That is in the nature of all kinds of racism and chauvinism: one hates someone for being a Jew, Arab, woman, Black, Indian, Muslim, Hindu. His or her personal attributes, actions, achievements are unimportant. If people belong to the abhorred race, religion, or gender, they will be hated.
The answers to all questions relating to anti-Semitism follow from this basic fact. For example:
Is everybody who criticizes Israel an anti-Semite?
Absolutely not. Somebody who criticizes Israel for certain of our actions cannot be accused of anti-Semitism for that. But somebody who hates Israel because it is a Jewish state, like the Hungarian in the joke, is an anti-Semite. It is not always easy to distinguish between the two kinds, because shrewd anti-Semites pose as bona fide critics of Israel's actions. But presenting all critics of Israel as anti-Semites is wrong and counterproductive; it damages the fight against anti-Semitism.
Many deeply moral persons, the cream of humanity, criticize our behavior in the occupied territories. It is stupid to accuse them of antiSemitism.
Can a person be an anti-Zionist without being an anti-Semite?
Absolutely yes. Zionism is a political creed and must be treated like any other. One can be anti-Communist without being anti-Chinese, anticapitalist without being anti-American, anti-globalist, anti-anything. Yet, again, it is not always easy to draw the line, because real antiSemites often pretend just to be "anti-Zionists." They should not be helped by erasing the distinction.
Can a person be an anti-Semite and a Zionist?
Indeed, yes. The founder of modern Zionism, Theodor Herzl, tried to enlist the support of notorious Russian anti-Semites, promising to take the Jews off their hands. Before World War II, the Zionist underground organization IZL established military training camps in Poland under the auspices of anti-Semitic generals, who also wanted to get rid of the Jews. Nowadays, the Zionist extreme right receives and welcomes massive support from American fundamentalist evangelists, whom the majority of American Jews, according to a poll published this week, consider profoundly anti-Semitic. Their theology prophesies that on the eve of the second coming of Christ, all Jews must convert to Christianity or be exterminated.9