A/HRC/6/6
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anti-Semitism, by considering that while anti-Zionism and criticism of the Israeli Government’s
policy may, in certain circles, have an anti-Semitic connotation, reducing these two elements to
anti-Semitism could result in questioning the legitimacy of democratic political debate and, more
importantly, in a trivialization of anti-Semitism. The recognition of Israel’s right to exist by the
United Nations, its Member States, in particular Arab States, in addition to its recognition by the
Palestinian people, undermines the central argument of a link between anti-Zionism and
anti-Semitism, which reduces anti-Zionism to a refusal to recognize the right of the Jewish
people to a State.
41. There is a crucial need to identify when anti-Zionism is tainted by anti-Semitism. Experts’
analysis point to the following cases of such superimposition:
(a) When language, images and character traits attributed to Israel are imbued with
recognizable anti-Semitic stereotypes;
(b) When Israelis and Jews are represented as cosmic devils, blamed for global disasters
and compared with Nazis;
(c) When Israelis and Jews who support the State of Israel are singled out, attacked, and
treated in a manner that is out of proportion to the issue at hand and in comparison with the
actions of other countries;
(d)
When the legitimate right of Israel as a Jewish State to exist is questioned.
42. One should also note, however, that the rise of anti-Semitism in many European quarters
has little, if any, relation to opposition to Israel. The surge in the number of neo-Nazi groups
operating in the continent - including political parties inspired by national socialism - is
alarming. Furthermore, incidents involving neo-Nazi activists, including acts of physical
aggression and murder, have become more common. A typical incident is the profanation of
Jewish cemeteries and attacks against synagogues. Neo-Nazism has also experienced a surge in
activities related to sports, in particular football, where supporters in some cities have organized
and disseminated racist and xenophobic messages with Nazi symbolism, including the display of
swastika flags.
43. A persistent revisionism manifests itself in the traditional platforms of extreme right-wing
parties and even some States, going so far as to deny the Holocaust. The significance of this
anti-Semitism regularly manifests itself in the statements and writings of political, intellectual
and artistic figures. Moreover, the authors of anti-Semitic acts linked to the Middle East conflict
take their language and stereotypes from the historic European anti-Semitism.
44. Anti-Semitism has also experienced an alarming rise in other regions, including Asia. In
India, for example, some ultra-nationalist Hindu movements are directly inspired by Nazi
ideology, giving praise to the strong racial pride of Nazism and proposing it as a model to
“recover India’s purity” as an exclusively Hindu nation.
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