As so often happens when a serious matter is taken up by political interests, the Labour Party's row about anti-Semitism is clouding it further. Ken Livingstone in particular has bigmouthed his way into the debate in a manner that is as unhelpful as it was crass because he has simply given everyone a chance to get all upset.
Far from drawing a line between criticising Israel's policies (legitimate) and attacking Jews because they are Jews (which is what I take to be anti-Semitism, and which is wrong, bad and stupid), we seem right now to be hovering over the matter of the right of Israel to exist and equating this with anti-Semitism. That is at root a political question, although people may - or may not - have anti-Semitic motives for taking it up. It's a unique question too because of the enormous significance it has to Jews, the enormity of the Holocaust, the purpose and manner of Israel's creation, the inevitable disruption it has caused in the region and the effects on those who were there already.
In short, criticism of the existence of Israel CAN be made without being an anti-Semite, and I can't see how the necessary political compromises can be made unless this is allowed to be discussed openly so that real anti-Semites can be seen for what they are.
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