

Although I don't want to muddy the waters unnecessarily I disagree. Any
discrimination based on religion is not and cannot be racist unless the
sole qualification for religious membership is racial. This is not the
case for Israel although it might get a little closer than, say, Islam.
This of course raises the vexed question of Church AntiSemitism. Jews
have been heavily discriminated against on the grounds of religion in
many Christian countries. If we take Russia as an example Jews were
seriously persecuted but that persecution in the eyes of the Church
and State stopped at the baptismal font. Officially anyway. If a Jew
converted there were no legal barriers in his way (that I know of anyway.)
Peter the Great's Interior Minister came from such a convert background.
Can we then claim that the Russian Orthodox did not teach AntiSemitism
and was not AntiSemitic? Similarly for the Roman Catholic Church? I
suspect so as this is not a racial 'taint' but one based on belief
and AS is after all a form of racism. Well maybe not. What is
AntiSemitism then if not something racially based? I wonder if Hitler
killed converts of 'pure' German blood. Does anyone know one way or
the other?

Joseph Askew
