Anti-Zionism and Antisemitism in the Contemporary World (review)

Volume 10. No.2 Winter 1992 139 The origins of the June 1967 war Quigley ascribes to false alarms of imminent attack on Syria leaked by Israel itself (p. 159). Israeli leaders did not really view Egypt's removal of UNEF troops from Sinai as a serious security threat. As for Syria, it had "only" shelled targets in Israel and for this peccadillo was summarily dispossessed of its Golan Heights. Various Israeli military gurus are quoted to the effect that Israel had never been in mortal danger . Explicit Arab verbal threats against Israel's existence and their farreaching psychological effect are overlooked. The author questions the legality of Security Council Resolution 242, which calls for Israeli withdrawal from territories in return for peace, pointing out that by conditioning Israel's obligation to withdraw on recognition of Israel by Arab states, the Council made attainment of self-determination by the Palestinians effectively contingent on acts by others (p. 170). However, as "242" was passed under Chapter 6 of the UN Charter, it is not binding on the member states. As for solutions, the Security Council should find ways to coerce Israel into obeying international law. Not surprisingly, Palestine and Israel upholds the right of return of the 1948 refugees, and proposes Israel's de-Zionization (pp. 212-213). As Jewish Agency and Israeli government leaders are individually liable for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and practicing apartheid, they should be brought to justice. Quigley acts as an attorney presenting a legal case rather than as an analyst intent upon understanding not only what happens but why it happens. In this sense the book, although dealing with a conflict burdened with historical determinations, is profoundly ahistorical. It evinces, moreoever, an extreme pro-Arab and anti-Israeli bias. Peter Demant Harry S. Truman Research Institute Hebrew University Anti-Zionism and Antisemitism in the Contemporary World, edited by Robert S. Wistrich. New York: New York University Press, 1990. 213 pp. n.p.l. "How do I hate thee? Let me count the ways." With apologies to Elizabeth Barrett Browning, this might be the best way to sum up the import of this book. Based on papers given at a conference organized some years ago by the Institute of Jewish Affairs in London, this collection of fifteen essays provides a synoptic description of the varieties of anti-Zionism manifest in today's world. Surveyed here is the range of anti-Israel perspectives operative, 140 SHOFAR first, in Communist and Leftist doctrine and political strategy, through the canards expressed in the Muslim, Arab, and Third Worlds, to what is visible and audible with respect to Israel-bashing in the West. The reading is not pleasant, but that does not diminish the value or importance of what is detailed here. The dual focus of the title-anti-Zionism and antisemitism-establishes the implicit conceptual q~estion with which many of the contributors and the editor grapple: what is the relationship between the two? Is anti-Zionism necessarily an adumbration of antisemitism? Can the two ever be dissociated ? Natan Lerner, writing about the Latin American scene, notes: [A]nti-Zionism is not precisely the same as antisemitism although their manifestations may be closely linked and may often appear simultaneously . Obviously one may lead to the other. However, ideological and political adversaries of Zionism need not have the characteristics of typical antisemites.... [But] when acts, deeds, arguments or slogans have the purpose or effect of engendering hatred, hostility, discrimination, humiliation or persecution towards Jews, then those acts are antisemitic even if their perpetrators claim only to be anti-Zionists. (p. 93) The papers in this book collectively establish why this is so. They demonstrate how negative images of Jews and Judaism originally articulated in classical Christianity and Islam hardened into stereotypes that continue to permeate the collective consciousness of the peoples and cultures where both these religions flourished, however secularized and even anti-religious these contemporary societies appear to be (viz., Communist Russia). In the book's final essay, Yehuda Bauer concludes: When we discuss contemporary anti-Zionism, we are therefore thrown back to basic questions: Why the Jews? Why is this particular "prejudice" so time-resistant as to...