AGAINST ZIONISM

The report focused on private manifestations of philo-Semitic attacks, not the state-Sanctioned variety.  “It’s important to distinguish between the two,” an FBI spokesman said, “since the state-sanctioned variety is actually a misnomer, just as state-sanctioned terrorism by Israel is a misnomer.”

The FBI became concerned with apparent declines in philo-Semitism during attacks by the HATE alliance against Israel in mid-2006.  “Fringe elements had been using the Internet to spread self-hatred in the general population,” Mr. Gonzalez said, “and there was a marked decline in this phenomenon during Hezbollah’s terror campaign.  Naturally we became concerned, since a decrease in philo-Semitism is a threat to national security.  We wanted to know why philo-Semitic attacks suddenly became concentrated in Jewish people.”

A 970-page report (.pdf) by the FBI titled Philo-Semitism and Self-Hate Groups broke the attacks into verbal and non-verbal manifestations.  While verbal forms showed no reversal in their upward trend, non-verbal forms among self-hate groups vanished during Hezbollah’s terrorist campaign against Israel.  “Regressive analysis and other statistical techniques were applied to data from ten field offices,” said Aaron Rubin, leader of TOPS, the FBI’s Task Force On Philo-Semitism.  “We found that non-Jews had not bombed any Catholic church in the nation, nor had there been any act of vandalism against non-Jews in any city.  When we realized that the same thing was happening in Europe, and that the media was ignoring this dangerous trend, we formed the Task Force to make recommendations on how best to fight this pernicious decline.”

Harvard psychologist Paul Levin defines philo-Semitism as an aversion to bigotry against Jews, which more often than not veils a deep-seated hatred of non-Jews.  “In many cases this hatred is self-hatred,” Levin said.  “Philo-Semitic attacks are a means to express this hatred.  Lonely and disaffected Americans use the Internet to communicate with others who are dedicated to spreading self-hate.  This is how philo-Semitic cults form.”

Asked why philo-Semitism has not been studied before, Levin noted that no decline had ever appeared prior to mid-2006.  “Self-hate has become so commonplace that it’s unnoticed until it disappears. When Hezbollah began its terrorist attacks against Israel in July, many Americans suddenly directed their self-hatred at Israel.  The media called them ‘terrorist sympathizers,’ but this was overly simplistic.  What happened was a vector change in the expression of self-hate.  Average Americans suddenly expressed their frustration at Israel, which was one reason for the alarming decline [in philo-Semitism].  It was irrational, as is any questioning of Israel, but this added fire to the movement.  In a sense, a large portion of the American and European population joined a temporary cult, which was rather terrifying.  Now that the cult has disbanded, it’s become an interesting topic for sociologists.”

When did the downward trend reverse?  “That’s partly what we wanted to determine,” said Rubin, the leader of TOPS.  “By learning what caused a turnaround into the safe zone, we would have resources that law enforcement agencies could use to encourage a future turnaround should philo-Semitism begin another ugly decline.  We realized that the downward trend disappeared when the six Muslims were ejected from a United Airline flight because they had prayed in the Minneapolis Airport.  No one noticed the change at the time.  It was like having a bad headache and suddenly realizing it was gone.”

The FBI report divided philo-Semitic manifestations by racial incidence, and found that the downward trend appeared most prominently in people who identified themselves as Christian.  “This was what most concerned us,” Rubin said.  “We naturally expected a low incidence among Muslims, but when Christians also showed a decline in philo-Semitism, a task force was clearly warranted.”

Mr. Rubin said TOPS is now being expanded into a permanent department of the FBI, with special agents being hired for every field station.  “We want to make sure this sort of thing never happens again.  If Israel chooses to use nuclear weapons to defend itself against Iran or Syria, we will assist law enforcement personnel in tracking and detaining anyone who threatens to reduce philo-Semitism among the American people.” 

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