Israel and Its Supporters Have Redefined Antisemitism to Stifle Solidarity With Palestine
The Israeli state and its allies have campaigned tirelessly to promote the misleading concept of the “new antisemitism.” This effort brands effective, well-documented criticism of Israel as antisemitic while sowing confusion about real anti-Jewish prejudice.
An Israeli left-wing peace activist shows a Palestinian national flag painted on her palm as she joins Palestinians in a demonstration against evictions from homes in the Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah, on January 13, 2023. (Ahmad Gharabli / AFP via Getty Images)
The question of how to define antisemitism has become a major political controversy on both sides of the Atlantic. Israeli government officials and their supporters in Europe and the United States insist that antisemitism and anti-Zionism are two sides of the same coin. They have leveled accusations of antisemitism against groups like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch — and even against the ice cream makers Ben & Jerry’s — for their criticisms of Israel.
How did we reach a point where this kind of political discourse has become entirely routine? Antony Lerman has decades of experience as a researcher into antisemitism and a participant in debates about how to define it. He has recently published a book that examines the history of this controversy: Whatever Happened to Antisemitism? Redefinition and the Myth of the “Collective Jew.”
This is an edited transcript from Jacobin Radio’s Long Reads podcast. You can listen to the episode here.
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