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 merely 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, its 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, it is interesting that the ADL thinks it is anti-Semitic to know 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 interesting? 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 the 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, its 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.
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 the Jews and turn violent against them, is the ADL itself anti-Semitic?
