Globalising Hatred: The New Antisemitism [Hardcover]

Denis MacShane was a Labour front bencher, he is a liberal Roman Catholic and an indefatigable europhile. His critique of modern anti-Semitism is fiery and unsparing across the political spectrum. His main thesis is to expose the global momentum towards a demonisation of Jews in general and especially of Israel in particular. His own views of the Israeli government are plain, but he excoriates those who hide behind political critique, when their real agenda is hatred and destructive malice. He spares neither Islamists and their Muslim bed fellows, nor their left wing allies, the anti-Zionist churches, Catholic and Protestant, nor the right wing racists and neo-fascists, nor the 'moderate' Jew haters of Lib Dems and soft right. He briefly documents just how pervasive and active a phenomenon the problem has become in Europe, Japan, and South America.

Rather than this hatred being a peculiar diversion from mainstream activity, he argues its corrosive influence is poisoning global political discourse as a whole, and threatens the life and vision of global and international institutions like the UN. He also reveals how the mass media have generally facilitated or ignored this phenomenon rather than challenging it.

Although this reader differs from the author on many issues, and finds his faith in European and some global political institutions extraordinarily naive for such a seasoned politician, whilst sharing his enthusiasm and passion for cultural and scientific cross-European partnerships, I was deeply impressed and heartened by his courage and determination to tackle this thorny subject head on.

However his credulous confidence in the Palestinian desire for statehood and consequent resistance to settlement activity is also indicative of just how out of touch he remains with political realities on the ground on the Arab side. His diagnosis is helpful but flawed but his remedy as inept and impractical as the CFO's, and likely only to worsen the problem.

Denis MacShane is a Labor member of the British Parliament. This book grew out of the United Kingdom's 2005 All-Party Commission of Enquiry on antisemitism chaired by the author. He investigates and exposes the virus in the UK, Europe and on the global stage with reference to its political, religious, racist, social, secondary or anti-Zionist characteristics that are not mutually exclusive; they tend to appear in clusters depending on the ideology and location of the perps. MacShane discovered disturbing evidence of how the oldest hatred stalks the globe in countries with Jewish communities and even in those without. This work is a valuable addition to the recent books by Bernard Harrison, Gabriel Schoenfeld and Walter Laqueur.

His research revealed three main sources: (a) state-sanctioned antisemitism (b) terrorist formations (c) political movements. The phenomenon serves as a link & mobilizing force between extremists around the ideological spectrum. It uses Holocaust denial and the idea of the worldwide conspiracy, an updated version of the accursed fabrication The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, as two of its weapons. The greatest danger of its resurgence is the way it undermines Enlightenment values, threatening all people of good will. Amongst the groups & individuals examined are anti-Israel academics like Walt & Mearsheimer with their `Israel Lobby' agenda, Noam Chomsky and David Irving, political parties including some in the European Parliament, European religious & secular media, the Middle East and the Islamic World as a whole.

MacShane is under no illusion when it comes to anti-Zionism, recognizing it as the main ingredient of the phenomenon, the one that targets Israel for destruction. He shows how the plague is growing as a factor in international politics with important implications for future geopolitical developments. The writings of the Egyptian extremist Sayyid Qutb and those of Tariq Ramadan are dissected in detail. He remarks how little attention is paid in the West to the open antisemitism in the Islamic sphere. It is promoted by state media and forms part of the charters of groups like Hamas & Hezbollah. The old Christian myths have been revived and adapted to serve as incentives for terrorist recruitment and to deflect the blame for the societal ills plaguing the Arab world. Authors like Nonie Darwish, Brigitte Gabriel and Phyllis Chesler have been making the same point.

MacShane argues that the international community ought to recognize the peril and take strong action against it. But what is the `international community?' Surely not the United Abominations, preparing for its 2nd hate-fest against Israel as a follow-up to Durban 2001? Is it the Anglosphere, the EU and other democratic states acting in unison? Highly unlikely; instead, a new anti-Western axis is being formed, based on the Shanghai Cooperation Organization & rogue states like Iran, Syria, Sudan and other authoritarian regimes. Robert Kagan has presented a credible outline of the threat in The Return of History and the End of Dreams. The new US administration is likely to be isolationist, subservient to European opinion and less sympathetic to Israel, which ultimately might prove to be highly beneficial to the Jewish State.

MacShane's book serves as an urgent warning and provides an in-depth analysis of the current state of the pandemic. He correctly identifies Islamists, including the ruling elites in countries like Shia Iran and Sunni Saudi Arabia as the most obvious threat. There are others, however, whose influence must not be underestimated: 1. Western Leftists of the multicultural, postmodernist, antiglobalist & environmentalist varieties whose lairs are primarily in academia, the mass media, non-governmental & transnational organizations. 2. Old Left ideologues still embittered by the collapse of the Marxist dream. 3. Paleoconservative and "Libertarian" judeopaths who are thrilled to find their obsession being embraced by those on the opposite side of the spectrum; these include Christian Traditionalists. 4. The Religious Left, consisting of theologians in the mainstream churches who are attempting to revive Replacement Theology, church leaders propagating divestment, the World & Middle East Council of Churches and recent `liberal' Christian movements. 5. White supremacist groups 6. Brainwashed students, bleeding heart naifs and a bewildering array of oddball conspiracy theorists like 9/11 "Troofers". Some of the aforementioned categories overlap.

The war against the Jews is raging on many fronts: Military, primarily by Iran via Syria, Hezbollah, Hamas and other terror groups; Mass media, through dishonest reporting by influential news organizations; Academia, by the dissemination of propaganda and attempted boycotts of Israeli academics; Economic, through the disbursement of Middle Eastern oil money to individuals, think tanks and universities as well as divestment campaigns initiated by certain churches; Political, via the United Nations and its agencies as well as direct pressure by oil producers applied to governments globally; Popular culture, especially in hip hop and white supremacist rock music; the Internet, where thousands of hate groups thrive.

Despite its relative brevity and disturbing subject matter, Globalising Hatred is a compelling read on account of its scope and the convincing urgency of the author. The French philosopher Andre Glucksmann has claimed that the concept of a contagion of hatred must be taken literally as a mental disorder that invades minds, bodies and society. Such an outbreak inoculates itself against opposing ideas and is immune to reason. All the more reason to read this book by Denis MacShane.

The author admits that this is more of a polemic than an in depth study. Anti-semitism is a broad subject both historically and currently but Denis McShane makes his points succinctly. This is a useful overview of the anti semitism that is reinventing itself for the 21st century.This book is not heavy on solutions for the problem but rather illuminates the problem in the hope that the issues will be discussed further and openly, something which Mr McShane feels is not happening in the UK at present. This book is not just relevant to the UK however but would be of interest to anyone who wishes to learn more about global anti semitism.