It’s not for the very small Jewish community, or those who call themselves the official representatives (based on, well, their own estimation) to rescue the country from a slow slide into violence and condoned fascism. Rather, Canadians of all backgrounds ought to be mobilized by attacks against the usual canary in the coal mine of civil society. Jews certainly ought to respond more robustly, but they are no doubt hesitant to lead the charge when the majority population of civil libertarians largely remains silent.

Here’s a good talk on the Protocols, if you’re interested: http://vimeo.com/7704797

Yes, there are some people who have leapt onto the “anti-zionist” bandwagon who are clearly enjoying the apparent licence that gives them to vent their anti-semitic feelings. But that does not warrant responses that confuse quite legitimate repulsion against some current Israeli government policies with hatred directed at Jews. Any more than revulsion against stoning, whipping and beheading justifies anti Islamic behaviour.

Two thoughts about antisemitism: logically, criticism of Israel need not be considered antisemitic, but when you look at the form of much “anti-Zionism”, one only has to substitute the words “dirty Jew” for “Zionazi” to have a statement that is the equivalent of those made against Jews historically. So while many honestly believe they are not being antisemitic in criticizing Israel, they are in fact simply naive about what motivates them.

That’s why it’s important as you to say to foment a larger discussion about the nature of antisemitism. It really doesn’t have anything to do with an ethnic group. Jews aren’t hated to such an extent for their various ethnic traits, be these East European, North African, Ethiopian, whatever. They are hated as the symbolic carriers of a historical role – that started with the Jews’ being the first in the Western tradition to conceptualize the One God, and the necessary idea of chosenness that went with this – a role as “the first”, the keepers of the law that precedes the “law” of Christianity and the law of Islam. But the resentment of those marked as “the first” today transcends Judaism, as we are regularly reminded with the chants of “Death to Israel, Death to America”. Somehow we need to get people thinking about the problem of freedom and firsntess in history that is the reason for so much anti-Western anti-American anti-Israel resentment today, from those who feel left behind or under-appreciated as believers in a new and better version of the law: in my mind, that is all a variation on the theme of antisemitism. But I’m not sure if this kind of argument makes sense to very many people…