Global Anti-Semitism Still Potent

[Behind the Aegis]

I had hoped we could finally put the depressing events of 2009 behind us. Yet, just one month into the New Year, our hope that history would not repeat itself, that anti-Semitism would not again rear its ugly head, has been tempered by the realities of our times.

January brought new and shocking manifestations of anti-Semitism — once again in places where we least expected to see it, in locales where Jews had otherwise felt safe, in nations and democracies we have become accustomed to calling our allies and friends.

In Greece, a historic synagogue on the island of Crete was attacked — not once, but twice — by arsonists. They left behind a calling card of hate, a bar of soap. And we were reminded that in Greece there is a popular anti-Semitic expression, "I'll make you into a bar of soap," a turn of phrase that remains in use despite its visceral association with the Holocaust.

The acrid smell of smoke still hung in the air when the prime minister, George Papandreou, finally spoke out and condemned the arson as "an attack against the history and the culture heritage of our homeland, Greece."

In Turkey — one of Israel's most important allies in the Islamic world — the government remained silent as Turkish television aired dramas portraying Israeli soldiers as baby snatchers and merciless killers.

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Is this surprising in the least?