‘Never Again’ Rebirths to ‘Yet again’: Rethinking Anti-semitism with Antony Lerman

This is an opinion piece written by Ariel Roth. Graphic design by Rosie Phillips.

On November 21st, the Institute of Historical Research at the School of Advanced Study at the University of London organized a seminar following author Antony Lerman’s publication, ‘Whatever Happened to Antisemitism?’ (2022). Lerman debriefs on new antisemitism - an idea that developed after the establishment of Israel in 1948. The concept implies anti-Zionism and a politicized criticism of the Israeli government. The British writer has dedicated his life to the study of antisemitism, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and the impacts of religion in our modern world. Lerman has been involved since the late 1970s as a researcher and director with organizations that are directly involved with monitoring antisemitism. Alongside, he was a founder member of the Jewish Forum for Justice and Human Rights of Independent Jewish voices. He embraces that the term “new antisemitism” is not actually new or a replacement for the “old antisemitism” but from the late 1970s and onwards the term was increasingly applied. It is a continuity of Jew hatred which has more than two thousand years of history. Lerman has learned to give in to the opposing perspectives he has grown up with by detaching his attachment to Zionism, which has led him to embrace doubt by rethinking “One of the most controversial topics of our time” (Lerman,2022).

In the seminar, Lerman discusses the rise of new antisemitism with the old supposedly being the hatred of the Jew, while the new finds itself attached to the hatred of Israel as the targeted ‘collected Jew’ among the nations. The notion of the ‘collective Jew’ has become synonymous with the principal form of new antisemitism along with the idea that anti-Zionist also equivalates to antisemite, “It is not just that anti-Zionist is antisemite, it is the only version many Israeli Jews and Jews elsewhere now recognize” (Lerman, 2022).

Lerman states that this notion of the new antisemitism has been used to progressively undermine and deprive Palestinians of opportunities and furthered the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in Israel. Palestinians have found themselves branded as the principal aggressors of antisemitism furthermore hindering their fundamental human rights such as the right of return. According to Lerman the discourse of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has not only promoted relations between Israelis and tensions in the Middle East but further perpetuated a divide between Jews themselves. Jews who do not go along with the idea that anti-Zionism is a form of antisemitism are singled out for being labelled as ‘antisemitic’ and self-hating, as the ‘collective Jew’ believes that hatred towards Zionist Jews affirms that anti-Zionist is antisemitic and regards Zionism as integral to the Jewish faith. With accusations from the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement arguing that Israel has no right to exist and proposes that Israel should become a single democratic secular state, also perpetuates antisemitism with those who are ignorant of the situation by holding all Jews responsible for military aggression done by Israel.

These acts of hatred between the different parties only enforce antisemitic beliefs of labelling Jews as the role of oppressor and cease to solve the issue for Palestinian justice. Like Lerman, one of the commentators during the seminar suggested that anti-Zionist does not make one antisemitic, but only further divides and undermines Jewish hatred which focuses more on questioning Jewish loyalty to Israel rather than prejudicial practices. Lerman’s seminar concludes with an unpleasing truth that confronts his audience on the ignorance towards antisemitism and those who think they do know what antisemitism is are unsettled upon a common agreement, presenting a crucial human rights-based argument that allows his audience to rethink the purpose of what it means to be antisemitic.

References

Lerman, Antony. “Introduction.” Whatever Happened to Antisemitism? Redefinition and the Myth of the “Collective Jew,” Pluto Press, 2022, pp. 1–16. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv2n7j16s.5. Accessed 23 Nov. 2022.