Auschwitz did not Begin in Auschwitz: Israeli Leader Warns of New Tolerance for Anti-Semitism

American Jewish Committee
Friday, 10 May 2002

Jews worldwide are experiencing – and the world is tolerating -- a "totally new level" of anti-Semitism that must be halted now, Rabbi Michael Melchior, Israel's deputy foreign minister, told delegates to the American Jewish Committee's 96th annual meeting.

"We need to take the new anti-Semitism seriously, because the anti-Semites mean seriousness," Rabbi Melchior said. In some places, mutual hatred of Jews is drawing the extreme right into coalition with the extreme left; the presence of Muslim fundamentalists in anti-Semitic coalitions is growing.

Everyone ignored Israeli government warnings over the past 50 years that anti-Semitism inevitably escalates, Rabbi Melchior said. "Every time the anti-Semites see that there is a certain level of hatred which they can get away with...then they can upgrade. The volume gets stronger and stronger and people get used to new levels of this oldest hatred that humankind has known."

"There is a clear process from allegations, insinuations, to accusations, to delegitimization, to dehumanization, and finally demonization, which leaves the road open to any kind of violence," he said. "Auschwitz did not begin in Auschwitz."

Rabbi Melchior listed dozens of the hundreds of worldwide anti-Semitic attacks reported to the Israeli government in only the last month. The incidents, in Europe, North Africa, Australia, Canada and the U.S., included the torching of school buses and synagogues and attacks against private businesses.

As an example of one of the many attacks on individuals, Rabbi Melchior, who is also chief rabbi of Norway, brought news from Oslo:

"One place a Jewish child coming home from school [said] to his father, 'I don't want to be Jewish anymore.' What did they do? Three children held him up and said, 'Are you Jewish?' He said 'yes.' 'Will you commit suicide?' He said, 'no.' They said 'So we will hang you'."

In the past, anti-Semites targeted individual Jews; today they have their sights focused on the Jewish State. "The methods of the new anti-Semitism [go] beyond all fantasies," said Rabbi Melchior, but anti-Semites adapt to the times. Today they focus on attacking Israel and on denying the Jewish people the right to a national identity. "People accept the principle of self-determination for the nations. The Jewish people has not that right to self-determination, and this is what clearly defines this from criticism of Israel."

Because Israel is a democracy, it is open to legitimate criticism, which must be carefully distinguished from anti-Semitism, he said. However, the United Nations and its agencies make no such distinctions, acting instead on an "overall master plan...to delegitimize and demonize Israel as the new apartheid state."

During question period, Rabbi Melchior said Jews should not begin an economic boycott against France and French products without first thinking it out very carefully, because a boycott might sharply backfire against both Israel and Jews. This view was echoed by French Jewish leader Roger Cukierman, who told the AJC meeting there was hope that the new Interior Minister would seriously crack down on the perpetrators of anti-Jewish attacks in the country.

While European governments and the European Union have opposed trade sanctions against Israel, Rabbi Melchior noted that there is a "major danger" Israel will face international boycotts by trade unions and other non-governmental groups. With over ninety percent of Israeli produce exported to Europe, it would be a "major blow" if a European boycott of Israel's agricultural products developed. The economic effects of this might not be so great – agriculture plays a declining role in the country's high tech economy – but it would have a strong emotional impact, striking at the core of the Zionist ideal.

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