The Politics of Anti-Semitism

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The Politics of Anti-Semitism
The Politics of Anti-Semitism (2003 book) cover.jpg
Author Alexander Cockburn
Jeffrey St. Clair
Michael Neumann
Lenni Brenner
Uri Avnery
Robert Fisk
Norman Finkelstein
Edward Said
Subject Antisemitism
Publisher CounterPunch, AK Press
Publication date
October 10, 2003
Pages178
ISBN 978-1-902-59377-7
OCLC 53402015

The Politics of Anti-Semitism is a book edited by Alexander Cockburn and Jeffrey St. Clair, and published by AK Press in 2003.

Contributors include former U.S. Representative Cynthia McKinney, British foreign correspondent Robert Fisk, former senior CIA analysts Bill and Kathy Christison, professor of philosophy Michael Neumann, Capitol Hill staffer George Sutherland, assistant professor of political science and author Norman Finkelstein, Israeli Uri Avnery, Shaheed Alam and Israeli journalists Neve Gordon and Yigal Bronner as well as Will Yeoman, Kurt Nimmo and Anne Pettifer. The editors Alexander Cockburn and Jeffrey St. Clair allege "false accusations of antisemitism are used to silence Israel's critics." [1] [2] They also write about the USS Liberty incident.

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Antisemitism is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism.

Antisemitism in the Arab world refers to prejudice against and hatred of Jews in Arab countries. Antisemitism has increased greatly in the region since the beginning of the 20th century, for several reasons: the dissolution and breakdown of the Ottoman Empire and traditional Islamic society; European influence, brought about by Western imperialism and Arab Christians; Nazi propaganda and relations between Nazi Germany and the Arab world; resentment over Jewish nationalism; the rise of Arab nationalism; and the widespread proliferation of anti-Jewish and anti-Zionist conspiracy theories.

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Alexander Cockburn Scottish born Irish-American political journalist and writer

Alexander Claud Cockburn was a Scottish-born Irish-American political journalist and writer. Cockburn was brought up by British parents in Ireland but had lived and worked in the United States since 1972. Together with Jeffrey St. Clair, he edited the political newsletter CounterPunch. Cockburn also wrote the "Beat the Devil" column for The Nation as well as one for The Week in London, syndicated by Creators Syndicate.

CounterPunch is an online magazine. Content includes a free section published five days a week as well as a subscriber-only area called CounterPunch+, where original articles are published weekly. CounterPunch is based in the United States and covers politics in a manner its editors describe as "muckraking with a radical attitude". It has been described as left-wing.

<i>The Case for Israel</i> 2003 book by Alan Dershowitz

The Case for Israel is a 2003 book by Alan Dershowitz, a law professor at Harvard University. The work is a response to common criticisms of Israel. The Case for Israel was a New York Times bestseller.

New antisemitism is the idea that a new form of antisemitism has developed in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, tending to manifest itself as opposition to Zionism and criticism of the Israeli government. The concept is included in some definitions of antisemitism, such as the Working Definition of Antisemitism and the 3D test of antisemitism.

Jeffrey St. Clair is an investigative journalist, writer, and editor.

Gilad Atzmon British jazz saxophonist, political activist, and writer (born 1963)

Gilad Atzmon is a British jazz saxophonist, novelist, political activist, and writer.

Self-hating Jew Pejorative term used for a Jew who holds antisemitic views

Self-hating Jew or self-loathing Jew, both associated with auto-antisemitism, is a term which is used to describe Jews whose views are perceived as antisemitic. The concept gained widespread currency after Theodor Lessing's 1930 book Der jüdische Selbsthaß, which sought to explain a perceived inclination among Jewish intellectuals, toward inciting antisemitism, by stating their views about Judaism. The term is said to have become "something of a key term of opprobrium in and beyond Cold War-era debates about Zionism".

Antisemitism in universities has taken place in many countries at various times. Antisemitism has been manifested in various policies and practices, such as restricting the admission of Jewish students by a Jewish quota, or ostracism, intimidation or violence against Jewish students, as well as in the hiring, retention and treatment of Jewish staff. In some instances, universities have supported antisemitic government or social policies and condoned the development of antisemitic cultures on campus. In many jurisdictions, especially since World War II, discriminatory practices, including within the context of a university, are in breach of anti-discrimination laws, though antisemitic cultural values still persists on many campuses.

Antisemitic canards are "sensational reports, misrepresentations, or fabrications" that are defamatory towards Judaism as a religion or defamatory towards Jews as an ethnic or religious group. Since the Middle Ages, they have formed parts of broader antisemitic conspiracy theories.

Holocaust trivialization is any inappropriate comparison or analogy that is perceived to diminish the magnitude of the Holocaust, the Nazi genocide of six million European Jews during World War II. The Wiesel Commission defined trivialization as the abusive use of comparisons with the aim of minimizing the Holocaust and banalizing its atrocities. Originally, holocaust meant a type of sacrifice that is completely burnt to ashes; starting from the late 19th century, it started to denote an extensive destruction of a group, usually people or animals. The 1915 Armenian genocide was described as a "holocaust" by contemporary observers.

Anti-Zionism is opposition to Zionism. The term is broadly defined in the modern era as opposition to the State of Israel or, prior to 1948, the Jewish community in the Land of Israel, as well as to the political movement of Jews to self-determination.

Racism in the Palestinian territories encompasses all forms and manifestations of racism experienced in the Palestinian Territories, of the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem, irrespective of the religion, colour, creed, or ethnic origin of the perpetrator and victim, or their citizenship, residency, or visitor status. It may refer to Jewish settler attitudes regarding Palestinians as well as Palestinian attitudes to Jews and the settlement enterprise undertaken in their name.

Criticism of the Israeli government Ongoing disapproval towards the Israeli government

Criticism of the Israeli government, often referred to simply as criticism of Israel, is an ongoing subject of journalistic and scholarly commentary and research within the scope of international relations theory, expressed in terms of political science. Within the scope of global aspirations for a community of nations, Israel has faced international criticism since its declaration of independence in 1948 relating to a variety of topics, both historical and contemporary.

Progressive Jewish Thought and the New Anti-Semitism

"Progressive" Jewish Thought and the New Anti-Semitism is a 2006 essay written by Alvin Hirsch Rosenfeld, director of Indiana University's Center for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism and professor of English and Jewish Studies. It was published by the American Jewish Committee (AJC) with an introduction by AJC executive director David A. Harris. The essay claims that a "number of Jews, through their speaking and writing, are feeding a rise in virulent antisemitism by questioning whether Israel should even exist".

AMCHA Initiative

The AMCHA Initiative is an American campus group and an anti-Semitism watchdog group that combats BDS activities on campuses. AMCHA was founded in 2012 by University of California Santa Cruz lecturer Tammi Rossman-Benjamin and University of California Los Angeles Professor Emeritus Leila Beckwith. The term Amcha is Hebrew for "your people" or "your nation."

Palestinianism is term occasionally used to denote the national political movement of the Palestinian people. It is a relatively recent coinage whose origins are disputed. It gained currency by its use in the works of Edward Said and to describe a certain vein of theology opposed to Christian Zionism. It is often dismissed as antisemitic by writers who claim it has immoral goals, or that challenges Zionism and the right of Israel to exist.

Canary Mission is a website established in 2014 that compiles dossiers on student activists, professors, and organizations, focusing primarily on those at North American universities, which it considers be anti-Israel or antisemitic and has said that it will send the names of listed students to prospective employers. Canary Mission listings have been used by the Israeli government and border security officials to interrogate and deny entry to pro-Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) US citizens, and by potential employers.

References

  1. "Partisans of Israel often make false accusations of anti-Semitism to silence Israel's critics. The 'antisemite!' libel is harmful not only because it censors debate about Israel's racism and human rights abuses but because it trivializes the ugly history of Jew-hatred." (Handleman, Scott, "Trivializing Jew-Hatred," in The Politics of Anti-Semitism, ed. Alexander Cockburn. AK Press, 2003, p. 13.)
  2. "Apologists for Israel's repression of Palestinians toss the word 'anti-Semite' at any critic of what Zionism has meant in practice for Palestinians on the receiving end." (Cockburn, Alexander and St. Clair, Jeffrey, preface to The Politics of Anti-Semitism, ed. Alexander Cockburn. AK Press, 2003, p.vii.)