Europe’s Anti-Semitism Shows Its Own Decadence – OpEd
Europe’s current crisis is often compared with the lamentable fall of the Roman Empire, as its decay into fragments has an extraordinary sense of parallel with the convoluted standards of the West today. The tapestry of words, knitted in a convincing manner in Edward Gibbon’s seminal work on the decline of the Roman Empire, petrifies the present reader with its perennial value. Gibbon states, “A slow and secret poison into the vitals of the empire. The minds of men were gradually reduced to the same level, and the fire of genius was extinguished”.
The aforementioned quote from Gibbon is akin to the existential crisis that surrounds the frontiers of Europe, which is teetering on the edge due to multiple factors. And, some of the claims that Gibbon presented in his thesis on Rome’s decay presently occurs within Europe, reminding us of the ironies of history. It may not be an exaggeration to state that the relative prosperity enjoyed by Europeans in the post war era, buttressed by the Marshall plan and collective commitments such as EEZ, was short-lived when Europe clung to the general amnesia of accepting multiculturalism, which gradually engulfed its own cultural identity. One of the key military strategists in our time, Edward Luttwak, describes Europe’s apathy in admitting the reality as “Post-heroic mindset “, a term coined by Luttwak to elucidate Europe’s loss of appetite for military victory and combat casualties.
This is evident in considering how Europe reacted after the 7th of October atrocities committed by Hamas in Israel. The initial solidarity that many European nations shared with Israel by condemning Hamas’s terror took a tectonic shift when the IDF intensified its attack in Gaza, as many European cities were filled with anti-Israeli slogans and some countries, such as Spain and Slovenia, went to the extent of recognizing Palestine.
It would be interesting to fathom how those imperils against Israel robustly sprang when Israel launched its attacks in Gaza, an act that any self-respecting nation would do after such a fatal incident. The change of the European stance from solidarity with Israel to grave condemnation of its military actions simply reflects the state of mind that Europe perceives, in which the majority of European leaders were frighten to loss the attractive vote bank consisting of immigrants. The Middle East crisis was their litmus test before many European leaders who rely on immigrant votes.
The current status of Europe’s abhorrence of Israel, followed by its steep rise in antisemitism, reflects Europe’s own decadence. Considering the long roots of Israeli Jews to Europe, a complete detachment from the continent is an impossibility for them . Sharon Pardo, a professor at Ben-Gurion University and author of a book on European-Israeli relations, “Uneasy Neighbors, once commented that Israel is from Europe, and anyone who fails to admit it or understand it doesn’t really understand this country.
Yet the current trajectory in Europe takes a completely opposite picture, as no Israeli would like to admit, as the resentment prevailing among Europeans, mainly the liberals against Israel or anything related to Jewishness, is appalling. It reminds us of the bigotry that pervaded Europe in the yesteryears against Jews based on false narratives such as the Elders of Zion Protocol, which resulted in the ultimate expulsion of the Jews from many parts of Europe. The current hysterical state of Anti-Semitism or general anger targeting Israel is a reflection of my initial argument that claims how Europe has gone astray from its civilizational roots.
Many of the Europeans living in their capitals today have overlooked the massive contributions made by Jewish intellectuals in the Age of Enlightenment to the economic and cultural vitalities of their societies. Neither can they remember how Siege of Vienna in 1633 could have altered their history if their forefather had not held terror unleashed by Kara Mustaffa . As Neil Ferguson once aptly noted, the current decadence of Europe is rooted in its debilitating loss of institutional confidence that has failed to acknowledge its own ethos.
The proclivity of Anti-Semitism, especially parallel to its current anti-war rhetoric, affirms how European leaders take passive stances before the realities. Its vulnerability was recently revealed when Europe took an ambivalent position on Iran by rejecting Trump’s plan for the Strait of Hormuz, which in a way leveraged the Trans- Atlantic affairs. All in all, the present-day Europe convoluted by liberal euphemism and deep hatred toward Israel, denoting its aged old anti-Semitism, is a portrayal of the dying days of the Roman Empire. The question remains whether the current European order is prudent enough to evade this doom, as Europe’s future is standing like a time bomb today.
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