Is it anti-Semitic to criticise Israel?

No one will deny the historical existence of anti-Jewish hatred and persecution, but few want to believe that it is still prevalent in the modern, post-Holocaust world.

However, the establishment of the state of Israel, a Jewish state, has seen the development of newly disguised anti-Semitism (meaning, in this case, being anti the collective Jew, the Jewish people) which takes the form of political criticism of Israel.

In itself, political criticism is a free right reserved by citizens of democracies, and it is irresponsible to label it otherwise. To condemn the political actions of the Israeli state is not, of itself, to be anti-Semitic. Israel's policies, as regards settlements and targeted killings, are legitimate targets for criticism and should be subject to scrutiny as the actions of other countries are.

But if it is complained (as it is) that some Jews are unable to distinguish between criticism of Israel and anti-Semitism, it would seem that this is a widespread phenomenon that non-Jews suffer as well. After all, why should anti-Israel protest necessitate the defilement of Jewish graveyards, the burning of synagogues, fresh Nazi-themed graffiti at Holocaust camps and memorial sites, or verbal and physical assaults on Jews in Paris and Berlin? How do these acts advance political discourse?

Since the Israel-Palestine peace process collapsed in 2000, and the second Palestinian Intifada began, anti-Semitic incidents in the western world have been at their highest level since the Holocaust. Acts of anti-Semitism reached such proportions in Europe last year that Time magazine felt prompted to devote a cover issue to its resurgence, and a British daily, The Sun, published a full-page article headed "The Jewish faith is not an evil religion".

In such times, it is important to ask whether the distinction between being anti-Israel and being anti-Semitic has been blurred, and to consider that on occasions, in fact, they are the same thing.