A dismal thought experiment:
Maher, and a very large number of other apologists for Israel-no-matter-what, would say, although it would be hard to get them to say it clearly and openly, that the deaths of hundreds of innocent Lebanese women and children who have been killed in the "targeted" bombing of Lebanon are regrettable, but excusable, "collateral damage".
That the killing of women and children is a horrible thing, yes - and that outside the contextual boundaries of war it's one of the worst offenses in almost every legal and ethical system we have - but within the context of war it's merely regrettable, necessary, and forgivable against the necessities of defense.
But those same apologists for Israel-no-matter-what will insist that anti-Semitism is never forgivable, never necessary, never excusable, that it never takes place and never could take place in a context that makes the immoral moral, or excusable.
It is in that sense a worse crime than the killing of innocent women and children.