ANTI-SEMITISM

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Context: Clothing giant Adidas recently announced that it would be cutting all ties with Kanye West, now known as Ye, following a series of concerning comments made by the rapper that were widely deemed to be anti-Semitic.

 

Details:

Now, with the rise of the right in Europe, the escalation of ethnic tensions in the Middle East, and the increasing anonymity provided by social media platforms, anti-Semitism is once again a pressing matter of concern.

What is anti-Semitism?

• Plainly, anti-Semitism refers to any form of prejudice against the Jewish people.
• However, the term itself is a misnomer as Semitic designates a language group, not a race.
• Though anti-Semitism can linguistically be used to describe a prejudice against speakers of the Semitic languages (including Arabs and Ethiopians,) in practical terms, it is commonly used specifically to pertain to Jews.
• Antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.
• Racial anti-Semitism, most commonly associated with the Nazis, stems from a belief that Jews are a distinct, inferior race with inherent genetic traits. This form usually manifests in the belief that Jews need to be exterminated altogether.
• Religious anti-Semitism traces its roots to the early days of Christianity and is accompanied by a notion that Jews should be converted to other faiths.
• Social anti-Semitism is a form of exclusion of Jews from social situations.
• Economic anti-Semitism, the most prevalent amongst the biases, posits that Jews have a disproportionate degree of control over global and national financial institutions, and that their stronghold over those institutions ought to be diminished.
• Lastly, political anti-Semitism is the attempt to keep Jews out of power. It is often conflated with anti-Zionism, a movement that denies the Jewish right to a national homeland.

 

History of anti-Semitism

• Modern anti-Semitism exists within the context of a historical prejudice against Jews by Christians.
• According to Christian doctrine, Jews were responsible for the death of Jesus, and thus deserved to be punished.
• Adding to that belief was a fear that early Christian converts would continue to abide by Jewish practices, conflating the two faiths over time.
• According to some historians, the Adversus Judaeos (arguments against the Jews) tradition was established in 140 AD when the Christian apologist Justin Martyr engaged in a debate with Trypho the Jew.
• From the Protestant reformer Martin Luther in 1543 to the French philosopher Edmund Burke in 1790, social and political leaders have positioned Jews as scapegoats for several societal ills.
• Throughout early, middle and late history, Jews have systematically been driven out of countries including England, Yemen, Brazil, Portugal, Spain, Hungary, and Egypt.
• During the 1870s, this political and religious anti-Semitism was compounded by racial anti-Semitism, largely due to the works of Charles Darwin. Interpreting Darwin’s theory of evolution to mean that race was inherent and unchangeable, anti-Semites argued that Jews were genetically inferior on an evolutionary scale. This argument was also used to justify discrimination against colonial subjects and blacks in America.
• Additionally, between 1880 and 1910, 2.5 million Jews fled from Russia to the US after anti-Semitism became the official government policy under the rule of the Czars.
• Controversially, there is also a theory known as positive anti-Semitism, which claims that in certain instances, Jews benefitted from the prejudices associated with them.
• The Balfour Declaration, the British Government’s 1917 statement of support for the creation of a Jewish state, is one example of the phenomenon.
• The notion of Jewish inferiority in Germany that led to the Holocaust can be traced back to the Völkisch movement in the late 19th century. Völkisch nationalists believed that the German race, defined very narrowly in this regard, held a natural supremacy over all other races. They considered Jews to be an alien people, who belonged to a different Volk (or race) from the Germans, and who were to be blamed for undermining the German way of life.

 

Current instances of anti-Semitism

• From far-right demonstrators in the US, attacks on synagogues in Sweden, arson attacks on kosher restaurants in France and an increase in crimes against Jews in the UK, globally, anti-Semitism is exploding once again.
• In Eastern Europe, right-wing parties have taken control, rewriting Holocaust history and adopting Nazi slogans and agendas.
• Worryingly, the problem seems to be exacerbated by social media.

 

https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-culture/anti-semitism-history-current-instances-kanye-west-8236304/