Members of anti-Semitic organizations and supporters of atrocities against Jews have often been keen to tell that their doctor, lawyer or accountant is a Jew and that “some of my best friends are Jewish.” The 26 member states of the European Union (EU) seem to be adopting a similar attitude in relation to the State of Israel, which has become the epitome of the Jew to be hated.

Anti-Zionism is the latest euphemism for anti-Semitism, which in Europe may at least in part be due to the relatively recent influx of Muslim immigrants and refugees. This has prompted Muslims, misguided by Iran and others, to support their Palestinian brothers and sisters by harassing, maiming and killing Jews in Paris, Brussels, Malmö and many other cities in Europe. And it has helped to revive Europe’s ignominious and tragic history of Jew-hatred.

Current practitioners of anti-Semitism excuse themselves by falsely separating between the Jewish religion and the Jewish people. They argue that they’ve nothing against Judaism. They’re “only” against those they conveniently call Zionists, i.e., Jews who have built and now maintain the State of Israel, and their supporters abroad.

This has even made anti-Semites deny the Holocaust in Europe, because the murder of six million Jews by the Nazis has become an added argument for the imperative of the Jewish people to return to its ancient homeland and build there a modern state.

In truth, to be a Jew is to be both a member of a people and an adherent of a religion. That’s why those who embrace Judaism also become part of the Jewish people. As the Biblical Ruth put it to her mother-in-law Naomi, “Your people shall be my people, and your God my God” (1:16).

Readers are invited to reflect on European anti-Semitism in its current guise in a new little book, Mission Impossible? Repairing the Ties between Europe and Israel, published by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs (JCPA) and edited by Fiamma Nirenstein, a distinguished journalist and former member of the Italian Parliament.

The book is a collection of papers delivered at a conference last March in Jerusalem with the participation of European officials, politicians and intellectuals.

Many of the articles tell readers that though Israel seems to have good bilateral relations with most members of the EU, yet as a collective body it has become something of a hotbed of unbalanced, even vicious, criticism of Israel ignominiously reflecting the hostile partisanship of the United Nations.

Both are versions of the individual with Jewish friends who bashes Jews by joining an anti-Jewish organization.

Thus the strange spectacles of leaders of European countries who promote anti-Semitism at home visiting Israel to declare their friendship to the Jewish people — and, alas, being received there as allies. They also entertain Israel’s prime minister and his colleagues as honoured guests in their midst.

Thus, while the EU votes in praise of Israel’s enemies, critics argue that some Israeli politicians implicitly collude in the guise of expediency because of advantageous bilateral relations.

These relations are strong and beneficial for EU member states no less than for Israel. They include security co-operation, fighting crime and promoting science, entrepreneurship, trade, tourism and culture. While all these areas are extremely important, perhaps Israelis pay special attention to the cultural ties with Europe.

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In the words of Yossi Kuperwasser, a senior member of JCPA, “Israel looks at itself as part of the European cultural and political structure, and this is why it attributes so much importance to what the Europeans are saying.”

Unrequited love hurts deeply. Hence Israel’s sustained efforts to make the EU come to its senses.

Dow Marmur is rabbi emeritus of Toronto's Holy Blossom Temple and a freelance contributor for the Star.

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