An erosion of the post-war consensus on antisemitism in the Federal Republic of Germany is well underway, and Der Spiegel, the leading weekly German news magazine, is not helping.
Since antisemitism is symptomatic of a greater societal malaise, it should be made clear that antisemitism is not a "Jewish" problem, but a hatred that eats away at the foundations of our society. In this fight, nothing less than the future of an open, liberal, Europe is at stake.
These are hard times for those who reject the polarization of public discourse. Not only in the U.S.A., but also in Germany, there is practically no room left for nuance and differentiation.
We have the remarkable situation that the U.S., Canada, Israel, Japan, Netherlands, the Arab League, and the GCC, joined most recently by Argentina and the United Kingdom, all agree on the true nature of Hezbollah, yet the EU stands oddly apart.
Antisemitism is sometimes compared to a virus. While we can’t eliminate it, we at least know how to keep it under control. But what if we’re wrong? What if, like a virus, antisemitism has developed a new strain, unresponsive to all the traditional treatments?