Engaged - David and Sue

Norm beat me too it again, Engage has an interesting piece: Sue Blackwell Needs to Respond to Charges of Antisemitism - David Hirsh

This caught my eye:

“In Poland in 1968 the Polish state, under the cover of solidarity with Palestinians, launched a purge of the Jewish intelligensia. The language of this purge was one of anti-Zionism. Jewish intellectuals were challenged to declare themselves anti-Zionist. Most of them refused, and Poland lost a whole layer of its thinkers, teachers, writers and researchers.”

Nowadays after the fall of eastern communism few of us ever really consider Soviet anti-Semitism and how it was constantly masked under the label of anti-Zionism.

Even as late as 1983 anti-Semitism was hiding under the backcloth of anti-Zionism as the advent of Anti-Zionist Committee of the Soviet Public shows

See Pamyat

Does this sound familiar?

“The recurring motive of the groups's ideology were the alleged "Ziono-Masonic plot" against Russia as "the main source of the misfortunes of Russian people, disintegration of the economy, denationalization of Russian culture, alcoholism, ecological crisis." The "Zionists" were also blamed for causing revolutions, for death of millions in the course of Russian Civil War and Stalin's personality cult. The contemporary Soviet government apparatus was alleged to be penetrated by "Zionists and freemasons" with the purpose to subordinate it to the "Jewish capital". The "Zionist Occupied Government" accusation was often used.

Officially the organization emphasized that its ideology was merely anti-Zionist and not anti-Semitic. This was also the official Soviet stance. The hate speech and fostering ethnic conflict is punishable under Russian law. It was punishable also under the Soviet law, but this article has never been enforced.”