U.S. fears European anti-war sentiment, indicated at a Jan.
19 rally in Brussels, could spark antisemitic violence if
Iraq is attacked.
Even as it prepares for a possible war with Iraq, the Bush
administration is working urgently to avert what it believes
could be a widespread antisemitic backlash in Europe
triggered by a confrontation with Saddam Hussein.
European Jewish communities that already have been hard hit
by waves of new antisemitic incitement and violence could be
early targets of an anti-Israel, anti-American backlash,
administration officials have told Jewish organizational
leaders.
"Going into Iraq will likely produce an anti-American
backlash on the streets of Europe, and the Jews are likely to
bear the brunt of it," said Abraham Cooper of the Simon
Wiesenthal Center.
In recent weeks the State Department has used a variety of
diplomatic channels to send the same message: European
leaders have to do much more to prepare for and thwart the
expected antisemitic surge.
But the results of those official efforts have been mixed, at
best, according to Washington insiders, in part because the
expected antisemitism surge will be closely linked to a
fierce anti-American backlash that may have the quiet
acquiescence, if not outright encouragement, of European
governments.
Increasingly, Mideast events are fueling antisemitism around
the world, and particularly in Europe, where anti-Israel rage
has been growing since the collapse of Mideast peace talks
more than two years ago.
The administration has had one success: It convinced the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, an
umbrella security alliance that includes representatives of
European, North American and Asian countries, to hold "the
first stand-alone meetings on the problem of antisemitism in
Europe," said Andrew Baker, director of European affairs for
the American Jewish Committee.
"Without administration pressure inside OSCE, I doubt there
would have been a decision to do this," Baker said. "Their
inclination would have been to say, `Let's have a meeting to
talk about problems of racism and xenophobia, and from 2 to 3
on Thursday we'll talk about antisemitism.'"
Now, he said, the administration is "working to ensure that
it is a substantive event."
The administration's pre-emptive efforts have won praise even
from some Democrats.
"I have been very impressed with their response," said Rep.
Ben Cardin (D-Md.), a senior member of the Jewish delegation
in the House and a member of the Helsinki Commission, a
congressional group that monitors human rights in Europe.
"There is a real sense of urgency, and I think it's
justified."
The European situation is becoming more volatile because of a
dangerous mix of Islamic extremism in many European countries
and growing rage by the left over what is widely seen as a
unilateral U.S. war. It is also fueled by a longstanding anti-
Israel bias in the media that has worsened since the
resumption of widespread Palestinian terrorism in 2000 and
the increasingly strong Israeli response.
The re-election of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who is widely
reviled in Europe, will be one more wild card in a dangerous
social mix that could erupt in Jew-baiting.
Most Jewish organizational leaders say France, where some of
the worst antisemitic outbursts have taken place since 2000
and where the Arab immigrant population now outnumbers Jews
by 10 to 1, remains a problem.
A delegation of AJCommittee leaders met with French President
Jacques Chirac, who told the delegation that he sees
antisemitism as a "cancer."
Chirac apparently hoped to use that warning as part of his
effort to block a U.S. attack on Iraq, but it also reflected
reality in his own country, where Jews increasingly have been
the targets of violence and harassment.
"Europe is the soft underbelly," said Abraham Foxman,
national director of the Anti-Defamation League. "Because of
the big Muslim populations and because governments have not
delivered a strong message that it will not be tolerated, the
problem is growing. You'd have to be deaf and dumb to not
take seriously the likelihood Jews and Jewish institutions
will be targeted."
But it's not only Europe that worries American Jewish
leaders. Communities in the US, as well, are bracing for a
potential backlash. Some local community councils are setting
up "war rooms" to deal with community relations issues
stemming from the war. But few expect the kind of out-of-
control antisemitism that could erupt in Europe.
If the war proves difficult and costly, however, that
calculus could change. Already the nascent anti-war movement
here is steeped in vehement anti-Israel ideology.
"It's a dangerous mix," one source said. "We have a bad
economy, a war that could go bad and an anti-war movement
that seems willing to tolerate real antisemitic expressions.
So we'd be fools not to take seriously the possibility of a
backlash here."
