Journal for the Study of Antisemitism

2009] CATHOLICISM & THE TEACHINGS OF BISHOP WILLIAMSON 249
PRACTICAL CONSIDERATIONS
In order to combat the rise of antisemitism in Traditional Catholic circles,
and in conservative circles in general, it is necessary to broaden the focus
with which watchdog groups search for evidence of antisemitism. Instead
of just looking for evidence of hatred of Jews, they must look for erroneous
political and historical opinions concerning Jews and Israel. At the same
time, an intensive education effort must begin among the Jewish community
to alert members to this possible shift in the antisemitic threat. Jewish
groups must defend themselves against public slanders and detractions emanating
from radical organizations and speakers.
An Error
Many people not familiar with the growing rise of antisemitism equate
antisemitism with skinheads desecrating Jewish graves and spray-painting
synagogues. Such activity is real and needs to be prohibited, of course.
However, with the spread of the new antisemitism, there is a trend away
from radical, overt, and hate-filled expressions of antisemitism. The new
threat is from false indoctrination that strives, not to make radical people
into more obvious, and therefore marginalized radicals, but rather, to take
ordinary, caring people and turn them into political agents and antisemites
in the name of defending their religion that they believe is at risk of attack
by the Jews.
The effects of this radicalization in the Traditional Catholic communities
of the United States are striking. Twenty years ago, I knew most Traditional
Catholics in the United States as typical, conservative, flag-waving
Americans. Today, because they have been so taught by their Bishop and
his priests, they believe that a small group of Jewish bankers runs the world,
and that the U.S government is a tool of Israel. Many believe that the Holocaust
did not occur, and that, if Hitler did expel some Jews from public life,
he was merely trying to rid his country of, as Bishop Williamson put it,
“Jewish debt money.”
The main promoters of the new antisemitism are not neo-Nazis, but the
conspiracy theorists. People like Bishop Williamson, the directors of Loose
Change, Alex Jones, and members of the John Birch Society have made it
acceptable to accuse innocent people of horrendous collective crimes. If
you are a Bilderberger, a Jew, a Mason, or a member of the Trilateral Commission,
the conspiracy theorist will impugn your name and accuse you of
any crime.
The new spread of antisemitism has to be investigated and researched
before it can swell the ranks of the truly radicalized. We need to stop con-