Israel, Come out of the Anti-Semitism Closet

With the recent assassination of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai, and the Dubai police's assessment of the evidence which points to Israeli Mossad Secret Service as having committed the act, Israel is claiming ignorance to the act right now. Which is fine for now...we do try to promote an innocent-until-proven guilty justice system. At least in the criminal courts anyways. But I have a feeling that Israel will be proven guilty, and when it does - I'm betting that they're going to resort to calls of "Anti-Semitism" again.

One thing I cannot stand about Israel, is how easily the words "Anti-Semitic" come to the lips of Israeli politicians.
Goldstone Report? ANTI-SEMITIC!!
Criticism about the deaths of thousands of civilians in the Lebanon War? ANTI-SEMITIC!!
Criticism of settlements? The barrier running through the West Bank? Its nuclear policy? Humanitarian records on Gaza and West Bank? All anti-Semitic, according to Israeli politicians.

I guess Israel's gotten used to countries stuttering and backing out of their comments with these simple 2 words. But sooner or later, there's always a backlash. When these two words don't mean anything anymore, what will Israel hide behind? The post-independence African countries are finding this out...shouts of "Colonialism!! Apartheid!!" are no longer viable for politicians to utter to their constituents to explain their actions. And therefore we have diverging paths for these countries...will Israel become a Zimbabwe or a Tanzania?

Israel, the world is not anti-Semitic. They are merely anti-Israeli, similar to anti-Americanism. We do not discriminate against you because you are a Jewish state, but because you flaunt the rules and laws that are established to try and bring peace, and then use the lack of peace as an excuse to break more rules and laws.

It's a vicious cycle that Israel's caught in now, between a rock and a hard place. While I don't necessarily disagree with the assassination (apart from the subtlety with which it was carried out), Israel needs to be a man and stop hiding behind the anti-Semitic shield. It's going to happen, sooner or later...and you may still be able to salvage your integrity if you do it sooner.

-FCDH