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In Europe, an Unhealthy Fixation on Israel

(Washington Post) Robin Shepherd - * Even while the Old World vows never to forget the Nazi genocide of the Jews, it also embraces an increasingly - and alarmingly - antagonistic attitude toward the Jewish state that arose from the ashes of World War II. European sympathy for the Palestinians runs high, while hostility toward Israel is often palpable. * Despite all the Holocaust commemorations, the memory of that event really does appear to be fading in Europe. Increasing numbers of younger Europeans have no real sense of what the Nazis did. This faltering awareness of the most vivid example of racist mass murder in the 20th century is accompanied by enduring anti-Semitism. * Yet the intense antagonism toward Israel appears to be a subset of the wider European hostility toward the U.S. Many European intellectuals see Israel as one of the central pillars of U.S. hegemony in the modern world. European leftists implacably opposed to America are implacably opposed to Israel as well. * Repairing transatlantic relations is a two-way process. Americans should be aware that on one crucial issue, at least, it is Europe, and not America, that needs to clean up its act. The writer is an adjunct fellow of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
2005-01-31 00:00:00
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