Anti-Semitism

This a series of posts explores anti-Semitism, its origins, the motivations behind it, its various manifestations, its consequences, and its possible future. The series also proposes a method for determining when an act or statement is anti-Semitic and concludes with some suggestions for remedying the consequences of anti-Semitism. A series of discussion questions is also included.

Preview of this post.

This post, post number 1 of 33, is the first post in the series and provides a short introduction to the series and begins a discussion of the background of the term “anti-Semitism”.

1. Introduction

As defined in the Thorndike Barnhart World Book Dictionary, anti-Semitism is “dislike or hatred for Jews; prejudice against Jews”. While this definition has the advantage of being simple, it is nearly impossible to apply. Theoretically, someone is anti-Semitic if they hate Jews. However, as a practical matter, how does one tell when someone “hates Jews”? Very rarely does the actor or accuser come out and overtly state that he or she “hates Jews”. Since we cannot read minds, we must look at the actions and make a determination as to what their mindset really was. This process is similar to the process criminal law uses in determining the mens rea of an actor. Their actions and statements must be analyzed and parsed to discover their motivation. For this reason, this essay will first discuss the origins of anti-Semitism then provide a detailed process for analyzing actions in making a determination of whether an act or accusation is really anti-Semitic.

1. Background to the issue

It must first be noted that while the actual term “anti-Semitism” is of recent coinage^[1] and is technically wrong since it should include all Semites including Arabs^[2] not just Jews. The concept and practice of anti-Semitism has been around for centuries, perhaps for thousands of years^[3]. Even though the term is recent, as a matter of convenience this essay will use the term “anti-Semitism” to refer to all Jew hatred. This issue certainly cannot be approached in a simple, short essay. However, it might be instructive to at least include speculations on the subject. If a more complete discussion of this issue is desired, reference is made to books such as A Lethal Obsession: Anti-Semitism from Antiquity to the Global Jihad by Robert Wistrich and Anti-Judaism: The Western Tradition by David Nirenberg (New York, NY W.W. Norton & Co 2014 paperback).

Preview of the next post.

The next post, post number 2 of 33, is the first of 4 posts discussing an overview of  anti-Semitism and begins the discussion.

^[1] According to the Encyclopedia of Judaism, the term “anti-Semitism” was coined by the German anti-Jewish propagandist Wilhelm Marr in 1879 in support of his effort to adopt racial hatred of Jews and Judaism. Some historian, such as Georg Christoph Berger Waldenegg, have traced the term to Moritz Steinschneider who used the term in 1860 to describe and criticize Ernest Renan, and then to 1865 when Gustaf Weil used the term in an article on “Semitc Peoples” for the third edition of the Rotteck-Welckerschen State Dictionary. In its early usage, the term referred to a racial hatred rather than a religious hatred. AS will be developed in this essay, the term is much broader than this.

[2] The application of this term to Arabs or other Semitic people has been rejected. See, e.g., European Union Monitoring Centre, “Manifestations of Anti-Semitism in the EU 2002-2003” (Vienna, 2004), p 12, http://fra.europa.eu/sites/default/files/fra_uploads/184-AS-Main-report.pdf.

^[3] According to Jews & Race edited by Mitchell Hart (Waltham, MA Brandeis University Press 2013 paperback), Jews were identified as a separate race thousands of years B.C.E., see page 34.