You know, that's something that REALLY bugs me. You can't criticize the
STATE of Israel without being accused of anti-Semitism. We're not
called racist when we criticize South Africa of wonky AIDS policy, or of
religious discrimination when we suggest that Iran needs to improve
fiscal policy..
-j-
I agree that being anti-israel is not necessarily the equivalent of being anti-semitic and there is no necessary intellectual requirement that these positions be linked. Having said this, the reality is that these positions are very often (much more often than chance) linked. That is to say that there is a relatively high correlation between anti-semitism and anti-israelism. Some of the recent statements coming from Muslim fundamentalists are virulently and explicitly anti-semitic. My personal experience with americans that are strongly anti-israel is that they are most often anti-semitic as well. In reality most are anti-israel only as a consequence of their anti-semitism. I am not talking now about individuals who are uncomfortable with some of the actions of the Israeli government but rather those who think that the government of Israel and its people cannot do anything legitimate. Let me state for the record that I am not now accusing any list member of ant! ! i-semitism
