Taken from today's Prism Evangelical.
http://www.onelist.com/community/PrismEpistle

4.THE NEW ANTI-SEMITISM,
by Tony Campolo.

Around the world anti-Semitism is once again raising
its ugly head. The official newspaper of the
Palestinian authority declares that the Holocaust is
a myth which Jews have exploited to gain sympathy
for their Zionist aspirations. In schools in
Jordan, children are taught that the Jews have only
their own evil practices to blame for the Holocaust,
and The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a
fictitious account of how Jews plan to take over the
world, is shown in a 40-installment series. The
prime minister of Malaysia declares that Jews are
ruling the world via proxy nations, such as the
United States. There is a rise of neo-Nazi
organizations in Australia, Poland, Russia, France,
and Germany. We are witnessing the most intense
dissemination of anti-Semitic propaganda since
Hitler's days, with toxic descriptions of Jews as
rats, lice, snakes, parasites, and hard-nosed liars.
The absurd myth that Jews staged the September 11th
tragedies in order to turn the world against Muslims
is circulated and even believed by many, not just in
the Middle East, but in Japan, Britain, France, and
even here in the United States.

Those who hate Jews link them with everything they
see wrong in the world. If they hate communism,
Jews are condemned as communist leaders. If they
hate capitalism, Jews are declared as the captains
of the system. If they despise the media, it is
because the Jews control it. When legal suits are
filed concerning violations of the constitutional
separation of church and state, there are comments
made about how Jews are trying to undercut the
foundation of America as a Christian nation.

It's time for the those who follow Jesus to stand up
against such anti-Semitism. It's time for our
ministers to speak out against this evil and to
repent of the fact that over the past 2000 years the
church has often propagated the myth that the Jews
in particular were responsible for Christ's death.
If we Christians really believe our theologies, then
we should say that it was the sins of all humanity
that led Christ to lay down his life on Calvary's
tree. Certainly the religious establishment of
Jesus' day did call for his death, but I am not sure
that the religious establishment of our day would
not do much the same. As I listen to some preachers
laud America's war in Iraq, support capital
punishment, and preach a "prosperity theology," I
wonder how they would handle a bearded Messiah who
said to love our enemies, to be merciful if we
expected to receive mercy from the Father, and to
expect only persecution for their faithfulness in
this world.

It is time for our Sunday School teachers to tell
their pupils the truth about Jews and to warn them
against anti-Semiticism. Check out today's church
school curriculums and you are sure to find messages
against racism towards African-Americans, against
sexism, and in liberal churches, even against
homophobia. But I'll be surprised if you'll find
anything decrying anti-Semiticism. Oh, you will
find references about the Jews being "God's Chosen
People," but little in the way of condemnation of
the anti-Semitic propaganda that is increasingly
common among us.

A commitment to fight anti-Semiticism does not
necessitate being uncritical of Israel or ignoring
the injustices of the government against the
Palestinians. On the contrary, our love for the
Jews requires us to call them to seek justice for
Arabs, even as they defend their own right to exist
as a free nation. After all, there will only be
peace for the Jews when there is justice for all
people in the Middle East.

But even as we speak up for Palestinians we must be
vigilant against the anti-Semitic propaganda of our
times. As Dietrich Bonhoeffer said to the church of
Germany in the days of Hitler: "Those who do not
speak up for the Jews, dare not chant Gregorian."

(Dr. Tony Campolo is professor emeritus of sociology
at Eastern University in St. Davids, PA.)