Barack Obama’s ambassador to Belgium is under fire today for excusing antisemitism as understandable and linked to Israel’s insistence on defending itself from terrorism.

According to the prepared remarks of his speech, Gutman distinguished between “anti-Semitism, of hatred and violence against Jews, from a small sector of the population who hate others who may be different or perceived to be different, largely for the sake of hating” from what he perceived to be a different phenomenon tied to Israeli policies…

“What I do see as growing, as gaining much more attention in the newspapers and among politicians and communities, is a different phenomena,” Gutman said. “It is the phenomena that led Jacques Brotchi to quit his position on the university committee a couple of months ago and that led to the massive attention last week when the Jewish female student was beaten up. It is the problem within Europe of tension, hatred and sometimes even violence between some members of Muslim communities or Arab immigrant groups and Jews. It is a tension and perhaps hatred largely born of and reflecting the tension between Israel, the Palestinian Territories and neighboring Arab states in the Middle East over the continuing Israeli-Palestinian problem.”…

While underlining that “no Jewish student – and no Muslim student or student of any heritage or religion – should ever feel intimidated on a University campus for their heritage or religion leading to academic leaders quitting in protest,” Gutman said that this phenomenon “is in my opinion different in many respects than the classic bigotry…It is more complex and requiring much more thought and analysis. This second form of what is labeled ‘growing anti-Semitism’ produces strange phenomena and results.”

Gutman said that “throughout the Muslim communities that I visit, and indeed throughout Europe, there is significant anger and resentment and, yes, perhaps sometimes hatred and indeed sometimes and all too growing intimidation and violence directed at Jews generally as a result of the continuing tensions between Israel and the Palestinian territories and other Arab neighbors in the Middle East…every new settlement announced in Israel, every rocket shot over a border or suicide bomber on a bus, and every retaliatory military strike exacerbates the problem and provides a setback here in Europe for those fighting hatred and bigotry here in Europe.”

I wonder if Gutman would say that works the other way, too. Much of the world lives under the threat of Islamic violence, so clearly we should be excused for hating Muslims on the basis of their religion, right? Surely Gutman would excuse that, too. Or is this a one-way street?

And note how Gutman faults Israel for retaliating against rockets fired into neighborhoods. Israel is apparently supposed to sit down and take all the violence thrown at it but do nothing in response. If it does? Why, that explains antisemitism. Justifies it, even.

Attendees of the event were described as being shocked at Gutman’s remarks. A speaker who followed Gutman eviscerated his remarks. The White House is now trying to distance itself from Gutman, who was a donor to Obama’s 2008 campaign. But as long as Gutman continues to be allowed to serve as ambassador, that indicates a seal of approval for his remarks. He should resign or be fired.