This article is concerned with Modern anti-Semitism, roughly covering the period from right after World War II to the present.
Centuries of anti-Semitism culminated in the Holocaust of the European Jewry during World War II. Holocaust revisionists often claim that "the Jews" or a "Zionist conspiracy" is responsible for the exaggeration or wholesale fabrication of the events of the " Final Solution". Critics of such revisionism point to an overwhelming amount of physical and historical evidence that supports the mainstream historical view of the Holocaust.
Anti-Semitism in the Eastern European countries is in decline recently. There are still strong anti-semitic views in parts of the population, however the public anti-semitism is less frequent. In Russia it has been dominated by racism against people with darker skin from Caucasus region. In Poland one of leading anti-semitic priests: Henryk Jankowski has been removed from his office. In Poland and Germany ultra-right political parties has grown stronger however anti-semitism in their language has been replaced by generic xenophobia.
While in a decline since the 1940s, there is still anti-Semitism in the United States of America as well, although acts of violence are rare. The 2001 survey by the Anti-Defamation League reported 1432 acts of anti-Semitism in the United States that year. The figure included 877 acts of harassment, including verbal intimidation, threats and physical assaults ( [1]).
In recent years some scholars of religion and many Jewish groups, have noted what they describe as the new anti-Semitism. In this view, core themes of the new anti-Semitism include:
The term "the new anti-Semitism" was coined to characterize a new wave of virulently anti-Semitic attacks which began in Europe in 2002. The attacks included verbal attacks against Israelis and Jews, challenging of Israel's right to exist and series of violent attacks (beating Rabbis, burning synagogues and vandalizing cemeteries) against Jews and supporters of Israel. Those attacks were explained on the ground of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and many of them were commited by Muslim extremists and Islamists in Europe. The wave of new anti-Semitism also included anti-Semitic cartoons demonizing the Jews or Israel, and allegations on Israeli atrocities which later turned out to be false. The most notable case of false allegation was the Jenin massacre allegation which claimed that Israel massacred 500-3000 innocent Palestinians in Jenin during Operation Defensive Shield. Two weeks after the press was promoting the Jenin massacre allegation, international reporters uncovered that no massacre took place in Jenin. Fatah lowered its estimation for the death toll to 56 people, the majority of whom were combatants. The Jenin massacre story sparked waves of anti-Israeli protests and violent attacks against Jews in Europe, and therefore were regarded by many Jews as the first major blood libel of the New Antisemitism.
Anti-Zionism is a term that has been used to describe several very different political and religious points of view (both historically and in current debates) all expressing some form of opposition to Zionism. A large variety of commentators - politicians, journalists, academics and others - believe that criticisms of Israel and Zionism are often disproportionate in degree and unique in kind, and attribute this to anti-Semitism. In turn, critics of this view believe that associating anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism is intended to stifle debate, deflect attention from valid criticisms, and taint anyone opposed to Israeli actions and policies. They point out that, during debate over the establishment of the State of Israel, most notably, many Hassidic Jews considered this manifestation of Zionism heretical. Today, worldwide there are a small number of anti-Zionist Jewish groups in existence, the members of which consider Israel an illegitimate state. This subject is discussed in the main article on Anti-Zionism.
In his article Human Rights and the New Anti-Jewishness, Irwin Cotler, the new Minister of Justice for Canada, writes:
Cotler noted six categories and thirteen indices of modern anti-Semitism:
Groups monitoring hatespeech and violence in the European Union have noted an upswing in attacks on Jewish people and Jewish institutions in many European countries, especially in France. Jews have been attacked, stabbed, beaten and threatened in large numbers; synagogues have been vandalized, desecrated and burned. Jewish cemetaries have been vandalized.
A number of political and social leaders in the European Union have become concerned with this phenomeon. As such, a report on this phenomenon was written at the Center for Research on Anti-Semitism, at the Technische Universität Berlin, Germany. This report was written on behalf of the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia (EUMC.) The February 2003 version of this report is available online.
According to a study by Pew Research Center, in some European countries there has been a recent decrease in some forms of anti-Semitism.
The Interior Minister of France has announced that the number of anti-Semitic attacks in France in 2004 is more than double that of the same period in 2003. (Reuters)
Many Jewish groups have been disappointed with the role of the United Nations in regards to the treatment of Jews; many Jewish groups and writers have stated that the actions of the United Nations have often implicitly condoned, or encouraged, anti-Semitism. (more to come.)
In a recent development, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan stated on June 21, 2004, that "It is hard to believe that 60 years after the tragedy of the Holocaust, anti-Semitism is once again rearing its head. But it is clear that we are witnessing an alarming resurgence of these phenomena in new forms and manifestations. This time the world must not, cannot, be silent." Anan then asked U.N. member states to adopt a resolution to fight anti-Semitism, and stated that the UN's Commission on Human Rights must study and expose anti-Semitism in the same way that it fights bias against Muslims. Anan stated "Are not Jews entitled to the same degree of concern and protection?"
Anne Bayefsky, a preeminent Canadian Human Rights activist, has addressed the UN specifically on this matter on June 21, 2004.
Months later, Bayefsky followed with a damning critique of the UN's subsequent analysis on modern antisemitism:
According to Lawrench H. Summers, the current president of Harvard University, "The United Nations-sponsored World Conference on Racism -- while failing to mention human rights abuses in China, Rwanda, or anyplace in the Arab world -- spoke of Israel’s policies prior to recent struggles under the Barak government as constituting ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity. The NGO declaration at the same conference was even more virulent." [6]
One common form of anti-Semitism is the statement that Jews claim that all criticism of the State of Israel is anti-Semitism. This claim is then used to criticise Jewish groups as unreasonable.
However, no Jewish groups officially hold such a position. This position has never been held, in any form, by any of the modern Jewish denominations. In fact, on numerous occasions many Jewish groups have publicly criticised the policies of different Israeli governments. Further, these Jewish groups are aware of many criticism by non-Jewish groups, and have not considered the majority of these criticisms as anti-Semitic. Public statements by leaders of many Jewish groups explicitly state that disagreement with a policy or government of the State of Israel is not, of itself anti-Semitic. One popular understanding of this issue can be found in a statement by the Anti-Defamation League:
In his speech given at Berkeley University on April 29, 2004, Law Professor at Harvard University Law School Alan Dershowitz said, in particular: "Show me a single instance where a major Jewish leader or Israeli leader has ever said that criticizing a particular policy of Israeli government is anti-Semitic. That's just something made up by Israel's enemies."
(see also anti-Zionism, anti-Semitism)
Tikkun magazine, an American Jewish magazine which is written from the perspective of the political left, ran a series of article on the resurgence of anti-Semitism across the world.
The Anti-Defamation League stated that: "The events of September 11, the American campaign against terrorism and the Palestinian intifada against Israel have created a dangerous atmosphere in the Middle East and Europe, one that 'gives anti-Semitism and hate and incitement a strength and power of seduction that it has never before had in history.'"
Israeli political leader Natan Sharansky has suggested that anti-Semitism masquerading as anti-Zionism can be distinguished from legitimate criticism of Israel if it fails the "3D" test, as follows:
The International Catholic-Jewish Liaison Committee of the Catholic Church has recently spoken on this subject as well, stating that it embraces "the total rejection of anti-Semitism in all its forms, including anti-Zionism as a more recent manifestation of anti-Semitism. " [7]
On December 30, 2004, the US Department of State published its annual Report on Global Anti-Semitism (in accordance with Section 4 of PL 108-332). The report's summary says: "The increasing frequency and severity of anti-Semitic incidents since the start of the 21st century, particularly in Europe, has compelled the international community to focus on anti-Semitism with renewed vigor." The "four main sources" of the phenomenon were identified:
The report contains major incidents, trends and actions taken around the world in the period between July 1, 2003 and December 15, 2004.
A number of book-length treatments about this subject have been published, including The New Anti-Semitism: The Current Crisis and What We Must Do About It, Phyllis Chesler (Jossey-Bass, 2003); The Return of Anti-Semitism by Gabriel Schoenfeld, Encounter Books, 2003; and Never Again? The Threat of the New Anti-Semitism by Abraham Foxman, HarperSanFrancisco, 2003.
This article is concerned with Modern anti-Semitism, roughly covering the period from right after World War II to the present.
Centuries of anti-Semitism culminated in the Holocaust of the European Jewry during World War II. Holocaust revisionists often claim that "the Jews" or a "Zionist conspiracy" is responsible for the exaggeration or wholesale fabrication of the events of the " Final Solution". Critics of such revisionism point to an overwhelming amount of physical and historical evidence that supports the mainstream historical view of the Holocaust.
Anti-Semitism in the Eastern European countries is in decline recently. There are still strong anti-semitic views in parts of the population, however the public anti-semitism is less frequent. In Russia it has been dominated by racism against people with darker skin from Caucasus region. In Poland one of leading anti-semitic priests: Henryk Jankowski has been removed from his office. In Poland and Germany ultra-right political parties has grown stronger however anti-semitism in their language has been replaced by generic xenophobia.
While in a decline since the 1940s, there is still anti-Semitism in the United States of America as well, although acts of violence are rare. The 2001 survey by the Anti-Defamation League reported 1432 acts of anti-Semitism in the United States that year. The figure included 877 acts of harassment, including verbal intimidation, threats and physical assaults ( [1]).
In recent years some scholars of religion and many Jewish groups, have noted what they describe as the new anti-Semitism. In this view, core themes of the new anti-Semitism include:
The term "the new anti-Semitism" was coined to characterize a new wave of virulently anti-Semitic attacks which began in Europe in 2002. The attacks included verbal attacks against Israelis and Jews, challenging of Israel's right to exist and series of violent attacks (beating Rabbis, burning synagogues and vandalizing cemeteries) against Jews and supporters of Israel. Those attacks were explained on the ground of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and many of them were commited by Muslim extremists and Islamists in Europe. The wave of new anti-Semitism also included anti-Semitic cartoons demonizing the Jews or Israel, and allegations on Israeli atrocities which later turned out to be false. The most notable case of false allegation was the Jenin massacre allegation which claimed that Israel massacred 500-3000 innocent Palestinians in Jenin during Operation Defensive Shield. Two weeks after the press was promoting the Jenin massacre allegation, international reporters uncovered that no massacre took place in Jenin. Fatah lowered its estimation for the death toll to 56 people, the majority of whom were combatants. The Jenin massacre story sparked waves of anti-Israeli protests and violent attacks against Jews in Europe, and therefore were regarded by many Jews as the first major blood libel of the New Antisemitism.
Anti-Zionism is a term that has been used to describe several very different political and religious points of view (both historically and in current debates) all expressing some form of opposition to Zionism. A large variety of commentators - politicians, journalists, academics and others - believe that criticisms of Israel and Zionism are often disproportionate in degree and unique in kind, and attribute this to anti-Semitism. In turn, critics of this view believe that associating anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism is intended to stifle debate, deflect attention from valid criticisms, and taint anyone opposed to Israeli actions and policies. They point out that, during debate over the establishment of the State of Israel, most notably, many Hassidic Jews considered this manifestation of Zionism heretical. Today, worldwide there are a small number of anti-Zionist Jewish groups in existence, the members of which consider Israel an illegitimate state. This subject is discussed in the main article on Anti-Zionism.
In his article Human Rights and the New Anti-Jewishness, Irwin Cotler, the new Minister of Justice for Canada, writes:
Cotler noted six categories and thirteen indices of modern anti-Semitism:
Groups monitoring hatespeech and violence in the European Union have noted an upswing in attacks on Jewish people and Jewish institutions in many European countries, especially in France. Jews have been attacked, stabbed, beaten and threatened in large numbers; synagogues have been vandalized, desecrated and burned. Jewish cemetaries have been vandalized.
A number of political and social leaders in the European Union have become concerned with this phenomeon. As such, a report on this phenomenon was written at the Center for Research on Anti-Semitism, at the Technische Universität Berlin, Germany. This report was written on behalf of the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia (EUMC.) The February 2003 version of this report is available online.
According to a study by Pew Research Center, in some European countries there has been a recent decrease in some forms of anti-Semitism.
The Interior Minister of France has announced that the number of anti-Semitic attacks in France in 2004 is more than double that of the same period in 2003. (Reuters)
Many Jewish groups have been disappointed with the role of the United Nations in regards to the treatment of Jews; many Jewish groups and writers have stated that the actions of the United Nations have often implicitly condoned, or encouraged, anti-Semitism. (more to come.)
In a recent development, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan stated on June 21, 2004, that "It is hard to believe that 60 years after the tragedy of the Holocaust, anti-Semitism is once again rearing its head. But it is clear that we are witnessing an alarming resurgence of these phenomena in new forms and manifestations. This time the world must not, cannot, be silent." Anan then asked U.N. member states to adopt a resolution to fight anti-Semitism, and stated that the UN's Commission on Human Rights must study and expose anti-Semitism in the same way that it fights bias against Muslims. Anan stated "Are not Jews entitled to the same degree of concern and protection?"
Anne Bayefsky, a preeminent Canadian Human Rights activist, has addressed the UN specifically on this matter on June 21, 2004.
Months later, Bayefsky followed with a damning critique of the UN's subsequent analysis on modern antisemitism:
According to Lawrench H. Summers, the current president of Harvard University, "The United Nations-sponsored World Conference on Racism -- while failing to mention human rights abuses in China, Rwanda, or anyplace in the Arab world -- spoke of Israel’s policies prior to recent struggles under the Barak government as constituting ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity. The NGO declaration at the same conference was even more virulent." [6]
One common form of anti-Semitism is the statement that Jews claim that all criticism of the State of Israel is anti-Semitism. This claim is then used to criticise Jewish groups as unreasonable.
However, no Jewish groups officially hold such a position. This position has never been held, in any form, by any of the modern Jewish denominations. In fact, on numerous occasions many Jewish groups have publicly criticised the policies of different Israeli governments. Further, these Jewish groups are aware of many criticism by non-Jewish groups, and have not considered the majority of these criticisms as anti-Semitic. Public statements by leaders of many Jewish groups explicitly state that disagreement with a policy or government of the State of Israel is not, of itself anti-Semitic. One popular understanding of this issue can be found in a statement by the Anti-Defamation League:
In his speech given at Berkeley University on April 29, 2004, Law Professor at Harvard University Law School Alan Dershowitz said, in particular: "Show me a single instance where a major Jewish leader or Israeli leader has ever said that criticizing a particular policy of Israeli government is anti-Semitic. That's just something made up by Israel's enemies."
(see also anti-Zionism, anti-Semitism)
Tikkun magazine, an American Jewish magazine which is written from the perspective of the political left, ran a series of article on the resurgence of anti-Semitism across the world.
The Anti-Defamation League stated that: "The events of September 11, the American campaign against terrorism and the Palestinian intifada against Israel have created a dangerous atmosphere in the Middle East and Europe, one that 'gives anti-Semitism and hate and incitement a strength and power of seduction that it has never before had in history.'"
Israeli political leader Natan Sharansky has suggested that anti-Semitism masquerading as anti-Zionism can be distinguished from legitimate criticism of Israel if it fails the "3D" test, as follows:
The International Catholic-Jewish Liaison Committee of the Catholic Church has recently spoken on this subject as well, stating that it embraces "the total rejection of anti-Semitism in all its forms, including anti-Zionism as a more recent manifestation of anti-Semitism. " [7]
On December 30, 2004, the US Department of State published its annual Report on Global Anti-Semitism (in accordance with Section 4 of PL 108-332). The report's summary says: "The increasing frequency and severity of anti-Semitic incidents since the start of the 21st century, particularly in Europe, has compelled the international community to focus on anti-Semitism with renewed vigor." The "four main sources" of the phenomenon were identified:
The report contains major incidents, trends and actions taken around the world in the period between July 1, 2003 and December 15, 2004.
A number of book-length treatments about this subject have been published, including The New Anti-Semitism: The Current Crisis and What We Must Do About It, Phyllis Chesler (Jossey-Bass, 2003); The Return of Anti-Semitism by Gabriel Schoenfeld, Encounter Books, 2003; and Never Again? The Threat of the New Anti-Semitism by Abraham Foxman, HarperSanFrancisco, 2003.