it's yom hashoah (holocaust memorial day) in israel. always a difficult day. here's one perspective: israel hayom, may 2, 2019 the article (from israel hayom ) connected to the pictures is entitled: europe was anti-semitic and will remain anti-semitic - the answer is a strong state of israel the text then goes on to add: the europeans like to put the responsibility for the holocaust on the germans alone, and to [conveniently] forget how the rest of the enlightened continent cooperated enthusiastically with the nazi extermination machine. they did not give up hatred of the jews, but instead camouflage it as hatred of the state of israel or, to put it another way, anti-zionism is anti-semitism. the bottom article reports on president rivlin's speech last night. he commented about how europe was haunted by the ghosts of the past. and of course bibi's speech got a mention, too. he said that contrary to what happened in the holocaust, this time around israel is building alliances against a dangerous regime (iran). (in bibi and rivlin's speeches, there were undercurrents and some give and take about israel's ties with some less than pleasant regimes, but that's for another time.) bibi's speech underlines why some (emphasis is on some) people see him as the only one who can defend israel. the not so small irony is that the violence around gaza escalated last night. first the peace loving residents of gaza launched friendly firebombs into israel (at least one destructive brush fire was started). the idf responded with air attacks. then the pacifists of gaza upped the ante by launching a couple of rockets. it certainly doesn't look like bibi deserves his reputation on that score. while we remember the victims of the holocaust, contemporary events force us to look into the future and wonder if never again is a certainty, or a possibility. has europe got over its anti-semitism? will it ever? israel is strong, but the struggle is never-