Sippenhaft is a German word meaning blaming relatives – sibs – for what criminals or dissidents may have done. It has its origins in the Middle Ages, when the whole family was “attainted,” a process specifically forbidden by our Constitution. But in recent times, it was the Nazis who used it.

Some time ago, I was complaining about actions of the feds at Waco. A colleague I knew to be intelligent and kindly asked how I felt about how Israel was treating the Palestinians. To me this was a non sequitur. What do the Israelis have to do with me?

But to my colleague, the question was relevant. I am a Jew, so what the only Jewish-majority nation on Earth does is somehow my responsibility. This is the modern version of blaming all Jews today for killing Christ. This is the modern version of the Nazis arresting the families of dissidents.

Make no mistake: The bigots who attack Jewish university students and professors because of how the Israelis treat the Palestinians are the intellectual and spiritual heirs of the Nazis. They deserve to be utterly rejected and shunned.