Why is it called a "Jew harp"? What is so Jewish about it? Last time I saw one (in a film), it was being played by a Gypsy boy, not a Jew.

* * * * *

David Albahari made an interesting point yesterday during his script-less talk. States have tried to distinguish between anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism, but have usually failed. One argument would be that due to latent anti-Semitism, any attempt at anti-Zionism results in the former. Another argument goes that the two cannot be distinguished. This second argument is, at least seen historically, totally false; the Nazis were pro-Zionist and clearly anti-Semitic in the early years of their regime. The question of whether one can be anti-Zionist while not being anti-Semitic also affects the question, can on be anti-Israel, or at least critical of Israel, without being anti-Jewish?

* * * * *

An interesting point raised while discussing the "origin" of German nationalism and fascism (see, here I am using and again in a way that is problematic: I wish to point out that we were discussing the origin of German nationalism, and we were were discussing the origin of German fascism, but that is not to say that I wish to equate the two, which may happen if I treat and as a unifying particle): up until some point in the 19th century, the anti-semitism that existed in Germany (and elsewhere in Europe) had a more religious tone (the Jews as the killers of Christ, blah blah blah), but racist tones began to pick up and later dominate, a result seemingly tied to the development of social darwinism during that century.