Manfred Gerstenfeld, chairman of the Board of Fellows of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, says that a common chant of the Eurabian-American far left reveals their barely-hidden antisemitism: Calling Jews, Nazis. (Hat tip: Carl in Jerusalem.)

One easy way to capture the essence of anti-Semitism succinctly is to examine European political cartoons.

The demonization of Jews has historically included accusations of deicide, religious infanticide, blood lust, and – post World War II – Nazi-like behavior. Some present-day cartoons reflect classic 21st-century caricatures of key anti-Semitic motifs.

The cartoons, appearing in mainstream papers in different European countries, also demonstrate how acceptable anti-Semitism has again become in European society.

In April 2002, the Italian quality daily La Stampa published a cartoon about the IDF’s siege on the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. It showed an Israeli tank turning on the infant Jesus, who asks: “Surely they don’t want to kill me again?”

In the same month the Greek daily Ethnos, close to the Socialist Party, depicted two IDF soldiers (with stars of David on their helmets) dressed as Nazis stabbing helpless Arabs. The caption: “Do not feel guilty, my brother. We were not in Auschwitz and Dachau to suffer, but to learn.”

In 2003 the British Independent daily printed a Dave Brown cartoon showing Ariel Sharon as a child-eater. This fits neatly into the anti-Semitic libel that Jewish ritual required the use of the blood of Gentile children. Perhaps it is no coincidence that this accusation originated in England during the Middle Ages.

An examination of what happened after Brown’s caricature was published shows how mainstream anti-Semitism has become.

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