Newsgroup: it.politica.internazionale
Titolo: When antisemitism goes hand in hand with philosemitism

Keith Kahn Harris e' un sociologo inglese, politicamente attivo in
gruppi post-sionisti (p. es. 
http://www.newjewishthought.org/
)
Insomma, certamente non una persona schierata a destra. Ma temo che
gli piovera' addosso la prevedibile accusa di fascismo...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2011/feb/16/antisemitism-philosemitism/print
It is understandable that the Holocaust casts a long shadow over
postwar discussions of antisemitism, but it is also the source of many
of the misunderstandings and controversies that now attend this
difficult subject.
On the one hand, the Nazi genocide of the Jews appears to represent an
apotheosis of antisemitism in the systematic attempt to kill or work
to death every last Jew that could be found. At the same time, the
Holocaust can also be used as a tool of defence by who are accused of
antisemitism today: if antisemitism equals genocide, then anyone who
doesn't want to kill all Jews everywhere can simply deny imputations
of antisemitism.
There are of course antisemites who yearn for genocide; this desire is
woven into the very DNA of much of the antisemitic far right (even if
they simultaneously deny that the Holocaust happened). Yet one of the
characteristics of contemporary antisemitism is that it is not
necessarily oriented towards genocide and can even co-exist with a
strange kind of philosemitism.
Take Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: he has called for the annihilation of Israel
on numerous occasions using language that implies a wish for mass
murder to occur and he is an unabashed Holocaust denier. He also
tolerates in his country the presence of 20-30,000 Iranian Jews.
Admittedly they are often viewed with suspicion and are used as a kind
of cynical fig leaf to Iranian Jew-hatred, but if Ahmadinejad were
truly committed to total Jewish genocide he would have started in his
own backyard.
This odd duality also permeates western left- and right-wing
antisemitism. Secular leftwing anti-Zionism is often accused of using
antisemitic tropes and, in denying the Jewish claim to nationhood,
operating an antisemitic double standard. Such accusations are
sometimes reasonable and sometimes not but there is no doubt that most
leftists accused of antisemitism fiercely reject the charge of Jew-
hatred – something no Nazi would ever have done. Indeed, it is a
characteristic of leftists accused of antisemitism that they are often
vociferous in praising secular Jewish and ultra-orthodox anti-
Zionists. This separation of "good" from "bad" Jews is often crude and
damns the majority of Jews worldwide, but it is no doubt sincerely
meant in most cases.
The same kind of division takes place on the right. There are
increasing attempts on the European far right to make common cause
with the Jewish far right against the Muslim enemy. This leads to
spectacles such as the waving of Israeli flags on English Defence
League demos, by members of an organisation with strong antisemitic
connections, many of whose leaders have until very recently been
openly antisemitic and often remain so in private (as Searchlight
magazine is continually exposing).
Even if, in the case of the EDL, most mainstream Jewry has shunned
them, the same is not the case with the antisemitism that is emerging
on the US right. Glenn Beck's use of antisemitic tropes in his pursuit
of George Soros and his contempt for the Jewish liberal left, is
notorious. More subtly, the likes of Mike Huckabee on the Christian
right are so emphatic in their support of the Jewish religious right
and the settlements that their work is at the very least an unspoken
reproach to the US Jewish Democrat majority. Yet figures such as
Huckabee and even Glenn Beck are feted by some US Jewish leaders as
"friends of Israel".
So, provided you do not seek the murder of every single Jew everywhere
(and most people don't) there are multiple fig leaves for antisemitism
today: for Muslims, pointing at cowed Jewish minorities in Muslim
states; for leftists, pointing at their support for Jewish anti-
Zionists; for the right, pointing at their support for Israel. We are
seeing, in short, the emergence of philosemitic antisemitisms.
These are the source of some of the greatest dangers that Jews face
today. The division of the world into good (or tolerated) Jews and bad
Jews, tends to exacerbate pre-existing tensions within Jewish
communities. Jewish accusations at anti-Zionist Jews that they provide
an excuse for anti-Zionist antisemitism and at rightwing Jews that
they provide an excuse for Christian antisemitic apocalypticism,
deepen the conflicts within an already fraught and divided Jewish
world. These controversies risk tearing the Jewish people apart. Of
course, philosemitic antisemites care nothing for the Jewish people as
a whole and one of their most malign effects is that they push Jews
towards not caring either.
Non-Jews need to understand that avoiding antisemitism requires an
acceptance of the diversity of the Jewish people – all of it,
including the bits that disturb them. It is of course reasonable to
criticise particular expressions of Judaism and forms of Jewish
existence (such as militant settlers), but real care needs to be taken
not to use antisemitic tropes against them and therefore hurting the
Jewish people – all of it, including those sections they claim to
support.
Jews need to refuse to play along with philosemitic antisemitism.
Hatred directed at other Jews, even other Jews whose views we despise,
hurts us all. Jews should serve as no one's fig leaf for
antisemitism.
And key to all of this is refusing to define antisemitism with
reference to the Holocaust. It is a kind of ironic victory for Hitler
when comparisons to the Holocaust are used by those accused of
antisemitism to absolve themselves.

 antisemitism.
sei sicuro di aver letto bene, tu che hai dato dei mezzi ebrei ai
diasporanti?