On March 22, the New York Times ran a report by Craig S. Smith describing a ?new and threatening wave of anti-Semitism? that is sweeping France and Belgium. ?Swastikas, slogans and physical assaults against Jews in Europe have reached a frequency not seen since the 1930's when Fascism was on the rise,? the Times reporter tells us, ?But in the vast majority of the cases today, the assailants are young Muslims of North African heritage whose parents emigrated to Europe in the 1960s and 1970s.?



However, Smith notes, ?Not everyone is willing to call the current wave of violence anti-Semitism. Henri Wajnblum, head of the Union of Progressive Jews of Belgium, said it is important to distinguish between anti-Semitic and anti-Israel actions. He and other members of his Brussels-based group have been visiting classrooms in Muslim neighborhoods to help explain the difference between Zionists and Jews in general.?



The attempt by the leaders of the Progressive movement in Belgium to ?help explain? that there are different kinds of Jews, and implying that not all should be hated for being Zionists, is the worst type of pusillanimity. It contains an unstated ?understanding? of Arab or Moslem anti-Jewish violence, but insists that it is merely a case of mistaken identity - the ?good? Jews mistaken for the ?bad? Zionists. Wajnblum is essentially begging anti-Semites to kindly consider redirecting their hatred away from the Progressives and toward some other type of Jew - in this case Zionist.



In stark contrast, according to Jewish law, martyrdom is required, even of a town full of Jews, if that is the only way to avoid turning a fellow Jew over into the hands of anti-Semites. It may have been that law that was in the back of the mind of the late Rabbi Yoel Teitelbaum, Rebbe of the Satmar Hassidic sect, when he praised a non-Jew for supporting the state of Israel, while the Rebbe himself was a foremost opponent of Zionism and Jewish sovereignty.



According to the Satmar Rebbe, ?[E]very Jew who trembles before the Lord and believes in God, blessed be He, does not desire the jurisdiction of their [Zionist] ?State? and its entire existence is opposition to our Holy Torah and it is an attempt at revoking the yoke of G-d's rule.? (Al Ha'Geula V'Al Ha'Temura, addendum p.193) Yet, once, many years ago, a New York politician was running for office in the district where Rabbi Teitelbaum was living. At a meeting between the politician and the powerful Jewish leader, the politician, in light of the Rebbe?s anti-Zionism, studiously avoided mentioning the state of Israel. Towards the end of the meeting, however, after the politician thought he had successfully shored up Satmar support, the Rebbe suddenly asked him about his public record on Israel. The politician reluctantly, but honestly, acknowledged that he had always been a strong supporter of the Jewish state.



To which the Rebbe replied, ?Good.?



Later, in explaining his comment to perplexed followers, the Satmar Rebbe said that non-Jewish opposition to the state of Israel is rooted in hatred of the Jews.



The Progressive Jews of Belgium need to heed the wisdom of the Satmar Rebbe. Anti-Semites don?t hate Jews because they hate Zionism, they hate Zionism because they hate Jews.



Perhaps the words of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. would hold more meaning for Progressives than the Torah or its rabbis. In a 1968 appearance at Harvard University, the American civil rights leader said, ?When people criticize Zionists, they mean Jews. You are talking anti-Semitism.? (from ?The Socialism of Fools: The Left, the Jews and Israel? by Seymour Martin Lipset, Encounter magazine, December 1969, p. 24.)



In Germany before the Holocaust, when Nazism was on the rise and anti-Semitism was becoming more and more of an open phenomenon, many German Jews were convinced that German anti-Semitism was caused by the presence of un-assimilated Ostjuden - Jews from Eastern Europe - who were then migrating into Germany. Those tragically mistaken Jews could not fathom a blind hate that would eventually consume even them, good Germans of the Mosaic persuasion. Like Wajnblum and the Progressive Union leaders, they were convinced Germans could be persuaded to see the difference between ?good? Jews and ?bad? Jews.



Later, after the German Jews had all been deported to concentration and death camps, and the Nazis captured Belgium, a trainload of Belgian Jews was sent east. On its way through Poland, the train was set upon by Jewish partisans. After killing the German guards, the partisans explained to the Jews on board what awaited them at the end of the line - death. But those Belgian Jews would have none of it, refusing to contemplate the possibility of an indiscriminate policy of murder such as was being described to them.



By now, Belgian Jews should know better.

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Nissan Ratzlav-Katz is opinion editor at IsraelNationalNews.com - Arutz Sheva. His commentaries have been published internationally and translated into several languages. He can be reached at [email protected] or through his homepage, www.nrk-online.com.

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