The Guardian's usually excellent reporter Chris McGreal has written a deeply offensive article in the newspaper's November 25 edition, entitled "The 'new' anti-semitism: is Europe in grip of worst bout of hatred since the Holocaust?"

While anti-Semitism (against Jews and Arabs) should be strongly condemned, the article consists of paragraph after paragraph of baseless allegations by Jewish and Israeli leaders against Europe's Muslims, stating that their existence, growth and influence on the continent is a threat to Jews (weren't these excuses used to perpetrate and justify the Holocaust?), and repeating the tired old myth that criticism of Israel is actually just anti-Semitism.

Of the article's 31 paragraphs, only the last 4 (quoting just 1 source, an Israeli) cast doubt on the allegations made by 7 specific sources as well as general references to Israeli and Jewish opinion. Absolutely no attempt to get a Muslim or Arab view - poor, lazy journalism. The article ends with examples of anti-Jewish attacks in Europe, though on all but one occasion the perpetrators are unknown. The article, masquerading as an insight into anti-Semitism, is in fact almost unquestioningly Islamophobic and driven by sources with specific political agendas.

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,1092397,00.html

Extracts are below:

Yesterday Mr Sharon warned European governments that they need to do more to combat a revival of old hatreds responsible for rising anti-semitism. He described Europe's burgeoning Muslim population as a threat to Jews and dismissed accusations that rocket attacks on Gaza and tanks in Jenin have contributed to growing hostility.

The Israeli Forum to Coordinate the Struggle Against Anti-semitism - a group of Israeli intelligence and foreign ministry officials - defines anti-semitism in three forms: classic, new and Muslim.

The forum asserts that the most dangerous strand has its roots in Islam and that the rising number of Muslims in Europe is responsible for fuelling terror attacks, street violence and general harassment of Jews.

Muslims are also blamed for the spread of anti-semitism to countries such as Denmark, previously renowned for its efforts to save Jewish lives during the Holocaust. Mr Sharon described the growing Muslim population in Europe as "endangering the life of Jewish people."

"Of course the sheer fact that there are a huge amount of Muslims, approximately 70 million in the EU, this issue has also turned into a political matter. I would say, in my opinion, EU governments are not doing enough to tackle anti-semitism," he said.

But it is the "new" anti-semitism that most disturbs some Jewish leaders because they say it emanates from influential groups such as academics, politicians and the media and is dressed up as criticism of Israel's occupation of Palestinian land.

Deborah Lipstadt, the academic who won a libel victory after describing the rightwing historian David Irving as a Holocaust denier, this month described the "new" anti-semitism as directed at the "Rambo Jew, the Jew who is the aggressor".

"What we have seen in these attacks is an obsession with the vilification of Israel; a use of Nazi and Holocaust images to describe Israel and its politics, and a focus on Israel's failures regarding human rights, while totally ignoring the Arab world's failures of human rights," she told a conference in Jerusalem.