Reply To: Political Statements
@Spiff: Part of the problem (we should all have such problems!), as I described earlier in the discussion of Plessy being overturned, is that anti-Semitism became unfashionable after the Holocaust. Anti-Semites were more or less obliged to shift their rhetoric to anti-Zionism: the Zionists own the banks, the Zionists control the media, the Zionists control Hollywood, etc. In response, there’s definitely a widespread perception that those who have seemingly embraced this cosmetic change but otherwise inherited these hoary conspiracy theories are anti-Semites; Walt and Mearsheimer are two recent examples. Anti-Semitism never really disappeared; rather, it only went underground, and we’re left trying to figure out who hates us based on subtle hints. That’s what triggers fears (and accusations) of anti-Semitism when Israel is criticized.
There are certain widespread assumptions that are shared by many liberals in America and in Europe, largely out of ignorance, that are questionable, but since the counter-arguments are almost never presented, and much of the relevant history is rapidly slipping beyond living memory, those assumptions largely go unchallenged. I’ll touch on a few of them, based in large part on the subjects you mentioned, in the course of a history lesson.
(I bumped into a post size limit; the history lesson will follow shortly, probably in several parts.)