Criticism of Israel = Anti-Semitism?

A troll by the name of “realPerson”, who has such courage of conviction that he posts under this alias, has this to say about my post on Al-Crapeeza’s story on Israeli racism against Ethiopian immigrants:

You bitch and moan all day long about the (sometimes) real or (often) imaginary anti-Jewish nature of Israel’s critics..

You can read my response under his comment, as well as my fisking of Aussie blogger Neil “Niall” Cook, for my views on the subject. In short: Criticism of Israel does not necessarily involve anti-Semitic sentiment but certainly does in many instances. There is no doubt that anti-Semites hide beneath the ostensible respectability of anti-Zionism.

Here is a graphic (literally) example of what I would say suggests anti-Semitism. And guess where it is from? Al-Crapeeza of course!

This suggests anti-Semitism (i.e prejudice against Jews) as opposed to mere criticism of Israel or Ariel Sharon since it portrays Ariel Sharon wearing a yarmulke on his head, one of the universal symbols of a Jew, despite the fact that Ariel Sharon does not wear one of these! (except on “special occasions”).

Here are a few other examples from the Arab press (courtesy of The Media Line)

I am sure most of you will agree that these cartoons are very “Nazi era-ish” in their depiction of the hook-nosed Jew dressed in religious garb. And again the question must be asked – if these cartoons are meant to criticize Israel, how come they depict Jews in this way? Wouldn’t it be more appropriate to portray them as Israeli soldiers?

To those of you who will say “It is not anti-Semitism. The cartoonist merely drew “Israelis” like this to identify them as Israelis”, I will respond by saying that the Star of David accomplishes this. Wouldn’t a soldier with a Star of David on his helmet or arm be sufficient?

There will, of course, always be a group of people who complain that us Jews are paranoid when we contend that certain criticism of Israel reflects anti-Semitism. But to quote a common saying: “Just because you are paranoid, doesn’t mean they are not out to get you.”