From: Leon Hadar
Sent: Tuesday, May 07, 2002 5:21 PM
To: Nick Denton
Subject: Europe/anti-semitism, etc.

Hi, While I share your skepticism over the 
It's-Springtime-For-Hitler-in-Europe thesis advanced by Will/Krauthammer and 
company (including by David Brooks in an earlier piece in the Weekly 
Standard), it's important to emphasize that one cannot discuss all the 
various anti-Jewish attitudes and traditions in the West and castigate them 
altogether as "anti-Semitism." There is a major difference between the 
"polite" bigotry of the members of upper-class in pre-WWII Europe (and the 
U.S.), who were horrified with and opposed to the racial-eliminationist Nazi 
religion. There has been the religious anti-Jewish theology of the Catholic 
Church (as well as other Christian churches) as well as the more "popular" 
anti-Semitism among the middle classes and masses in Europe in the 19th and 
earlier 20th century, and even some form of anti-Jewish sentiments among 
Moslems in the pre-Zionism Middle East, which was very different from the 
anti-Semitism in the West (hey, it was the Ottoman Empire that opened its 
doors to my family after they had been kicked out of Christian Spain in 
1492). My point is that you can still point to the rise of anti-Jewish 
feelings in Europe without linking that the the earlier forms of 
anti-Semitism (Nazi; Catholic, etc.). In that context, there is clearly a 
very powerful anti-Jewish movement among Arabs and Moslems in Europe (as you 
pointed out), who unlike those residing in the United States, are becoming a 
powerful political force with ties to states in the geographical Middle 
Eastern periphery of Europe. Just imagine such a wave of anti-Semitism among 
Hispanics in the United States, with backing from, say, Mexico and Argentina. 
That's a Big Thing! Moreover, one cannot dismiss the sentiments among members 
of the political left in Europe, who have never been comfortable with Jewish 
particularism and nationalism, which doesn't make them "anti-Semites," 
especially since there are many Jews who share those attitudes (that is, 
opposition to Jewish nationalism/Zionism). But the political and intellectual 
alliance between these two movements is very disturbing. In any case, this 
issue can and should be discussed without adopting the Nazis-are-Coming 
approach. The Neocons who would be the first the ridicule African-Americans 
intellectuals for accusing conservatives of "racism" because they oppose, 
say, affirmative action, seem to be doing the same thing by accusing any 
critic of Israeli policies of "anti-Semitism" (David Horowitz is a good 
example). In any case, I'm looking forward to the lecture that historian John 
Lukacs is giving in Washington next week and to ask him about his views on 
what's happening in Europe. Leon