Spanish Imam Prays for ‘Destruction of Jews’ Near Madrid

[Spider Jerusalem]

68. Muslim anti-Semitism is largely a reaction to Israel's actions against the Palestinians.

It's deplorable but it isn't the same thing as traditional European anti-Semitism. Israel claims to be "the Jewish state", and carries out policies that amount to de facto apartheid and ethnic cleansing. Is it any wonder that some people blame "the Jews" rather than Israel? Especially when this conflation of "Jews" and "Israel" is encouraged by the Israeli state and accepted by many Jews? (You can't have it both ways, by the way. Either Israel = "the Jews" or it doesn't. If it's the latter then it's perfectly coherent to condemn anti-Semitism while criticising Israel.)

relevant further commentary from the same writer:

Today, non-Israeli Jews feel themselves once again exposed to criticism and vulnerable to attack for things they didn’t do. But this time it is a Jewish state, not a Christian one, which is holding them hostage for its own actions. Diaspora Jews cannot influence Israeli policies, but they are implicitly identified with them, not least by Israel’s own insistent claims upon their allegiance. The behavior of a self-described Jewish state affects the way everyone else looks at Jews. The increased incidence of attacks on Jews in Europe and elsewhere is primarily attributable to misdirected efforts, often by young Muslims, to get back at Israel. The depressing truth is that Israel’s current behavior is not just bad for America, though it surely is. It is not even just bad for Israel itself, as many Israelis silently acknowledge. The depressing truth is that Israel today is bad for the Jews.

http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2003/oct/23/israel-the-alternative/