The Jewish Observer

But Is It Anti-Semitism?
A few weeks ago, the same day that Chuck Hagel was nominated to be Secretary of Defense, my cousin in Germany sent me a link to an article that describes a very hot topic. A well known liberal journalist, Jakob Augstein, was listed on the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s list of the 10 worst anti-Semites in the world. This is a serious charge anywhere, but especially in Germany, where relations with Jews and with Israel are taken quite seriously. When Audrey and I travelled in Germany last summer, we were impressed by the serious efforts of the Germans to preserve key Jewish institutions from pre-war Germany, as well as the educational efforts to teach rising generations about Judaism and Israel. Berlin, in particular, has fostered a renaissance in its Jewish community, which includes thousands of Israelis who find the atmosphere there quite welcoming. In this repentant Germany, a charge of anti-Semitism is quite serious, and the accusations against Augstein have caused quite a stir.
In checking the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s web site, here are some of the quotes they used to reach the conclusion that Augstein was number 9 on the list of the world’s top 10 anti-Semites:
a. “Gaza is a place out of the end of times…1.7 million people live there on 360 square kilometers. Israel incubates its own opponents there.”
b. “Israel is threatened by Islamic fundamentalism in its neighborhood. But the Jews also have their fundamentalists, the ultra-orthodox Haredim. They are not a small splinter group. They make up 10% of the Israeli population. They are cut from the same cloth as their Islamic fundamentalist opponents. They follow the law of revenge.”
c. “With backing from the US, where the president bust secure the support of the Jewish lobby groups, and in Germany, where coping with history, in the meantime, has a military component, the Netanyahu government keepsthe world on a leash with an ever swelling war chant.”
Allow me to take a moment to look at each quote. The first one (a) I see as common sense. The situation in Gaza is intolerable from many perspectives. While I completely support the right of Israelis to defend themselves against rocket attacks – really they have no choice in this – the long term outlook for Gaza is terrible. The living conditions there are indeed a breeding ground for terrorism. The real discussion is how much of the responsibility for this is Israel’s versus Hamas. But the essence of the statement given above is true.
I completely agree with the second quote (b). We saw an example of Jewish fundamentalist extremism late 2011 in Beit Shemesh, Israel. Ultra Orthodox men spit on an 8 year old girl going to school, calling her a prostitute because they felt her clothing was not modest enough. The little girl was dressed, in what by all reasonable standards, very modestly (long skirt, long sleeves). All religious groups have their fundamentalist, unreasonable component. I know that the Haredim in Israel are not strapping bombs around their waist and becoming suicide bombers, but they maintain attitudes most of us see as reprehensible in other religious groups. A dilemma occurs when an outsider such as Augstein criticizes Jews. Is our reaction just a knee jerk tribal response or is there a whiff of anti-Semitism in his remarks?
If so, it comes only in the third quote, specifically by the use of the term “Jewish lobby,” the term which has gotten Chuck Hagel into trouble. This is a loaded term that insinuates some kind of Jewish conspiracy or control. But we need to ask, is this enough to classify someone as an anti-Semite? Especially when compared to number 10 on the Wiesenthal Center’s list, Louis Farrakhan. Here are some of his quotes:
a. “Jews control the media. They said it themselves…In Washington right next to the Holocaust Museum is the Federal Reserve where they print the money. Is that an accident?”
b. “Brothers and sisters, you’ve gotta stop being guided by the controlled media that is owned by Zionist forces that want to make you pawns in the struggle of Israel and Zionism.”
These quotes reflect attitudes right out of the fictional “Protocols of the Elders of Zion.” They perpetrate all of the fictional canards about Jewish control over banking, over media as part of the so-called Jewish conspiracy to control the world. Farrakhan is without question anti-Semitic. So I have to ask if Augstein is in this category?
Much of Augstein’s comments are criticisms of the Israeli government. In a debate with Dieter Grauman, the President of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, hosted by the German magazine, “Der Speigel,” he defends his remarks by saying he is not anti-Semitic, but just voicing criticism of Israeli policy that is coming from many sources including Israeli journalists. Grauman counters that it is Augstein’s selection of language, and he gives a number of examples, that makes his comments anti-Semitic. Grauman points out very correctly, that some phrases act as code words to Jews, invoking terrible emotions and images. Augstein essentially argues that he is just being a detached journalist, and should a journalist, who happens to be German, be more circumspect in his criticism than an Israeli, a French or a Dutch writer? For the full text of a very interesting debate, use this link:
<a href="//http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/dieter-graumann-and-jakob-augstein-debate-anti-semitism-controversy-a-877427.html" Their discussion highlights a real problem. At what point is criticism of Israel anti-Semitic? The Wiesenthal Center classifies anti-Israel the same as anti-Semitic in the heading of their list. I really question if this is a fair equivalence. The extremes are easy to identify, but does someone like Augstein, or Hagel for that matter, deserve the label of anti-Semite because of an unartful, crude comment? Are we Jews so hyper sensitive to any criticism that we have lost sight of what is real prejudice? Here is the really big question: is the plethora of Jewish watchdog organizations really helping us or are they starting to work against Jewish interests?
An internet search reveals an alphabet soup of organizations dedicated to fighting anti-Semitism. It is fair to ask if we need all of them. Do we need the Wiesenthal Center along with the ADL (personally I favor the ADL for some historically courageous stands). What about the myriad of other watchdog and educational organizations? At what point are these groups just diverting money from the institutions needed to maintain vibrant Jewish community structure, such as synagogues, federations, Jewish Community Centers, and Jewish Day Schools? Do some organizations need to hype anti-Semitism in order to justify fundraising? I do not really have an answer, but the question needs to be asked.