests (see: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5) and a lot of Jews get pretty excited about having a Jewish state in the Middle East. Why is this important? Well, ask yourself: what does it mean when the only way to not be anti-Semitic is to have no opinion on the above topics or say it is good that Jews have a lot of power, use the Holocaust to make money and have extra-national interests?
Granted, it is true that certain opinions about the Jews can lead to anti-Semitic persecution and anger towards "the Jews" - as a race, religion or ethnic entity. But if that is the ADL's explanation as to why criticism of Jews is anti-Semitic, consider the following: if the ADL's activities and interests lead one to hate Jews and turn violent against them, is the ADL itself anti-Semitic?
• Jews are more loyal to Israel than their country of citizenship.
• Jews have too much power in the business world.
• Jews have too much power in international financial markets.
• Jews still talk too much about what happened to them in the Holocaust.
According to the ADL, it is anti-Semitic to agree with any of the above statements because they are "the most pernicious notions of anti-Semitism" and "classical anti-Semitic canards that have persistently pursued Jews through the centuries" - this, of course, despite the fact that both the Holocaust and the state of Israel were obviously unheard of until the 20th century...whoops.
Anyway, I find it interesting that the ADL thinks anti-Semitism is knowing that a lot of Jews have a lot of power (see: 1, 2), a lot of Jews use the Holocaust to promote their own interests (see: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5) and a lot of Jews get pretty excited about having a Jewish state in the Middle East. Why is this important? Well, ask yourself: what does it mean when the only way to not be anti-Semitic is to have no opinion on the above topics or say it is good that Jews have a lot of power, use the Holocaust to make money and have extra-national interests?
Granted, it is true that certain opinions about the Jews can lead to anti-Semitic persecution and anger towards "the Jews" - as a race, religion or ethnic entity. But if that is the ADL's explanation as to why criticism of Jews is anti-Semitic, consider the following: if the ADL's activities and interests lead one to hate Jews and turn violent against them, is the ADL itself anti-Semitic?
