Why Anti-Israelism is not Anti-Semitism

From this fallacious premise, they want to deduce this conclusion that international hatred toward the Israeli regime is consistent with the anti-Semitic and anti-Jewish sentiments.

(TEHRAN) - The leaders of the Israeli regime have long been after spreading this fallacy that criticizing the actions and policies of this regime is tantamount to being anti-Jew and anti-Semite, thereby sanctioning any condemnation of their brutal and aggressive ploys by the international community.

The politicians and policy-makers in Tel Aviv have shrewdly realized that, at least in Europe, the Achilles heel of the statesmen is being accused of anti-Semitism, the reason being that because of the alleged hardships that Hitler imposed upon the Jews during the World War II, the European leaders should continue to pay ransom to the Israeli regime so as not to be charged with the blame of anti-Semitism. Why? Because Israel is the sole entity that represents the global Jewry.

For the very same reason, the European officials and even independent academicians and media personalities are extremely afraid of censuring Israel for the crimes it commits and for its grave violations of the international law. As an instance, the whole world witnessed that in the late 2008 and early 2009 the European mass media flagrantly closed their eyes to the barbaric massacre of Palestinian civilians in the besieged Gaza Strip and ignored the dreadful humanitarian crisis in the beleaguered coastal enclave with connivance and complicity. They cowardly feared that if they gave coverage to the suffering of the people of Gaza and the nightmarish days they were experiencing under the heavy cloudburst of Israel Defense Forces' attacks, they might be accused of pro-Palestinian and anti-Israeli bias.

The same path of duplicitous silence by the Western media was followed in the aftermath of IDF's fatal assault on the Freedom Flotilla which was heading toward the besieged Gaza Strip. Nine Turkish peace activists were killed during the attack and tens of others from different nationalities were wounded as they took action in self-defense against the Israeli belligerents. However, the mainstream media in Europe brazenly refused to give coverage to and shed a light on the incident in a conspicuous act of censorship. And this is a manifestation of the supernatural influence of the Israeli politicians and Zionist lobbies in the Western mainstream media.

The Israeli officials know well how to perform a pitiable and deplorable play and make the people around the world believe that a horrendous wave of anti-Semitic sentiments is sweeping the globe. They have systematically tried to institutionalize this belief that those who criticize them are anti-Jew and anti-Semite. They resort to rationalizations and justifications which have long been parts of Israel's propaganda tactics for attracting financial and military assistance from the West.

For example, the website of Anti-Defamation League, an extremist Zionist organization which is in charge of winning media wars on behalf of the Israeli regime says that "hostility toward Jews dates to ancient times, perhaps to the beginning of Jewish history… From the days of the Bible until the Roman Empire, Jews were criticized and sometimes punished for their efforts to remain a separate social and religious group - one that refused to adopt the values and the way of life of the non-Jewish societies in which it lived."

From this fallacious premise, they want to deduce this conclusion that international hatred toward the Israeli regime is consistent with the anti-Semitic and anti-Jewish sentiments which existed in European societies before the establishment of Israeli state.

Today, the Israeli officials point their finger of accusation at the Muslim nations such as Iran for giving rise to anti-Semitism. Iranian officials' outspoken and unequivocal condemnation of the felonies of Tel Aviv and its premeditated collective punishment of the Palestinians has provided the Israelis with a pretext for presenting themselves as an oppressed nation which has been historically harassed and molested.

However, the Israeli propaganda machinery has astutely concealed this fact criticism of Tel Aviv is not equivalent to the criticism of Jews and Jewish communities.

Here in Iran, which is unreasonably accused of spreading anti-Semitic sentiments, more than 10,000 Jews live in peace and tranquility and are entitled to every social, political and economic right that the other Iranians enjoy. Their religion is explicitly recognized in Iran's constitution. They have a representative in Iran's parliament and freely attend their religious ceremonies without being persecuted, in sharp contrast to Israel's indefensible discrimination against the Arabs and Muslims in the occupied territories, Gaza Strip and West Bank who are even deprived of observing their religious rituals and going to mosques.

The international community should be aware of the fact that the Israeli regime is not representative of the Jews and that even the Jews living in other countries are fed up with the aggressive and expansionistic policies of the Israeli regime.

Jews constitute a respectable minority in the world population and although Judaism has gone through various distortions throughout the history, the teachings of Islam prohibit the Muslims from prosecuting Jews or the members of other religious minorities, inviting the true believers to behave with the followers of other religions in a compromising and tolerant way. The claim that Israel is a Jewish state is a big lie. Maybe it can be said the majority of people living in the lands Israel occupies are Jews, but the claim that Israel is a Jewish state is completely erroneous and untrue, because Judaism never allows its followers to kill innocent people, occupy their land, confiscate their belonging and properties and destroy their homes.

In a statement to his companions and comrades, Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) once said, "Beware! Whoever is cruel and hard on a non-Muslim minority, or curtails their rights, or burdens them with more than they can bear, or takes anything from them against their free will; I will complain against this person on the Day of Judgment."

Neither Iranians nor the people of other Muslim nations nor those Westerners who dare criticize the bloodthirsty officials of the Israeli regime for their frequent wrongdoings and crimes are anti-Jew or anti-Semite. They are simply anti-Israeli. Believe me: anti-Israelism is not anti-Semitism.

Kourosh Ziabari is an Iranian media correspondent, freelance journalist and the author of Book 7+1. He is a contributing writer for websites and magazines in the Netherlands, Canada, Italy, Hong Kong, Bulgaria, South Korea, Belgium, Germany, the U.K. and the U.S. He was once a member of Stony Brook University Publications’ editorial team and Media Left magazine’s contributing writer, as well as a contributing writer for Finland’s Award-winning Ovi Magazine.

Kourosh Ziabari was named the winner of winners in the category of media activities at the National Organization of Youths festival. He was honored by the Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, receiving the honorary mention signed by him and the silver medal of Iran's Superior Youth. The media activities category did not award the Gold and Bronze medal to any participant.

As a young Iranian journalist, Kourosh has been interviewed and quoted by several mainstream mediums, including BBC World Service, PBS Media Shift, the Media Line network, Deutsch Financial Times and L.A. Times. Currently, he works for the Foreign Policy Journal as a media correspondent. He is a member of Tlaxcala Translators Network for Linguistic Diversity and World Student Community for Sustainable Development. You can write to Kourosh Ziabari at: kziabari@gmail.com