What is Antisemitism?

Question

The U.S. National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism - From the Whitehouse, Joe Biden:

Antisemitism threatens not only the Jewish community, but all Americans. … "Through this U.S. National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism, we are taking a historic step forward. I am proud to lead my Administration’s efforts to counter antisemitism…" "… Repeated episodes of hate—including numerous attacks on Jewish Americans"

In context of this Whitehouse policy—antisemitism seems to be about 'hate crime', which does not seem consistent with the current usage by politicians and the media.

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Question:

How does the Whitehouse define 'Antisemitism' and where can we find that definition? Have any media outlets published their own definitions of this?

Is 'Antisemitism' only defined as hate crimes against those that identify as Jewish, or is this policy meant to also disparage against those who oppose Rabbinic laws and policies in Israel and also disparage against those who oppose a single dominating ethnic identity in Israel?

The modern usage of 'Antisemitism' seems to have departed from the etymological origins and original usage. So, what do Joe Biden and the Whitehouse actually mean when they use the term 'Antisemitism'? Do they define it?

For example, would secular Israeli's be considered 'Antisemitic' if they claim to oppose racist or oppressive policies originating from rabbinic policies? If not, then would other critics be considered 'Antisemitic', regardless of the veracity of their claims?

Antisemitism being defined in terms of hate-crime seems to be consistent, but it seems to fall apart when used to disparage people who are engaging in political dissent.

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Etymological Origins:

Merriam-Webster, (Semitic Website Link):

1. of, relating to, or constituting a subfamily of the Afro-Asiatic language family that includes Hebrew, Aramaic, Arabic, and Amharic
2. of, relating to, or characteristic of the Semites
3. JEWISH

Other than 'Jewish' appearing at the bottom, it seems completely contradictory to the modern use.

Antisemitism, Wikipedia The original usage also indicates an etymological origin connoting many middle eastern races:

"The German word antisemitisch was first used in 1860 by the Austrian Jewish scholar Moritz Steinschneider (1816–1907) in the phrase antisemitische Vorurteile (antisemitic prejudices). Steinschneider used this phrase to characterise the French philosopher Ernest Renan's false ideas about how 'Semitic races' were inferior to 'Aryan races'".

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Political and Media Usages of Antisemitism as something other than hate crime:

Ahmadinejad prompts walkout from U.N. racism summit

Here, criticism against Israeli policies seems to be considered antisemitic, but certainly not about racism:

"GENEVA (Reuters) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad prompted a rare walk-out at the United Nations on Monday when he called Israel a "cruel and repressive racist regime" in his remarks to a conference on race." … "Such outrageous anti-Semitic remarks should have no place in a U.N. anti-racism forum," said British ambassador Peter Gooderham, whose country chose not to send a minister to Geneva.

White House condemns Elon Musk’s ‘abhorrent’ antisemitic tweets, The Guardian, (weblink)

Here, the Whitehouse seems to be saying that Elon Musk's political speech and dissent are 'Antisemitic' acts that instigate violent hate crimes:

“You have said the actual truth,” "The White House’s statement continued: “It is unacceptable to repeat the hideous lie behind the most fatal act of antisemitism in American history at any time, let alone one month after the deadliest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust.”

So, by which definition are these criticisms against Israel political policies 'Antisemitic'? Does the veracity of criticisms make something antisemitic?

Why it doesn't seem to make sense if 'Antisemitism' is defined as 'racism' towards an ethnicity:

In Israel there are people of many ethnicities that identify as Jewish. And, there are also secular and non-Rabbinic Israelis, (the Dati, (religious Israeli's, Wikipedia), and the Hiloni, (secular Israeli's, Wikipedia)). Nowhere is it asserted that "Israel" is a race, (even Abraham was a Canaanite and Israelis and Hebrews were originally a mix of many ethnicities according to religious texts). (Granted, there are many Biblical examples of Israeli leaders trying to ethnically purge Israel). Regardless, even today it is super difficult to live in Israel without witnessing the racism and segregation between the different Jewish ethnicities. So, would the media consider these ethnically racist Jews as being antisemitic/racist too?

So, what actually is the meaning and implications of 'antisemitism' in the sense that modern media and politicians are using this term? Are there any references/sources to the definitions for the modern usage?

Answer 1

Like most words, "Semitic" is a word that has more than one sense. One sense of the word is broader and means speakers of the Semitic languages, which includes both Arabic and Hebrew (which are languages which are closely related to each other linguistically). A narrower sense of the word means only Jewish.

The word "Anti-Semitic" generally is used in the narrower sense of anti-Jewish rather than anti-Semitic language speakers, because the term anti-Semitic emerged at a time when there were only Jews and not Arabs in the places where the phenomena were described with the word, and mutual animosity towards both Jews and Arabs is not common even today.

Linguistic Footnote

A Bayesian analysis performed in 2009 suggests an origin for all known Semitic languages in the Levant around 3750 BC, with a later single introduction from South Arabia into the Horn of Africa around 800 BC.

(Wikipedia)

Arabic and Hebrew are also both part of the same Central branch of the Semitic languages, in contrast to the Eastern branch which includes Aramaic and the extinct Akkadian language, and the Southern branch which includes Semitic languages of Yemen, Oman, and the Ethio-Semitic languages.

Their split could have occurred as early as sometime before 2000 BCE when Hebrew and its closer relatives are first attested, but it is hard to date because the earliest attested Arabic writing is from the 1st century CE, even though it had clearly existed centuries earlier.

Answer 2

How does the Whitehouse define 'Antisemitism' and where can we find that definition?

Well, at least one definition is provided on p. 13 of that 2023 WH strategy document:

Antisemitism is a stereotypical and negative perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred of Jews. It is prejudice, bias, hostility, discrimination, or violence against Jews for being Jews or Jewish institutions or property for being Jewish or perceived as Jewish. Antisemitism can manifest as a form of racial, religious, national origin, and/or ethnic discrimination, bias, or hatred; or, a combination thereof. However, antisemitism is not simply a form of prejudice or hate. It is also a pernicious conspiracy theory that often features myths about Jewish power and control.

There are several definitions of antisemitism, which serve as valuable tools to raise awareness and increase understanding of antisemitism. The most prominent is the non-legally binding “working definition” of antisemitism adopted in 2016 by the 31-member states of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), which the United States has embraced. In addition, the Administration welcomes and appreciates the Nexus Document and notes other such efforts.

With respect to the IHRA see this 2016 announcement that also mentions an earlier (2010) State Department definition. IDK if you're too interested in that one, since it was two administrations ago. I'm not going to quote it since it's a bit longer, but it does include other aspects/examples like "demonization of Israel" and/or applying double standards to it.

Which gets us to your point "criticism against Israeli policies seems to be considered antisemitic". Depending on the nuances of it, sometime it is. For example the 2016 State Department piece explains:

Manifestations might include the targeting of the state of Israel, conceived as a Jewish collectivity. [...] Contemporary examples [...] taking into account the overall context, include, but are not limited to: [...]

• Denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, e.g., by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor.

• Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis.

[...] However, criticism of Israel similar to that leveled against any other country cannot be regarded as antisemitic.

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If we are to [briefly] discuss the two examples you gave:

• Ahmadinejad can at least be accused of hypocrisy given the human-rights record of Iran, which I'm rather sure he'd not be describing in the same terms. So, if you agree that double standards applied to Israel are anti-Semitism, then you can easily describe Ahmadinejad's statement as such. And Iran surely doesn't recognize the existence of Israel. I'm not feeling inclined to read in detail what else Ahmadinejad may have said, but it looks like he elsewhere engaged in Holocaust denial, which is also considered anti-Semitism more broadly.

• Denying the fact, scope, mechanisms (e.g. gas chambers) or intentionality of the genocide of the Jewish people at the hands of National Socialist Germany and its supporters and accomplices during World War II (the Holocaust).

• Accusing the Jews as a people, or Israel as a state, of inventing or exaggerating the Holocaust.

• As for the Musk bit, the beef with what he did is that he endorsed something that's pretty close to the theory that Jews plan to replace whites with other minorities, in somewhat alembicated language: "Jewish communties [sic] have been pushing the exact kind of dialectical hatred against whites [...]" And he doubled up in his own words that complaining about statements like that is "de facto anti-white racism". That's not related to Israel but to (quoting from the 2016 piece):

Making mendacious, dehumanizing, demonizing, or stereotypical allegations about Jews as such or the power of Jews as collective — such as, especially but not exclusively, the myth about a world Jewish conspiracy or of Jews controlling the media, economy, government or other societal institutions.

And if one isn't inclined to give him much leeway, Musk's comparison of Soros with Magneto can be viewed in the same light. Albeit Soros has sometimes been targeted like that by right-wing Israelis too. Yeah, if one is more charitable, Musk only intends to rant about left-wing/liberal Jews (which others that he seems to have affinities with have also done), but [Musk] doing so by particularizing broad anti-Semitic themes isn't going to be uncontroversial.

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But to get to something more politically interesting: the Trump administration pushed for that IHRA def to be used more broadly by other government departments, and they partially succeeded:

Trump told federal agencies “to consider” using the Sweden-based International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism, which includes “holding Jews collectively responsible for actions of the state of Israel” and “drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis.”

On Jan. 19, 2021, the day before Trump left office, the Department of Education, released a five-page questions and answers memo defining what constitutes antisemitism at schools.

[...] In September, President Joe Biden issued a statement noting that Title VI also prohibits Islamophobic activities in federally funded programs. But the Department of Education has not released a detailed memo that defines Islamophobia as it has done for antisemitism.

Title VI allows students etc. to sue schools for allowing anti-Semitic (and similar) content--with the penalty [if guilty] being (at least) that of said institutions having federal money withheld.

In February 2020, Lawfare represented one of the first Jewish college students to file a Title VI complaint against a university after Trump's executive order. Jonathan Karten, then 24, was a Columbia University student who said he was harassed by members of the campus group Students for Justice in Palestine. (The group did not immediately respond to a request for comment.)

Karten’s complaint said students called him “racist” and a “Zionist pig.” Tensions further escalated as professor Joseph Massad, who teaches modern Arab politics and has a history of criticizing Israel, referred to the military wing of Hamas as “armed resistance,” according to the complaint. Karten’s uncle was killed by Hamas militants in 1996 while hitchhiking in Israel.

“My professor endorsed the very same monsters,” Karten, who recently rejoined the Israeli army, said in a WhatsApp message.

The Department of Education declined to comment on the status of the case.

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This gets us a bit farther afield from what you technically asked, but I found an Ipsos-UMD poll about whether allegations of antisemitism are perceived as genuine or not in US politics. I reproduce without other comment on it--it was conducted in the summer of 2023.

Answer 3

There's a bit of history to consider about the relationships between Europeans, Jews, and Arabs. After the first century CE, A large number of Jews emigrated out through the Roman territory and settled in rapidly Christianizing areas. This was not problematic in and of itself; the Romans were tolerant of different faiths, even after Rome became officially Christian. But it did create an odd economic issue. According to Jewish law, Jews could not lend to other Jews at interest. Early Christians adopted this rule as part of the Christian faith, asserting that Christians could not lend to other Christians at interest. But neither faith extended that rule to people outside their faith, so members of the Jewish minority in Christian regions took on the role of money-lender to Christians. They held that role for over a millennia — we can still see it in Shakespeare's portrayal of Shylock, for instance — which left them both deeply integrated in and resented by European Christians.

Other semitic peoples, by contrast, mainly remained in the Middle East. They never fully Christianized under the Byzantine empire, holding to tribal and regional faiths until their conversion to Islam. The primary contact that Arabs had with Europe was through luxuries trade and religious war. For most Europeans Arabs were a distant curiosity or far off evil, not something that immediately impacted their lives.

So, for most of European Christian history, the term 'semite' referred to Jews, who were the only semitic peoples the average European was familiar with. And since some Jews became money lenders to Christians (by virtue of their respective faiths), Jews were deeply resented and despised by Christian Europeans. No one likes a money-lender. And thus we get the modern sense of the word 'antisemite': hatred of Jews that has metastasized from a problematic cultural role to a generic emotional attitude.

I'm always careful with the word, personally. There are still plenty of people who feel an irrational and nonspecific fear or dislike of Jews, and those people thoroughly deserve the label 'antisemite'. But more and more the term is being used to stifle any criticism of Jewish people, no matter how outrageous their behavior might be. No one deserves condemnation for being who they are, but everyone is subject to condemnation when they act badly.

Answer 4

According to Anti-Defamation League, which regularly carries out world-wide studies of antisemitism, one has to answer positively to at least 6 out of the 11 standard question, dealing with typical stereotypes about Jews, to be considered as someone "harboring antisemitic attitudes":

As with previous public opinion research conducted by ADL in the United States, survey respondents who said at least 6 out of the 11 statements are "probably true" are considered to harbor antisemitic attitudes. The Index Score for each country represents the percentage of adults in that specific country who answered "probably true" to a majority of the antisemitic stereotypes tested.The following are the eleven statements that constitute the ADL GLOBAL 100 antisemitism index:

Jewish Stereotypes
1 Jews are more loyal to Israel than to [this country/the countries they live in]
2 Jews have too much power in international financial markets
3 Jews have too much control over global affairs
4 Jews think they are better than other people
5 Jews have too much control over the global media
6 Jews are responsible for most of the world's wars
7 Jews have too much power in the business world
8 Jews don't care what happens to anyone but their own kind
9 People hate Jews because of the way Jews behave
10 Jews have too much control over the United States government
11 Jews still talk too much about what happened to them in the Holocaust

Note that the questions (perhaps with the exception of the 1st one) do not deal with one's attitude to Israel, and Israel's policies. However, a more detailed study of antisemitism in the US shows that general anti-Jewish attitudes are correlated with hostility to Israel.

Answer 5

Intense desire to kill Jews in huge numbers, as has been done in WWII by Nazi Germany. For which exactly reasons, that's unclear. Should be some kind of mental insanity. Maybe the desire should be shared in public and not stay private to be really antisemitism.

I think this still should serve as the basic definition. Criticism of actions as taken by Israeli government, or some laws inside that country, or some specific historical person who happened to be Jew just by chance, should normally not be antisemitism, except some specially crafted corner cases.

Answer 6

It's not some esoteric term. Trying to pretend that it means something different, because of its etymology, doesn't make it mean something different.
It already has a well-established dictionary definition:

antisemitism: hostility toward or discrimination against Jews as a religious, ethnic, or racial group.

It used to be spelled with a hyphen. That spelling is an English anachronism. The word exists in all other European languages and it is spelled without a hyphen in all the languages that I know of.

In the modern antisemitic climate there has been an attempt to redefine the word in order to effectively define it out of existence. That's an antisemitic attempt to create a debate around the hatred of Jews. The aim of this debate is to make mentioning of this hatred, of Jews, toxic. Once mentioning of antisemitism involves debate, it makes it easier to practice such hatred (by making it more difficult to call it out).

Answer 7

There is also another term - zionism \ anti-zionism, it is not same as anti-semitism. In correct most of arabs are anti-zionists - they do not support Israel as the independent state or decline the idea of the Israel state created (was created after 1947).

Israelis are not same as semites. Palestinians some are jews too, but they are muslims.

There are two streams:

1. Anti-semitism is ones against jews, any jews, it was not ordinary insult or abuse on jews, but something between the pogroms in the jewish neighborhood till jews prisoning and killing in concentrate camps, or to drive jews out forcibly their homeplace, like it was in German mostly after 1933 till 1945 or at Ukraine in ~1917-18, 1941-1945...
2. Zionism - an idea to move jews to jewish state. And that is interesting, that some of jews was moved from the German state in 1933 to Palestine, but for a pay.

In this cause zionism did not conflicted with anti-semitism. But when jews got and Israel state and become an israelian nation, anti-zionism movement is appeared in arabian countries. Anti-zionism can include the anti-semitic senses but mostly it is the movement that decline Israel as a state. And definitely the anti-zionism is the main reason of all wars on between arabs and jews for now, not the anti-semitism, while many jews, not Israelis, lived in Palestine and other states. Also not all of the jews all over the world support Israel and Israelis in their wars, so, there are jews that are anti-zionists.

Not all jews are Israelis, anti-zionism is against Israel and Israelis, but anti-zionism is not same as anti-semitism - according to the Guardian:

... The problem is that, in many countries, Jewish leaders serve both as defenders of local Jewish interests and defenders of the Israeli government. And the Israeli government wants to define anti-Zionism as bigotry because doing so helps Israel kill the two-state solution with impunity.

Defining anti-Zionism as antisemitism reduces that threat. It means that if Palestinians and their supporters respond to the demise of the two-state solution by demanding one equal state, some of the world’s most powerful governments will declare them bigots.

Which leaves Israel free to entrench its own version of one state, which denies millions of Palestinians basic rights. Silencing Palestinians isn’t a particularly effective way to fight rising antisemitism, much of which comes from people who like neither Palestinians nor Jews. But, just as important, it undermines the moral basis of that fight.

In close sense to this, recent Erdogan said that "İsrail terör devletidir"("Israel is a terroristic state"), and he did not blame on jews, but on the Israel state only.

"So, would the media consider these ethnically racist Jews as being antisemitic too?" - based on media, but most of the official media do not want to touch this hard theme, they better will say that they are against all bad for all good. But i heard statements from the non official sources that some jews can counted anti-semitic. Also some jews helped german nazi against other jews - Jewish collaboration wiki, some facts can be found there:

A separate form of collaboration was the activity of Jewish agents and informers of the German secret services and police. In most cases, they acted voluntarily, for monetary reward, power and status...

Operating in Palestine since 1940, the Zionist Lehi group of about 100 members, led by Abraham Stern, regarded the British Empire as its main enemy. In January 1941, they offered an anti-British partnership to Germany in exchange for allowing European Jews to emigrate to Palestine.

About etymology - i use this one:

Anti-semitism

Zionism