while I accept that the attack in Golders Green was antisemitic, I think that we need to be careful about seeing any attack on Jews as Jews as antisemitism.
You might think that Hamas' attacks in October 23 were antisemitic, but it is not apparent on the surface. The argument would be something like this:
the only way you can justify such indiscriminate slaughter is if you think the victims are not worthy of life
To think that the victims are not worthy of life is to think that they are not fully human
You can think that of the Israelis if you think them Jews and consider Jews subhuman
Something like that might well be right. I am convinced that the Israeli destruction of Gaza and Lebanon, going as it does well beyond any plausible military objective, is racist for just that sort of reasoning.
But Israel is a Jewish state. However much I might despise it and wish that it had never been and will cease to be, it claims the right to act for me. The bulk of official Jewish organisations worldwide accept its legitimacy.
An attack on a synagogue for the liberation of Palestine is outrageous. It should be condemned not just tactically but morally. It will not liberate Palestine. It will not weaken Israel and it will likely kill people who support your cause. It can't be a legitimate target. Whatever you think of terror tactics, that sort of terrorism is unjustifiable. It is like blowing up a Pan Am flight over Lockerbie.
Of course we don't know why the guys shot up the Jews on bondi beach or that guy attacked the synagogue in Manchester. They may well have concluded that Jews controlled the world and needed to die. But assuming they did it to 'globalize the intifada', then the antisemitism is not apparent to me
