In a survey of 6,000 Jews across Europe, 66% said that anti-Semitism was a problem, 76% that it had got worse in the past five years, and 57% that they had heard or seen someone in the past 12 months claiming that the Holocaust was a myth. (EU Agency for Fundamental Rights/The Guardian)

This is appalling. Haven’t we learned enough about anti-semitism in the past to stop this un-civilised behaviour? Nobody should be demonized simply because of their religion or ethnicity. And it is equally appalling to note the level of ignorance that is indicated by the belief that the holocaust is a myth.

Some of the hostility reflects the fact that some people equate criticism of the Israeli government with anti-semitism and this has tended not to stop the criticism but to drive it underground, so that Israel is losing the battle for public opinion and reputation almost everywhere, but doesn’t realize it. Nobody dare say a thing except behind closed doors and to good friends. This has been, in soccer terms, an “own goal”. Criticizing a government cannot be equated with condemning a whole race or religion.

This aside, the actions of the Israeli government appear to be contributing to the rise in anti-semitism itself. Growing up after the Second World War I can remember not a mention or an incidence of antisemitism. On the contrary, there was only horror and shame at the treatment of Jews, Gypsies and homosexuals by the the Hitler thugs. The rise of modern anti-semitism is certainly in large part due to the current racism and land theft in Israel, carried out by so-called “religious” Jews and the colonial government. Get a fair deal between Israel and the Palestinians and antisemitism will decline. There will always be those who find someone to hate, but their number is quite small.

Meanwhile there are extraordinarily brave Jewish people at the Jewish Voice for Peace, and at Rabbis for Human Rights (Rabbi Arik Aschernpmanare), and wise voices like www.mondoweiss.net (Philip Weiss) and www.muzzlewatch.com, all of whom are aware of the problem of the treatment of the Palestinians in Israel, and are trying to correct it. We should support them and wish them well.