12 No. 73 JUSTICE ntroduction and Expression of Solidarity Antisemitism is exactly what it claims to be: a deadly threat to Jews – and nothing else. This clear statement made by the great Jewish political scientist and philosopher, Hannah Arendt, aptly describes the essence of antisemitism: it is an invitation to evil prejudice, to vicious hatred, and to the diabolical destruction of innocent people! The manic obsession with which antisemites, through the ages, have cultivated their conspiracy theories and come up with ever new ideological narratives for hatred of Jews must never distract us from the sinister truth: antisemitism has been — always and in every form — a deeply unenlightened force that speaks to the basest instincts and that has given a license for brutality and vulgarity through the centuries. Hannah Arendt warns us that antisemitism — behind all its ideological, pseudo-religious and pseudo-scientific smoke and mirrors — ultimately focuses on only one thing: persecuting and destroying Jewish life. Jewish people know this only too well from bitter experience! Hence, the foundation and the prosperity of the State of Israel was the visible expression of the intention to never again become the helpless object of antisemitic persecution, but to be the master of its future history. “Never again,” in this context, always meant “never again defenseless!” However, one year ago on October 7, 2023, the most despicable and malicious act of Hamas led to what was as unthinkable as it is unforgiveable: the mass murder of innocent people — citizens of Israel — on their own soil through brutal terrorist attacks perpetrated by air, sea, and land. The figures alone — almost 1,200 killed, thousands injured, and more than 240 hostages of all ages and sexes in the hands of their tormentors — can only quantify the horror. The real dimension of this massacre is quite simply beyond any description! In a time already filled with serious news and sad images, the horrific news and images that reached the global public from Israel and the Gaza Strip were unprecedented and deeply shocking. I know that the images and evidence not only do not leave room for doubt about the atrocities committed by Hamas, but also raise irreparable doubts when it comes to believing in the humanity of the perpetrators. The terrorists, in their diabolical efforts to publicly humiliate and degrade their innocent victims, instead showed their own disgusting dehumanization. On October 7, nothing less than an abyss of evil opened up, as the barbaric core of antisemitism and terrorism merged in a perverse way: hatred, bloodlust, and the wish for destruction. All sceptics and critics of the Israeli doctrine were taught in a drastic way that, in the end, robust security alone offers protection from antisemitism and terrorism. They have to acknowledge that the emphatic appeal “Never again!” becomes an empty phrase at the moment when it does happen again! It is all the more shameful that antisemitism, in keeping with its nature that is resistant to reality, once again successfully connects with the currently influential schools of thought, such as politically activist post-colonialism. It was absolutely revolting to see, especially after such a short period of time, that the mass murder perpetrated by a fanatical religious terrorist organization was toned down and reinterpreted as a struggle for freedom — by a gang of murderers who openly committed and flaunted rape and desecration. Let me refer once again to Hannah Arendt, who — in a much-noticed TV interview in 1964 — attached great importance to stating precisely what really shook Jews to the core after the Nazis seized power. Antisemitism – The “Seismograph” of the Crisis in the Middle East* Thomas Haldenwang * This is an edited version of a Keynote address delivered at the World Summit on Counter-Terrorism, ICT’s International Conference 2024, Reichman University, Herzliya, October 7, 2024. I
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