Ken,

Being opposed to Israel doesn't make one anti-Semitic unless one is opposed to Israel because they are anti-Jew. 

Looking at the Middle East we can find quite a few anti-Semites who clearly display their anti-Jew prejudices. For instance, the Hamas and Hezbollah  make no secret of the fact that they are anti-Jew. In fact, like all anti-Semites before them, they blame all of the world's problems on the Jews. In addition, reading books about life under Islamic regimes leads to the conclusion that mainstream Islam today suffers from the same sort of anti-Jew poison that was prevalent  in mainstream Christianity during the Middle Ages and into modern times. Arab nationalism is anti-Israel because Israel is not an Arab state, but embedded in this is the notion that Israel is unacceptable to the Muslim-Arab world because it is a Jewish state. Some westerners see this in terms of the American ideal of the separation of Church and State, but in the Middle East it is simply a reaffirmation of the superiority of Islam over all other religions and is therefore the exact opposite of the separation of church and state. For most Middle Easterners the Arab-Israeli conflict is pretty much the same sort of religious-political conflict as was the Hundred Years War in Europe. The question then becomes, is the western observer who is against the Jewish State for whatever stated reason, a proponent of non-secularism in modern states, or has he/she simply jumped on the Middle Eastern anti-Jew bandwagon to disguise from others and perhaps from themselves, anti-Jew attitudes that have been carried over from earlier Christian anti-Jew attitudes and beliefs.

Israel, it seems to me, is always singled out because it is small and unimportant to most of the other states in the world, while the Arab and increasingly the Muslim world, is very large and for various reasons important to most of the other states in the international community. I suppose we should be asking how much of the Arab/Muslim anti-Jew or anti-Semitic attitude is going to have to be accepted or is already accepted or re-adopted by the rest of the states in order to maintain favor with the Arab/Muslim world.

Habesor

KS, F_O

Rocket put it well. I cannot imporve on his words so I'll simply quote him:

CRITICISM OF ISRAEL IS LEGITIMATE ONLY WHEN YOU USE THE SAME STANDARDS TO EVALUATE  ISRAEL AND THE ACTIONS OF THE ISRAELI GOVERNMENT AS YOU DO FOR ALL OTHER COUNTRIES AND GOVERNMENTS. If you use a different standard for Israel than you do for other countries, your criticism is not legitimate and one can reasonably infer that you are anti-Semitic.

I might add that the frequency with which you criticise other states as compared to Israel is a reasonable indicator of the standards you are applying.

Dos,

Being anti-American is often quite similar to being anti-Jew. When the anti-American has no factual basis for his opinions, sees America as the source of all evil in the world and holds the USA to a standard of behavior far higher than any other state simply to be able always to condemn American actions while white washing those of other states, then there is no real difference between being anti-American and being a classical anti-Semite.

As for punishment for being anti-American, as long as it remains on the intellectual or anti-intellectual level, there is no punishment. But when anti-American attitudes lead to political, economic or military actions, then the USA is quite capable of dishing out harsh responses that are costly to its detractors. The Jews for a couple of thousand years have not been able to react similarly toward anti-Semites. With the establishment of the Jewish state, anti-Semites cannot engage in political, economic or violent actions against Jews with an assured expectation that there will be no penalty to pay. I can understand why many anti-Semites are disturbed by the presence of a Jewish state today.

Habesor

Editing was done ONLY to reduce line spacing. NO content was removed or changed. 

Jun 28, 2010 -- 8:16PM, rangerken wrote:

Rocket, being opposed to Israel doesn't make one anti-semetic. Anti-semetism means being anti Jew. Many Israeli supporters throw the anti-semetic charge at anyone who is critical of Israel and that just isn't accurate or fair.

 

Ken

Ken

Being opposed to an act or action of the government of Israel, provided one judges those acts by the same standard as one judges all other countries, does not make one an anti-semite.

Being opposed to the State of Israel does make one anti-semetic. Israel is the national homeland of the Jewish. Those who would deny the right of Jews to their homeland are by definition  anti-semetic. There is no question or debate on this matter.