As Bernard Lewis and other historians of Islam have pointed out, Muslim states have historically tended to be far more tolerant of Jews, their fellow people of the Book, than have, for example, most Christian polities, if one accepts "inferior status" in the mediaeval Muslim world as "acceptable." Traditionally, Islam believed in co-existence with the Jews whose religion, unlike Christianity, was not considered a competitor threatening Islam. Because Judaism was a monotheistic religion, the prophet Mohammed attributed an inferior status to it.

In late September, Larry Summers, President of Harvard delivered a speech at the morning prayer service of the Memorial Church of Harvard, a non-denominational Protestant congregation. The daily morning prayer service has been a part of Harvard’s tradition since 1636.

What he said shook the academic world. “Serious and thoughtful people,” he declared, “are advocating and taking actions that are anti-Semitic in their effect, if not in their intent.”

Israel represents one-one thousandth of the world’s population. But you wouldn’t know it from the UN. Among the nearly 200 nations represented at the UN, only Israel has the distinct honor of having its ambassadors formally barred from election to the Security Council. This is the same Security Council that has devoted over a third of its time and energy criticizing Israel’s policies. The UN Commission on Human Rights regularly accepts resolutions from homicidal dictatorships around the world, yet fully one quarter of its official condemnations are reserved for (democratic) Israel. Of ten emergency special sessions held by the General Assembly, six have condemned Israel.