As the Middle East seems to teeter on the edge of catastrophe, it is difficult not to feel like a frightened and disempowered spectator, looking on from the sanctuary of Ireland. A number of friends have contacted me, some I have not heard from in years, simply to express their horror. They hear about the four-fold rise in anti-Semitic attacks in the UK and, presumably, the pro-Palestinian rallies over the weekend in Dublin where I certainly would not have announced my Jewish identity. The outburst of anti-Jewish vitriol is, of course, wholly predictable and has always blossomed when fertilised by...