In a comprehensive analysis entitled “Hatred of Jews, everywhere” following the terrorist attack on a Hanukkah celebration in Sydney that left 15 people dead, editor Christina Neuhaus looks at the increasingly open and aggressive anti-Semitism in our society in the Neue Z\u00fcrcher Zeitung. When anti-Semitism costs lives, there is great horror everywhere. At the same time, hatred of Jews is widely tolerated. <\/p>\n\n
In Sydney, a Hanukkah party begins on the beach – and ends in a bloodbath. Fifteen dead, around forty injured, shots fired before the first candle could even be lit. The perpetrators: father and son, apparently with an Islamist motive, “in the name of IS”. Almost at the same time, according to Neuhaus, but in a completely different league of escalation, a culture war in pink glitter packaging is taking place in Switzerland: Nemo is returning the ESC trophy. As a protest against Israel being allowed to take part in the next Eurovision Song Contest. In her article, the NZZ editor also mentions a third element: a Frenchman with North African roots is said to have planned an attack on the ESC in Basel – specifically targeting Jews. He was arrested and later deported to France, where he was released. <\/p>\n\n
These three stories, Neuhaus emphasizes, are not to be equated: “Killing people is a capital crime, returning a trophy a year and a half after a victory is a bit cowardly at best. But deep in the sediment of history, there is a thread that connects the events: Anti-Semitism.” Not as a marginal phenomenon, not as a relic, but as something that is just rising up again, dressing itself anew and appearing frighteningly normal. And she quotes the writer Charels Lewinsky, who said in the NZZ: “Anti-Zionist and anti-colonialist anti-Semitism is rampant today. But ultimately it is often the same old hatred of Jews. And it is once again socially acceptable, or rather demonstratable.” <\/p>\n\n
Since the beginning of the Gaza war, writes Christina Neuhaus, anti-Semitism has been everywhere. The classic right-wing radicals have been reinforced by hatred of Jews from Islamist milieus and by a left-wing radicalized protest culture that believes it is morally right. The social democrat who accuses Israel of committing a Holocaust in Gaza and the near-star who returns his trophy are convinced that they are on the right side of history, Neuhaus notes, concluding her analysis with the words: “Jews all over the world are paying the price.” <\/p>\n\n