In a season of widespread condemnation of anti-Semitism, many struggle to define it. I can imagine having this conversation with someone trying to understand this ancient phenomenon:
Question: I am having trouble understanding some of the statements made about what is and is not anti-Semitic speech and behavior. It doesn't help that so many prominent Jews seem to have starkly different opinions on the issue.
Answer: Two Jews, three opinions.
That sounds like a stereotype.
It is. It is also one of the few things that most Jews agree is true of us as a people.
Okay, so in your opinion, what is anti-Semitism?
It is a conspiracy theory that holds that Jews are uniquely prone to using underhanded means to achieve malevolent ends and should therefore be opposed by any means necessary, including violence.
Is that the commonly accepted definition?
It is not mine. A more frequently cited definition comes from the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, which defines anti-Semitism, in part, as “a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews.” But the phrase “a certain perception” raises more questions than it answers.
So why do you call anti-Semitism a conspiracy theory? Isn't anti-Semitism simply prejudice against Jews?
Few things are simple about anti-Semitism because few things are simple about Jews. We are a nation, a religion, a culture, an “other.” On various occasions we have also been considered, falsely, as a race, most diabolically by the Nazis.
Anti-Semitism has been expressed over the centuries as political opposition to Jews, religious hatred, cultural disdain, xenophobia or racism. But a common thread is that anti-Semitism often takes the form of a conspiracy theory.
As?
To start, deicide—the idea that the Jews made the Romans kill Jesus. In the Middle Ages, the belief arose that plagues were caused by Jews poisoning water wells. Then it was that the Jews used their financial power to start wars. Or his control of the media and Hollywood to manipulate public opinion and degrade public morals. Or his influence in the United States Congress and the White House to lead the United States into war in the Middle East and promote Israeli interests.
But if anti-Semitism is a conspiracy theory, why do so many people call anti-Zionism a form of anti-Semitism?
It must be remembered that anti-Semitism can also take the form of political hatred, and Zionism – support for the existence of a Jewish state – is today the main expression of Jewish politics. But even anti-Zionism is increasingly expressed as a conspiracy theory.
How is that?
Look at it this way: to the 19th century German anti-Semite, Jews were impostors and swindlers—imposters, because they claimed to be citizens of Germany when anti-Semites claimed to be “Semites”; and swindlers, because they were dedicated to swindling the “real” Germans out of their assets. For the 21st century anti-Zionist, Jews are impostors and swindlers—imposters, because they claimed to have ancestral ties to the Holy Land, when anti-Zionists claim they are colonizers originally from Europe; and scammers, because they were scamming the Palestinians out of their assets.
In both cases, the Jews are “the other.” The only difference is that past generations of anti-Semites accused Jews of being from the Middle East, while today they accuse them of being European.
Does supporting the Palestinian nation mean opposing the Jewish nation?
It is neither one nor the other. It can and should be both. Israel was born legitimately through a UN vote, which was immediately opposed by the Arab States, seeking to destroy the nascent Jewish State. In 2000, Ehud Barak, then Prime Minister of Israel, offered Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat a Palestinian state. Arafat rejected the offer and 23 years of tragedy have followed.
Including the current tragedy in Gaza, in which Israel is widely accused of committing genocide.
That accusation is also a form of anti-Semitism. It is false: if Israel really wanted to commit genocide in Gaza, it has the means to do so. To accuse the Jews of the same crime of which they were the greatest victims in history is a singularly vile mockery. And the accusation of genocide is so atrocious that it authorizes any form of violence to stop it, including the kind of massacre seen on October 7.
But I continue to believe that Israel's response is inhumane, disproportionate and counterproductive.
I do not agree, but this is a totally legitimate criticism, just as it is legitimate to oppose Israel's settlement policy in the West Bank or the extremist government of Benjamin Netanyahu. Many Israelis and American Jews believe this too.
I used to think of anti-Semitism primarily as a right-wing phenomenon. But now there are accusations of anti-Semitism among left-wing thinkers. How did that happen?
There has always been a virulent current of left-wing anti-Semitism, which the Soviet Union practiced internally and propagated internationally during much of the Cold War. Western scholars picked up where the Soviets left off, emphasizing “decolonization” narratives in ways that obsessively implicated Israel and absolved almost everyone else. When was the last time you heard of university students protesting Turkey's violent mistreatment of the Kurds or India's abuses in Kashmir?
I hope this isn't a clumsy question, but why the Jews? Why has anti-Semitism mutated and persisted for so many centuries?
Jews have long represented a set of ideas that, if not radical now, were radical in their own time. Among them: monotheism, freedom, general literacy, and what Jewish tradition calls “argument for heaven.”
Monotheism imposes a single ethical standard—such as “thou shalt not kill”—on all people, regardless of their country or culture. It is the seed of the idea of universal rights. Literacy, a requirement for becoming a Jewish adult, is the foundation for freeing the mind. And the argument for heaven—inscribing dialogue and dissent in religious tradition—is fundamental to any democratic society.
It is no wonder that Jews have inspired so much hatred from all rulers, religions or ideologies that seek to keep people in servitude and ignorance. Whenever anti-Semitism rears its head, it is not just Jews who are targeted. It is freedom, education and human dignity—values that we should all share, Jewish or not.
By: Bret Stephens
THE NEW YORK TIMES
BBC-NEWS-SRC: http://www.nytsyn.com/subscribed/stories/7046970, IMPORTING DATE: 2023-12-28 19:45:04
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