Tony Judt thinks Israel is to blame for widespread anti-Semitism in Europe and elsewhere. “Its leaders purport to speak for Jews everywhere,” Judt writes. “They can hardly be surprised when their own behavior provokes a backlash against…Jews. Thus Israel itself has made a significant contribution to the resurgence of the anti-Semitism.” But in its ethnic-national identity, Israel is like other nation-states. Jacques Chirac, for example, speaks routinely “on behalf of the French people.” As one can see from this collection of statements by heads of state, that’s the norm. Jiang Zemin purports to represent not only the Chinese government, but also the Chinese people. As Time has reported, Vicente Fox “has said that he intends to be President to ‘all Mexicans’ – at home and abroad.”
But does anyone think that attacks on ethnic Chinese or Mexicans living in America or Europe would be a sensible response to political controversies in their home countries? Of course not. Tibetans living abroad may have their grievances against China, but it hasn’t led to violence against their Chinese neighbors — no matter who Chinese leaders claim to speak for. Indeed, the Palestine Liberation Organization has long held itself out as the “sole and legitimate representative of the Palestinian people.” Yet attacks on Palestinians living in Europe or America remain hate crimes rather than expressions of opposition to the PLO. As Ran Halevi, in an essay on Tony Judt and the nation-state, has written, “When one burns down a synagogue or attacks a Jew in the street for sins attributed to other Jews, these are not ‘misdirected’ acts (to employ Mr. Judt’s euphemism) but the very essence of anti-Semitism.”
— Steven
The Dish 