by The Editors
In a world where anti-Semitism is on the rise, those who carelessly bandy about charges of anti-Jewish behavior to prove various religious, political or ideological points are doing Jewry a grave disservice. Yet more and more, the accusation is hurled with impunity, undercutting the critical efforts of Jewish defense organizations to combat the latest anti-Semitic surge.
A case in point: last week’s arrest of prominent Syrian Jewish leaders here, including several rabbis, prompted angry outbursts locally and in Israel. The editor of the Shas weekly Yom Le’Yom told the Jerusalem Post that “regardless of the details of the case — I am not familiar with the precise charges and the evidence — you would never see the FBI and police behaving that way with Muslim
sheikhs or Christian priests. It is so obvious that the whole thing is motivated by anti-Semitism.”
The blogosphere is seething with equally reckless claims that the rabbis were targeted only because they are Jewish and that the “perp walk” pictures in newspapers were a deliberate slur against the whole Jewish community.
The defendants’ guilt or innocence will be determined in a court of law; meanwhile, a small but destructive minority in our community is willing to level wild, totally unsubstantiated accusations of anti-Semitism against the authorities that arrested the rabbis.
We see the same trend as some in Israel react to President Barack Obama’s Middle East peace efforts.
We may not agree with everything the administration does as it tries to find a formula for reviving stalled negotiations, but charges that the president’s policies are rooted in anti-Semitism smack of hysteria — or, worse, crude manipulation by those with an interest in damaging, not reinforcing, strong U.S.-Israel ties. Such charges can only alienate friends in Washington, undercut U.S.-Israel relations and devalue a term — anti-Semitism — that the world needs to understand with complete clarity.
Anti-Semitism is real, and it is far too pervasive in today’s world. The fight to combat it remains a vital community priority, and it is undermined every time “anti-Semitism” becomes yet another cheap slogan by those using it to settle political and ideological scores. The danger is that when anti-Semitism does rear its ugly head, people will ignore legitimate warnings as just another example of political hyperbole.