Europe and Brendan Simms

Brendan Simms: Simms article appeared on Jan. 27 when many countries marked International Holocaust Remembrance Day on the anniversary of the liberation in 1945 of the Nazi death camp Auschwitz. But despite the moving ceremonies and fiery speeches by officials, much of the world is still under the spell of the crime that led to the murder of six million Jews, two million Roma and Sinti Gypsies and countless others. Polls in Europe and elsewhere investigating contemporary anti-Semitism present a grim picture, according to The Star. The headline of his article reads: Anti-Semitism is an international threat once again. The problem doesnt only concern Jews. They may still be prime targets, but many others are also potential victims. In view of its past, Europe is particularly vulnerable and its there that much of the old/new anti-Semitism is in evidence, even though or perhaps because most Europeans arent likely to ever encounter Jews, as most perished in the Holocaust and Writing in the London Evening Standard, the British historian Brendan Simms asks : What do a major Palestinian political organization, a French comedian of partly African descent, large sections of the Iranian elite and a right-wing Hungarian leader have in common? Answer: They all believe that the world is run by an international Jewish conspiracy. Simms writes about current manifestations of this deadly disease: Today, anti-Semitism unites a diverse but increasingly coherent coalition across classes, races and continents. Though partly feeding off hostility to Israel, its main strand is anti-capitalism and nationalist anti-globalization. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.