About That 'Audit'...

The B'nai Brith's Frank Dimant responds to an article in lefty freebie rag NOW Magazine that had taken issue with BB's inclusion of anti-Zionist stuff in its anti-Semitism audit (my italics):

Anti-Semitism refined

B’nai Brith Canada has been releasing its Audit Of Anti-Semitic Incidents for 28 years, and our “perspective on what constitutes anti-Semitism” (NOW Daily Online, February 26) has been consistent throughout. The fact that more incidents revolving around Israel now make their way into the Audit is a sign of the times.

However, anti-Israel incidents are only included when there is a clear anti-Jewish component.

The incident definition framework used in the Audit is the same as that used by organizations all over the world, including both the U.S.-based Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and the UK-based Community Security Trust (CST).

This data has been reviewed and incorporated by institutions such as the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the U.S. State Department and the United Nations Commission on Human Rights as the authoritative source for information on anti-Semitism in Canada.

My thoughts: Phooey on Zionhass, the latest phase of Judeophobia, and good on the BB for including Israel-bashing in its latest audit. That said, I'm not sure how you can separate anti-Jewish incidents that have a clear anti-Jewish component from anti-Israel incidents that don't appear to have a clear anti-Jewish component; more often than not, the anti-Jewishness of the latter is both inherent and implicit. At the same time, the odd swastikie scawled on some washroom wall--which, if detected, will likely make it into the audit--is far less threatening than the implicit Israel-bashing Jew-hate that never gets recorded.

Also, while the NOW crowd may be impressed that Foggy Bottom and the UNHRC, two bodies that aren't exactly big fans of the Jewish State, use BB info, in the words of Shania Twain, that don't impress me much.