The Matisyahu affair: In Europe, conflating Jew and Israel

A Spanish music festival’s recent decision to rescind its invitation to the American reggae singer Matisyahu, after he declined to endorse a Palestinian state, brought international attention to a phenomenon that many European Jews have been feeling for years: that they are being targeted for Israel’s actions.

Matisyahu, who is Jewish but not Israeli, was the only performer to be asked his views of Palestinian statehood by organizers of the Rototom Sunsplash festival near Barcelona from Aug. 15 to 22. The cancellation of his gig triggered a wave of condemnations, including by Spain’s government and the European Jewish Congress.

To quell the storm, organizers of the festival reinvited Matisyahu — over the weekend he performed his hit song “Jerusalem” there — and apologized for what they said was a “mistake” made under pressure and threats from anti-Israel activists.

But some who track anti-Semitic sentiments and incidents in Europe see the Matisyahu affair as emblematic of widespread conflation between Jew and Israeli on a continent where Israel serves as a pretext for anti-Jewish acts.

Recent examples of the conflation include Hitler salutes by Belgian soccer fans at a match last month in Charleroi between a local team and Beitar Jerusalem; Bosnian soccer fans in April chanting anti-Semitic slogans, including “kill the Jews,” at an impromptu pro-Palestinian rally they held in Vienna; and in Britain, singer-songwriter Alison Chabloz signing a blog post this month in which she questioned the existence of the gas chambers with the phrase “#FreePalestine.”

“The borderline of what is acceptable behavior toward Jews is shifting in Europe, and the people moving it are using Israel as one of their main vehicles,” said Manfred Gerstenfeld, an Israeli scholar whose work has focused on European anti-Semitism... Read more.

Source: http://azjewishpost.com/2015/the-matisyahu-affair-in-europe-conflating-jew-and-israel/