[.ca] The Changing Face of Anti-Semitism: From Ancient Times ... (ISBN 0195304292)

An insightful essay:
This concise survey of antisemitism from the ancient world to the present illumines some unusual angles of the virus' shape-shifting habit as well as its common features in space and time. Spellbinding and thought-provoking, the elegantly worded text in the form of a lengthy essay contributes significantly to the quest of defining the constantly mutating plague. Laqueur is clearly an expert on the judeopathic mindset, occasionally displaying an almost exasperating level of tolerance when examining such evil and despicable thoughts. As a secular academic he is uncertain of the future, speculating at length on possible scenarios in the concluding chapters. He attributes the earliest manifestations of the affliction in Egypt and classical antiquity to animosity resulting from Jewish cultural practices. But those who respect the "Old Testament" as history will remember that it was fear - judeophobia - of their numbers that led to the oppression & infanticide before the Exodus. In Christianity the virus mutated into an intense theological hatred articulated by numerous "church fathers" like Melito of Sardis, Chrysostom and Augustine and later by reformers like Martin Luther. The accusation of deicide was accompanied by the usurpation of the Tenakh and the idea that the church had replaced the Jews as the chosen of God: the doctrine of replacement theology. The problem grew worse in exact proportion to the influence of Christianity that culminated in the disastrous triumph of the Constantine version. The next mutation, racial prejudice, arrived with modernity in the 1800s. Now the danger was perceived to inhabit the genes so it followed that physical annihilation was seen as the solution, leading to the Holocaust. First the culture, then the religion, then the race had to be eradicated. Now it is the nation, the State of Israel that they want to wipe out. Laqueur is not fooled by the sophistry of the semitism vs zionism distinction, recognizing anti-Zionism as the typical contemporary variety. Israel is a constant target of disinformation (like the Jenin and ad-Dura hoaxes) and repeatedly singled out for denunciation while atrocities like those in e.g. Chechnya, Darfur, Tibet & Zimbabwe raise little protest. This is confirmed by Bernard Harrison in The Resurgence of Anti-Semitism: Jews, Israel, and Liberal Opinion: criticism of the State resembles the "old" antisemitism in concept, imagery and assumptions. The fad of Moral Relativism is not applied to both sides; it is used to justify suicide/homicide bombings but never to Israeli measures to defend its people. The aforementioned historical mutations overlapped to an extent, e.g. the earlier race-based persecution of the "Marranos" in Spain contrasted with the absence of this element under communist oppression. Moreover, the racial strain made use of the imagery inherited from centuries of theological antisemitism. In addition, the aforementioned replacement theology or supersessionism is undergoing a revival today as part of the anti-Zionist strategy, as Barry Horner warns in Future Israel: Why Christian Anti-Judaism Must Be Challenged. The book's weaknesses include the bizarre opinion that Israel should have withdrawn to its 1948 borders after the great victory in 1967 and deficient attention to those dreadful passages in the foundational documents of Islam and Christianity. A thorough study of the first is available in The Legacy of Islamic Antisemitism by Andrew Bostom while William Nicholls scrutinizes the New Testament with admirable intellectual honesty in Christian Antisemitism: A History of Hate. The influence of these religious texts combined with the vulnerability of a scattered minority made persecution inevitable. Fear and paranoia amongst the populace played a part in medieval Europe but not under Islam where Jews were considered inferior Dhimmis like other religious minorities. That is why the rebirth of Israel in 1948 caused such profound shock in the Arab World whose media now abound in stereotypes, calumnies and conspiracy theories borrowed from the European tradition like the infamous forgery The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion (Stephen Eric Bronner's study is highly recommended). In contrast to the duplicitous approach of "respectable" western antisemitism, the Islamic variety doesn't burden itself with distinctions between anti-Zionism and antisemitism. For proof, see Peace: The Arabian Caricature of Anti-Semitic Imagery by Arieh Stav. Laqueur excels in analyzing the unholy alliance between Leftists and Islamists. This is not as weird as it seems when the political spectrum is viewed as circular instead of linear. Ideologies with a totalitarian streak occupy adjacent space. This also explains why Old Right Paleotards in the USA share judeophobic attitudes with liberation theologians like Naim Ateek of Sabeel and his fawning followers amongst leftist Anglican clergy in the UK. Laqueur's observation that Leftist antisemitism resembles the medieval Christian strain makes perfect sense if one recognizes leftism as a secular "salvationist" ideology of true believers as Eric Hoffer described it in his seminal study on mass movements. Recommended sources for a deeper understanding are Sinisterism by Bruce Walker and A Century of Horrors by Alain Besançon. For those in the Judeo-Christian tradition, the Bible confirms the above: Amalek worships absolute power and pursues it in a ruthless, genocidal and sadistic way. His bloodlust begins with the Jews but targets all mankind. Yoram Hazony has conducted a most penetrating analysis of its modus operandi and narcissistic character in The Dawn: Political Teachings of the Book of Esther, along with sound advice on how to counteract it. There is reason to believe that the message conveyed by the successful actions of Mordechai and Hadassah includes the advice: Do not go into denial, do not be paralyzed by fear, seek God's help and act boldly.