Anti-Zionism, antisemitism and Holocaust denial

Have you ever wondered why, if anti-Zionism means opposition to the State of Israel, violence against Jews outside Israel spikes when, for example, Palestinians unleash the second Intifada in 2000, or the Israelis fight Hezbollah (2006) or Hamas (2008-09)? After all, the victims of these attacks are citizens of other countries and, for all you know, never had any dealings with Israel.

How about a simpler explanation: anti-Zionism is the new, respectable moniker for antisemitism. An anti-Zionist typically believes that Jews control the media and government in the United States, perhaps in Europe, or maybe Jews want to dominate the whole world. Widespread throughout the Muslim world and increasingly common in the West, these ideas are the same as those used by the Nazis. All Jews, not just Israelis or the State of Israel, are the real target.

And if you want to watch this sickening sequence come full circle, read John Rosenthal's article showing how Germany and other European countries are tacitly accepting Iranian assertions that the holocaust never happened. There's a reason why Iran is pushing this line: if the holocaust never happened, then there was no reason to set up a Jewish state in Israel, hence there's no reason not to wipe it off the map. (And John is too kind to the United States: we also attended the Munich Security Council but did not walk out when Larjani repeated this policy.) Anti-Zionism is much, much more than a response to Israeli policies; people often oppose policies of countries but rarely do they seek to destroy the countries themselves.