In a Kathimerini op-ed, B’nai B’rith International CEO Daniel S. Mariaschin warns of the growing danger of anti-Israel sentiment and argues that until the stain of institutional hatred against Israel and the Jewish people is eliminated, the region will remain trapped in struggle instead of moving toward a peaceful and prosperous Middle East.

Read the full piece in Kathimerini English Edition.

Piling on Israel has become a growing sport, particularly in Europe. To borrow a phrase, “Israel derangement syndrome” appears to know no limits.

Last week, a Belgian parliamentarian, in response to an invitation by a Jewish newspaper, refused to extend greetings for Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, with this inane, bureaucratic answer: “After internal deliberation, we regret to inform you that, given the current situation and sensitivities concerning the Middle East, we cannot follow up on your request.”

Jews have welcomed in the New Year for thousands of years. Communities all over the world celebrate. Refusing to wish us well suggests a level of blind hatred not only to Israel but to its supporters and to Jews generally that is unfair, and uncalled for.

This obsession is not limited to Europe. The Toronto International Film Festival, one of the motion picture industry’s most prestigious events, initially withdrew the showing of a documentary about October 7 directed by an Israeli, because live-streaming footage of Hamas atrocities carried out and videoed by the terrorists themselves, did not have proper “copyright clearances” from Hamas. This would have been frivolous if it were not so serious. The film festival, facing a barrage of pushback, ultimately withdrew its objections and will show the documentary.

Wait, there is more: The United Nations last week acknowledged, after almost two years and a mountain of personal testimonies and evidence, that Hamas engaged in sexual violence against its Israeli victims and the hostages it kidnapped. But in a disgraceful act of moral equivalency, the UN could not resist coupling this admission of Hamas crimes with a warning that Israel, too, could be listed in the future over reckless, unsubstantiated detainee allegations. One draws the conclusion that the UN is simply incapable of issuing a clear, freestanding condemnation of Hamas – even after all we now know about what happened on the terrible day in October 2023.

This paroxysm of bias is not limited to such clear examples of the distortion of right and wrong. The decision of France, Ireland, Norway, Slovenia, Spain, the United Kingdom, and others, to “recognize” a Palestinian state begs the question, what were these countries thinking? That they were going to punish Israel for seeking to do what – continue to wipe out Hamas operatives and destroy their network of tunnels so that it would be unable to reconstitute itself and its openly stated genocidal designs on Israel and its people?

This high-profile posturing was a diplomatic act shorn of common sense: recognizing a state with no boundaries, no governing authority, no assurances of disarmament, no nothing. If this was done for home consumption, the leaders of these countries and those considering following suit, should say so. Their unwise action has emboldened Hamas to hold out, enabling the terrorist organization to live another day, and harming both the hostages and the opportunity to have a reasoned, serious discussion about “the day after” in Gaza.

Beyond that, it is supremely presumptuous of countries that historically persecuted, expelled or mistreated Jews, and which did little or nothing to save Jews during the Holocaust, and in some cases collaborated with the Nazis, to lecture Israel on how to conduct a war against an existential enemy.

Much has been said and written about charges of “genocide” and starvation in Gaza, all of it coming down on Israel’s head. These twin accusations fall into the blood libel category: If Israel had wanted to commit genocide, the war would most likely have been over in two or three days. By now, those who bother to check their facts know the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have engaged in meticulous efforts to avoid civilian casualties (oftentimes giving up the element of surprise) in fighting an asymmetrical enemy which cares little about its own people – using them as human shields and cannon fodder, living or being present as they are in apartment blocks, mosques, schools and hospitals under which, or in, are situated terror tunnels, command posts, rocket launchers and arms caches. This kind of terrorist enemy is unique in the history of modern warfare; armchair generals should be careful about opining on advising how to conduct a war which none has ever experienced.

As for the starvation charge, it appears to be a widely held case of “don’t confuse me with the facts.” Of course, the UN wants back into the food distribution business, as does Hamas. For Hamas, food is a marketable commodity, it brings in ready cash to spend on weapons, while at the same time it can keep control of the population by being the only source, together with the UN, from which food is available.

For years, the UN and its bloated bureaucracy seemingly turned the other cheek as Hamas took its cut. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) was set up to finally eliminate corruption and black marketeering. Facing that, Hamas and its agents provocateurs made sure riots would ensue, some of them charged at IDF soldiers trying to maintain order at the distribution sites. Thousands of trucks and millions of meals have been interdicted, delayed and intercepted daily by Hamas. But much – many millions of meals – has been distributed under the new system. Once again though, Israel has been on the receiving end of opprobrium that rightly belongs at the feet of Hamas.

The anti-Semitism spawned globally these past 23 months is unprecedented in the post-1945 era. It is raw and seemingly knows no bounds. Attacks on Jews, Jewish/Israeli-owned establishments, Jewish students on university campuses and places of worship are increasingly common. Israeli/Jewish tourists are attacked in the streets and refused service or accommodations. Professors applying for academic positions are oftentimes asked to take a loyalty test: If you have Israel on your CV, or if you have a Jewish-sounding last name, you’d better favor the Palestinian narrative – or else. Actors, comedians, authors and others are “canceled” or the subject of noisy, intimidating demonstrations. Greece’s “Day of Rage” is but one of many examples of bullying and pro-Hamas chanting that has little to do with resolving the future of Gaza, but everything to do with denying the Jewish people their right to their own sovereign state in which our roots go back thousands of years.

The suggestion that Israel itself has brought back such overt anti-Semitism is a calumny. What happened on October 7, 2023, with its horrific Nazi-like crimes, should send a chill up the spines of all men and women of good will. What would Greece or any of its EU neighbors do if faced by the same massacres?

In this space, I’ll not speculate on the outcome, only to say that October 7 is what happens when you raise generations of young Palestinians on blind hatred. In Gaza, the same terrorists who perpetrated such barbarity in Israeli communities on that fateful day were raised on that venomous bile. They were taught mathematics lessons that included the following problem: “If you have five Zionists, and you kill three, how many are left?” So, it’s not difficult to see how they were enlisted in Hamas’ cult of death and destruction.

The blame-Israel-for-everything camp is intentionally, or unwittingly, missing the point. Hamas can in no way play any role in the future of Gaza. And until the stain of institutional hatred against Israel and the Jewish people is eliminated, we’ll be consigned to struggles that instead should be focused on building a peaceful and prosperous Middle East.

Daniel S. Mariaschin is CEO of B’nai B’rith International. As the organization’s top executive officer, Mariaschin directs and supervises B’nai B’rith programs, activities and staff around the world.