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Explosion of Anti-Semitism Raises Painful Questions
(EU Reporter-Belgium) Brig.-Gen. (res.) Sima Vaknin Gill - Why did Israel's conflict with Hamas in Gaza, unlike any other conflict in the world, become a green light to intimidate and attack a minority community? Why are Jews and Jewish communities uniquely ascribed responsibility for actions in a decades-long, geo-political dispute thousands of miles away? In the dangerously simplistic binary world view which has gripped progressive circles, Jews are unjustifiably viewed as white and privileged, while Israelis are automatically seen as wicked oppressors, thanks to manufactured and frankly anti-Semitic stereotypes. Yet, too often, voicing concerns over anti-Semitism is treated as an affront, something of a threat to other minority groups. To express sympathy for Jews facing intimidation and attack is deemed offensive. Those concerned with equality and social justice should proudly demonstrate solidarity with any minority under threat, instead of singling out one sole minority undeserving of solidarity and protection. The writer, a former intelligence officer in the Israel Air Force, is the former director-general of Israel's Ministry of Strategic Affairs.