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Time to Call Out Europe on its Thinly Disguised Anti-Semitism?

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JERUSALEM, Israel – European anti-Semitism is no secret to anyone who follows the news. It's hard to know where it's the most virulent – Germany, France, Spain, Sweden, Belgium, the United Kingdom – there are troublesome incidents throughout Europe and they're increasing.

Burgeoning Islamic populations are taking a toll in several countries, including Sweden, France, Germany and the UK, which often factor into terror attacks against Jewish citizens.

Some Bible believers see rising anti-Semitism as prophetic, citing .

"Behold, I will send for many fishers, says the LORD, and they shall fish them; and after will I send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks."

Some hope the increasing danger facing Europe's Jewish communities will convince families to make aliyah – immigrate to Israel under the Law of Return.

When terror attacks became a regular occurrence in France several years ago, thousands of French Jews decided it was time to start a new life in Israel.

Earlier this week, German police beat up an American Jewish professor after he was attacked in a park. The 20-year-old assailant, reportedly a German citizen of Palestinian Arab descent, attacked the professor because he was wearing a kippah, hitting and shoving him, as he shouted, "No Jew in Germany."

The attacker fled the scene and was later arrested and released. Police claimed they punched the professor in the face and threw him to the ground thinking he was the aggressor.

The police chief later apologized on behalf of the officers.

In her weekly column for the Jerusalem Post, entitled "A glimpse of Europe's truce face," Israeli Middle East analyst and author Caroline Glick explains what's behind the EU's pervasive anti-Israel stance.

"Whereas Europeans fear the Iranians and the Russians, they hate Israel. And the goal of Europe's Israel policy is to weaken the Jewish state through delegitimization, political and legal subversion and the constant threat of commercial sanctions," she writes.

Glick says US President Donald Trump recognizes "that European rhetoric doesn't represent its actual policy…It camouflages it."

Israel, for its part, has tried for many years to reason with Europe's leaders.

Glick noted, "We send our best lawyers to Europe to explain that our policies conform with international law. We deploy our most talented diplomats to Europe to prove that our actions advance human rights. And our greatest statesmen have spent decades trying to prove our commitment to peace."

Glick says what many in Israel understand: that "all these efforts are completely irrelevant."

"The Europeans could care less about the truth. They aren't here to promote truth. They prefer lies. Lies help them hide their policy predicated on hatred of Israel."

And she further believes that President Trump recognizes EU's policies for what they are and Israel should do the same.

"The time has come for Israel to finally stop taking European rhetoric seriously. The time has come for Israel to begin exacting a painful price from Europe for its hostile and damaging policies toward us," Glick concludes.

While life in the Jewish state has its share of challenges, polls show Israelis are among the world's most contented people.

Perhaps that's because in the wake of centuries of persecution in Europe and elsewhere, they're celebrating the 70th anniversary of a modern miracle in the land where they belong.

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About The Author

Tzippe
Barrow

From her perch high atop the mountains surrounding Jerusalem, Tzippe Barrow tries to provide a bird’s eye view of events unfolding in her country. Tzippe’s parents were born to Russian Jewish immigrants, who fled the czar’s pogroms to make a new life in America. As a teenager, Tzippe wanted to spend a summer in Israel, but her parents, sensing the very real possibility that she might want to live there, sent her and her sister to Switzerland instead. Twenty years later, the Lord opened the door to visit the ancient homeland of her people.