Trials of the Diaspora

"The reason I put in the Conor Cruise O’ Brien book is that so much of the modern day, new anti-Semitism related to Israel – criticism of Israel. It’s been said recently that Israel has become the Jew among nations, that a double standard has been applied to it, so I think it’s very important, in order to understand how anti-Semitism morphs into the political arena, that one understands the establishment of the state of Israel, the saga of Israel and Zionism . Of all the books on Israel and the Middle East , for me, Conor Cruise O’Brien’s book is a classic. So, this is not about anti-Semitism but it will inoculate a lot of people against the anti-Semitism which morphs out of the anti-Israel/anti-Zionism. I would say that Israel is a democracy . You can criticise its policies. There is more criticism of Israel’s policies within Israel per square kilometre than any place I know of in the world. So, it’s not a question of not criticising the government. My question is when somebody applies a certain standard only to Israel, I would ask: ‘Why aren’t you applying the same standard to Saudi Arabia, to China, to Cuba, to Rwanda?’ If it’s only setting a standard for Israel that is not set for anywhere else, that’s anti-Semitism. On the issue of anti-Zionism, Zionism is the national liberation movement of the Jewish people. Now there are some people who are opposed to nationalism. So, if you are opposed to nationalism and you don’t like British, American or Palestinian nationalism, then it’s OK for you not to like Jewish nationalism. But if the only nationalism that bothers you is Jewish nationalism then you’re an anti-Semite. If in your mind Jews are the only people in the world who have no right to self-determination, to want their own home, their own state, their own flag – that’s racist. You’re a bigot. The Holocaust for me is not something that’s anecdotal. The history of anti-Semitism is cumulative and the worst of it was the Holocaust. If you notice, I did not pick a book on the Holocaust and there are a lot. But the only way you can understand the Holocaust is to understand the history of anti-Semitism, rather than looking at what happened in the Holocaust. There are a lot of books on Nazism and anti-Semitism in Nazism but I think it’s more important to know where it came from, what were its antecedents, and for me Wistrich and Julius and Dawidowicz do that. I would say read all of them. With Dawidowicz it’s the way she writes. She’s analytical, sharp, insightful and she makes it relevant to modern times. It’s not only in London, it’s the whole of Europe. It started in 2000; that’s when people started talking about the new anti-Semitism, linked to criticism and attacks relating to Israel. In Europe it’s rife. There are two more elements. One is the internet, which has spread anti-Semitism and even legitimised it because it’s an instrument of knowledge, and the other element is the growth of Arab Muslim communities, many of them fundamentalist and anti-Semitic, and they act as a human conveyor belt of the anti-Semitism of the Middle East. Anti-Semitism in the Muslim world in the Middle East is horrendous. It’s horrific. It only matches the rhetoric of Nazism, the cartoons, the books. That’s being brought to Europe on the conveyor belt of the fundamentalist imams. So, much of the anti-Semitism is expressed through them. Support Five Books Five Books interviews are expensive to produce. If you're enjoying this interview, please support us by donating a small amount . In Paris a young Jewish man, Ilan Halimi, was abducted for money, because all Jews have money, and killed. The kidnappers had been fed this anti-Semitism and it’s in the streets. The Chief Rabbi of France also advised Jews not to walk in the streets in yarmulkes. Spain is bad, Poland is bad, Norway is bad. The UK is unfortunately among the places where there are more anti-Semitic acts than in many other places. But the FBI just issued a report in the US saying that there are ten times as many attacks now against Jews than there are against Muslims. This is in the United States. We think we’re better but we’re not immune. Here too there are significant anti-Semitic public manifestations. I’m talking about attacks on synagogues, cemeteries, Jewish institutions and individuals."