from the WSJ,  When Jew-Hatred Isn’t Anti-Semitic by Batsheva Neuer:

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks has pointed out that Jew-hatred is usually justified by appeals to a culture’s highest authority. During the Middle Ages, that was religion—so the Jews were charged with killing Jesus. During the Enlightenment it was science, so Jews were deemed an inferior race. Today’s highest source of authority is human rights—so Israel is portrayed as the worst violator.

Opponents insist that it is possible to be critical of the Israeli government without being anti-Jewish. That’s true of any country, though it almost never needs to be said—so why is it so often repeated when it comes to the Jewish state? Because “criticism” of Israel so often is accompanied by simple hatred of the Jews.

A recent Amcha Initiative report on U.S. campus anti-Semitism confirms that “Israel-related incidents are actually more likely to contribute to a hostile environment for Jewish students.” When Hezbollah searches for world-wide targets in its terror campaign against Israel, it targets synagogues and other Jewish institutions, not merely “Zionist” ones.

And the charter of Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, mentions the struggle against the “Jew”—not the Zionist—23 times. Israel’s greatest sin, according to the Hamas charter: “Israel, by virtue of its being Jewish and of having a Jewish population, defies Islam and the Muslims.”

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