Rising anti-Semitism: ‘The Pianist’ actress considers leaving UK

[Spider Jerusalem]

123. Sorry, but she's wrong about it having nothing to do with Gaza or the West Bank.

European anti-Semitism isn't gangs of skinheads with neo-Nazi slogans painting graffiti on synagogues, anymore; it's a lot more likely to be Muslim immigrants than native Europeans, and a lot of them probably think they're avenging the Palestinians. They're obviously wrong, and what they're doing is a terrible thing that should by no means be countenanced; Jews in Britain, or in France, or in Germany, or wherever, are not responsible for the actions of the Israeli government, and should have as much expectation of being able to live in unmolested safety as any other British or French or German etc citizen. But one of the effects of Israel's bombing campaign in Gaza last year was to fuel anti-Semitism in Europe, unfortunately. Netanyahu tells the world "Israel is the national homeland of the Jewish people". Israel is referred to in the press as "the Jewish state". It's in the name of the Jewish state that the occupation is conducted. Is it any wonder that some people are going to think "Israel"="Jews"? It's just as senseless and stupid as the mob violence directed against German-Americans in WWI, and not really much different in some ways (although there is a much uglier history of anti-Semitism as a backdrop, so it's understandable that people would view it in those terms).