European anti-Zionism is actually anti-Jewish

Gil Troy

We recently completed a family trip to Norway. It is a beautiful Canadian-like country, with many lakes, snow-capped mountains, and summertime temperatures in many areas requiring winter coats. Most Norwegians are hearty and friendly, more Vancouver than Montreal or Toronto, more North Face than Brooks Brothers. Yet for all this warmth, there was an undercurrent of anti-Semitism, not just anti-Israelism, which shadowed our vacation.

In fairness, part of the reason why we went to Norway was the opposite – a warm expression of love for the Norwegian Jewish community amid sub-zero temperatures. After the Charlie Hebdo and kosher supermarket terrorism in Paris last February, 1,000 Muslims held hands and encircled Oslo’s synagogue in a “ring of peace.” When he heard that, my older brother decided to visit Norway for his family vacation. When we heard that our vacation dates coincided, my family joined his family.

Both my sons and my nephew wear kippot wherever they go. As someone who is, shall we say, not hairful anymore, I always wear a hat outside. Despite warnings for them not to wear kippot in England, Ireland, Spain, France and Italy – and of course North America – in previous years, my sons have carried on normally. We have had wonderful experiences as a result, such as repeatedly being “bagelled” – when someone identifies you as Jewish and starts talking to you about it – or “cremboed” – when someone identifies you as Israeli and starts talking to you in Hebrew (a “crembo” being an Israeli version of a Whippet, with a cookie base and a dollop of marshmallow encased in chocolate or mocha).

In Norway, unfortunately, it was different. My sons reported many strange looks, sneers and even some spitting. At one point, two Palestinians approached us, initially seeming friendly and displaying necklaces with keys representing their lost homes. They said, edgily, “We’re from Israel, too – but your grandfathers killed our grandfathers.” I shot back: “Hopefully, your grandsons will make peace with our grandsons.” The talk of peace embarrassed them, and they retreated.

Also in Europe this summer, in Oslo, an Israeli filmmaker who made a lovely film about special needs kids was rejected from a film festival because his film did not denounce “the occupation.” 

In Stockholm, four older Israeli couples entered a café speaking Hebrew. They noticed a waiter calling the manager, who then kicked them out. “Once, when Europeans heard us speaking Hebrew, they hailed us as heroes,” one of the Israelis reported. “Now they treat us like criminals.” 

In Spain, singer Matisyahu was barred from a music festival because he wouldn’t denounce Israel – Matisyahu being a Jew, but not an Israeli. (He was subsequently re-invited and the festival apologized, but not before facing a chorus of condemnations.)

Of course, Europe today lacks the murderous anti-Semitism it perfected over the centuries, culminating in the Holocaust. And there are many official European voices denouncing modern Jew hatred. My son, Yoni, visited a synagogue in Paris this summer. As appalled as he was to see flak-jacketed soldiers armed with machine guns forced to patrol around a house of worship, he was moved when he asked the soldiers if they resented or were bored by this army service. One replied: “Absolutely not. We are defending the values of the Republic by protecting this place and these people.”

Still, all these little slights add up to one big conclusion: those who claim that the BDS boycotters are “only” anti-Israel and not anti-Semitic are lying. Anti-Zionists are responsible for proving that their anti-Zionism is not bigoted. In fact, it is anti-Jewish. They have obsessively targeted Israel, of all the nations, because it is the one Jewish state, and they use their anti-Israelism to mask and revive Europe’s oldest social disease: old-fashioned Jew hatred.

We still enjoyed Norway and would return. But the world today is not the welcoming place for Jews – or proud westerners – it should be.