Recitals of the Holocaust and Bible stories formed my primary impressions of the Jewish people. Cecil B. DeMille's movie classics, as typified by The Ten Commandments, led me to identify contemporary Jews with the heroic "Israelites" of the Old Testament. I formed a deep admiration for the "Chosen People."

How, then, did I go from my early fawning opinion of the Jews to being eventually described as a dangerous "anti-Semite" by the powerful Jewish advocacy organization: the ADL (the oddly-named Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith)? No Jew had ever wronged me; I wasn't taught anti-Semitism by my parents or friends, nor did I blame them for the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Although I categorically reject being labeled anti-Semitic, I certainly believe that - as any other people - Jews deserve praise for their accomplishments and, conversely, they should not be immune from criticism for their failings. The only problem is that in post-World War II, Holocaust-saturated America, any criticism of Jews as a group is viewed as the moral equivalent of condoning mass murder.

If one criticizes any part of Jewish history or conduct, of intolerant aspects of their religion, or even Israel's Zionist policies, he inevitably acquires the label "anti-Semitic," a term that could not be more damaging or prejudicial. If one speaks, however, about the routine mistreatment of Indians in American history, he is not described as "anti-American." Those who express horror about the excesses of the Spanish Inquisition are not labeled "anti-Christian" or "anti-Spanish."

The same media that prohibits even the slightest criticism of Jews has no reluctance to demean other groups. White Southerners, Germans and Evangelical Christians - these groups get more than their share of ridicule and debasement. The portrayal of the slack-jawed, green-toothed, ignorant, racist, hateful, murderous, rural White Southerner has become a stereotype in Hollywood films. One of the best-selling books of the late 1990s is the media-promoted Hitler's Willing Executioners,¹ a book that says the German people have something evil within them, something that makes them all guilty for the atrocities of the Holocaust. In stark contrast, whenever Jews are mentioned as a group, it is always with a sort of a hushed reverence. What is it about the Jewish people that evokes such unrestrained adulation and visceral hatred?