For the first more than 20 years of my life, between 1944 and 1965, I lived in Konstanz, where, apart from some inappropriate “jokes” and the intentionally grotesque intonations of some people when they heard that I was Jewish, I personally did not know anti-Semitism. “This,” my friends later told me, “was due to the unique demographic structure of the city.” At that time, many ethnic groups lived in Constanta: Romanians, Greeks, Armenians, Jews, Turks, Tatars, Aromanians, Albanians, etc. Friends claimed that precisely because there were so many of them, there was a relative ethnic harmony in Constanta that was absent in other cities of the country. I even believed that an intelligent person (as I then simplistically defined intelligence) could not be a racist. But I got over it pretty quickly as I learned more and more about the story.

Then all my life I had discussions with Jewish and non-Jewish friends about anti-Semitism. Many times we ended up in very heated conversations, and I was invariably accused of refusing to see reality. “You’d struggle to understand even Hitler,” he once told me in exasperation. And when I argued that a certain clearly anti-Semitic display could only be evidence of stupidity, lack of culture or lack of information, the late Victor Eskenasi (former editor of the BBC and Free Europe) quoted me an American proverb: “if it looks like a duck, it quacks like a duck, and he walks like a duck, he is definitely a duck.”

In the end I proved them right. The last doubts I may have had were dispelled by a recent article written against the backdrop of anti-Semitic demonstrations and attacks in London and other cities around the world. I quote from memory: “Why don’t Russians in England suffer when Russia bombs civilians in Ukraine?” asks the author, Douglas Murray. He continues: “Why don’t Muslims in England suffer when Islamists kill Christians in Africa? And why, when Israel responds to the provocations of its enemies, must Jews in England, even those who disagree with the policies of the Israeli government, suffer from anti-Semitic attacks and demonstrations?”

If any honest person before October 7th can still have doubts about anti-Semitism, the way Israel is treated by most of the media, the anger of anti-Israel protesters who seem to have never heard of China’s human rights situation. all of which leads to only one conclusion, which is that anti-Semitism is fine and thriving despite countless cries of “never again.”

In fact, a few years ago I began to look at the situation in a different light. I discuss this topic regularly with my friend and former BBC colleague Petru Clay, who is leading, so to speak, a veritable crusade against anti-Semitism. I once told him that I admired what he was doing, but it was no use. “Anti-Semitism is like rain. It has become almost a natural phenomenon that cannot be avoided,” I told him. “And what would you like? Shouldn’t anyone do anything?” – he answered indignantly, for good reason. “No, not at all,” I replied. “I know that we must continue to fight against anti-Semitism. After all, hope is the last to die, isn’t it? I’m just personally very skeptical that these efforts will have any effect.”

In the book Catch 22 Joseph Heller has an episode where a court-martialed soldier asks the protagonist Yossarian (quoting from memory): “What do you think he’s going to do to me?” “They will judge you, for sure. They don’t like Jews.” “Well, I’m not Jewish,” the friend replies. “It doesn’t matter,” Yossarian continued. “They don’t love anyone!”.

Mutatis mutandis, the October 7 massacre in Israel may contain a warning for the Western world; that jihadists don’t love anyone, not just Jews. As it can be seen from time to time in London, Paris, Amsterdam, in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Syria, etc., etc., etc.

And what can Israelis do in the face of this worldwide wave of disapproval and resurgence of anti-Semitism? In my opinion, they have been in a most unenviable situation for years: damned if they do something, damned if they don’t do anything. And they know. And that’s why, I suspect, many have taken up the words of their former prime minister, Golda Meir, in recent days: If we had a choice between being dead at the mercy of the world and living with a bad image, we would choose to live with an unfavorable image. –

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