page_title: New antisemitism
section_title: 1980s–present day: continued debate
hierarchical_section_title: New antisemitism / History of the concept / 1980s–present day: continued debate
caption_attribution_description: Español: Pintada que iguala un símbolo de dolar, una estrella de David y una esvástica. Tomada en una calle del centro de Madrid (España)
context_page_description: New antisemitism is the concept 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.
  The concept generally posits that in the late 20th and early 21st centuries much of what is purported to be criticism of Israel by various individuals and world bodies is in fact tantamount to demonization, and that together with an alleged international resurgence of attacks on Jews and Jewish symbols, and an increased acceptance of antisemitic beliefs in public discourse, such demonization represents an evolution in the appearance of antisemitic beliefs.
  Proponents of the concept argue that anti-Zionism and demonization of Israel, or double standards applied to its conduct may be linked to antisemitism, or constitute disguised antisemitism, particularly when emanating simultaneously from the far-left, Islamism, and the far-right.
context_section_description: Historian Robert Wistrich addressed the issue in a 1984 lecture delivered in the home of Israeli President Chaim Herzog, in which he argued that a "new anti-Semitic anti-Zionism" was emerging, distinguishing features of which were the equation of Zionism with Nazism and the belief that Zionists had actively collaborated with Nazis during World War II. He argued that such claims were prevalent in the Soviet Union, but added that similar rhetoric had been taken up by a part of the radical Left, particularly Trotskyist groups in Western Europe and America.
  When asked in 2014 if "anti-Zionism is the new anti-Semitism", Noam Chomsky stated:
  Actually, the locus classicus, the best formulation of this, was by an ambassador to the United Nations, Abba Eban, [...] He advised the American Jewish community that they had two tasks to perform. One task was to show that criticism of the policy, what he called anti-Zionism — that means actually criticisms of the policy of the state of Israel — were anti-Semitism. That’s the first task. Second task, if the criticism was made by Jews, their task was to show that it’s neurotic self-hatred, needs psychiatric treatment. Then he gave two examples of the latter category. One was I.F. Stone. The other was me. So, we have to be treated for our psychiatric disorders, and non-Jews have to be condemned for anti-Semitism, if they’re critical of the state of Israel. That’s understandable why Israeli propaganda would take this position. I don’t particularly blame Abba Eban for doing what ambassadors are sometimes supposed to do. But we ought to understand that there is no sensible charge. No sensible charge. There’s nothing to respond to. It’s not a form of anti-Semitism. It’s simply criticism of the criminal actions of a state, period.
caption: Graffiti in Madrid, 2003
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