Sickness Unto Death

Hostility to the Jewish people, a phenomenon known since the 19th century by the misnomer anti-Semitism–“Semitic” refers to a group of languages, not people–is nearly as old as history itself. The first chapter of the Book of Exodus notes that “A new king arose over Egypt who . . . said to his people, ‘Look, the people of the sons of Israel is more numerous and vaster than we. Come, let us be shrewd with them lest they multiply and then, should war occur, they will actually join our enemies and fight against us.'”

Throughout history, Jews have been the target not only of resentment and discrimination but also verbal and physical abuse, expulsion from communities in which they had lived for centuries, and murderous pogroms. The antagonists have been diverse: From traditionalists who have regarded Jews as radicals; progressives who have associated them with capitalism; populists who see Jews as obsessed with pursuing wealth; and nationalists who have tagged them, much as Egypt’s pharaoh did, as dual loyalists and fifth columnists.

According to Walter Laqueur, there is no ultimate explanation for anti-Semitism. Laqueur, who brings to this complicated subject his characteristically clear and incisive analysis, points out that, historically, much of the animosity toward Jews has been religious in origin, though social, economic, and political factors have also played a role. (He is generally skeptical of psychological explanations.)

The religious bigotry Jews faced from the early days of Christianity through the Middle Ages as a result of their rejection of the New Testament is vastly different from the racial-based anti-Semitism that led to the Holocaust. One key difference is that conversion was nearly always an option for Jews facing religious persecution. But as Laqueur notes, in the case of the Inquisition, conversion left considerable doubt as to the sincerity of the convert, and thus Jews and their descendants still faced discrimination based upon the principle of purity of blood, which became a forerunner of the race-based anti-Semitism that would appear toward the end of the 19th century.

Ironically, in light of the relative emancipation it brought to Jews in many parts of Europe, it was the Enlightenment that provided a bridge between religious and more modern forms of anti-Semitism. In France, the Assembly granted full rights to the Jews “only after they had adapted themselves to the norms of the society.” As Jews emerged from the ghettos and entered trades and professions previously closed to them, they would come into conflict with local populations. Furthermore, during a period of growing nationalism, Jews would be considered outsiders, and the resentment against them would be compounded by the fact that some would become affluent and influential.

One of the key influences shaping modern anti-Semitism has been the notion that Jews are at the center of a worldwide conspiracy. Although that concept goes back to early times, it was not until Jews moved out of conditions of subservience during the Enlightenment that it gained much credibility.

By far the most important text that purports to document the conspiracy is the Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion, believed to have been fabricated by the czarist secret police. The Protocols contain vivid allegations about the responsibility of Jews for every world ill, from the spread of infectious disease to plans to trigger a world war.

The Second World War marked a key turning point in the history of anti-Semitism with the systematic extermination of European Jewry by the Nazis and their henchmen. Anti-Semites, rarely reticent in the past, today are more careful in the ways in which they express their hostility to Jews, for example offering pseudo-historical “proof” that the Holocaust has been exaggerated, questioning the legitimacy of a Jewish state, or advancing conspiracy theories about Jewish lobbies.

While Jews have long associated the political left with liberation from religious-based oppression, Lacqueur notes that anti-Jewish attitudes appeared in the writings of the early socialists, who associated Jews with wealthy capitalists such as the Rothschilds. Furthermore, the creation of Israel was widely regarded on the left as “a relapse into bourgeois nationalism” at a time when nationalism was being discredited in the West.

Today, anti-Semitism centers primarily around enmity to the Jewish state, support for those who seek to de-legitimize it, and denial of its right to defend itself effectively against unprovoked and deadly assault. Much of that animosity comes from leftist intellectuals, particularly in Europe, who regard Israel as guilty of a host of sins.

Much of what remains today of more traditional forms of anti-Semitism exists in the Muslim world, which, compared with European anti-Semitism, is of relatively recent vintage. Traditionally, Jews in Muslim lands were tolerated mainly because of their weakness, and European stereotypes of Jews were nonexistent. That would change, according to Laqueur, with the advent of Zionism, but particularly after the wars of 1948 and 1967, in which the Arab armies faced humiliation at the hands of those previously regarded as cowardly and weak.

Holocaust denial, conspiracy theories (including a revival of the Protocols), and vociferously anti-Jewish rhetoric have become prominent fixtures not only in the Arab media, but also in mosques and on political platforms throughout the Muslim world. And not just rhetoric: Jews have frequently become targets of violence not because of their ties to Israel, but simply because they are Jews.

As history demonstrates, those who unleash anti-Semitism’s fury will not be content to stop with the Jews. The Changing Face of Anti-Semitism should serve as a wake-up call to all of us.

David Lowe is vice president for government and external relations at the National Endowment for Democracy.