Anti-Semitism's increasingly thin and hard-to-see line

[LeftishBrit]

46. The things that I most often see as antisemitic are:

Related to (3): blaming Jews for the actions of other countries. This ranges from paranoid conspiracy theories - 'Mossad did 9-11!' - to slightly more subtle: 'Israel is responsible for ALL conflicts in the Middle East' or 'Israel/ Zionists got America and Britain into the Iraq war'.

And suspecting Jews of furtive, secretive control and influence. No Jew has been President of the United States, and only one (who'd converted to Christianity) has been PM of the UK; but anti-Semites will argue that 'well, they pull the strings'.

Suspecting all or most Jews of dual loyalty (sometimes even 'dual citizenship') and of being more loyal to Israel than their own country.

Refusing to vote for someone for office just because they're Jewish. A poll just showed that half of UKIP supporters would not vote to elect any Jew as PM (I suppose that means that they haven't even entered the 1870s, let alone the 21st century). I have NO doubt that some right-wing hostility to Ed Miliband is linked at least subtly to his being ethnically Jewish.


I certainly do not think that anti-Zionism is always anti-Semitism: there are many people, especially on the left, who dislike all forms of nationalism. However, if you think that Jews are the only people on the planet who shouldn't have a state, that is anti-Semitic.