Anti-Semitism

By: Laura K. Egendorf

Book Overview

Contributors examine the extent of discrimination and violence directed at Jews and debate how society should combat this problem.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0737700017
• ISBN13: 9780737700015
• Release Date: September 1998
• Publisher: Greenhaven Press
• Length: 109 Pages
• Weight: 0.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.3" x 9.3"
• Age Range: 14 to 17 years
• Grade Range: Grades 9 to 12

Customer Reviews

A short but superb book

This book is part of Greenhaven's excellent "Opposing Viewpoints" series. It has ten interesting articles. As a polytheist who is strongly against monotheism but also strongly favors human rights and Zionism, I was curious to see whether anyone regarded what I consider neutral views as anti-semitic or philo-semitic. I also wanted to see the logic of a couple of people whose works I've always considered anti-semitic. The first article is by Irwin Cotler. He explains that there are four basic trends in modern antisemitism (this was written before the 2000 Arab attacks on Israel). First, classical antisemitism has been finding its way back into political discourse and popular culture. Second, holocaust denial has been a major tool of the antisemites, and it has been used not only to taunt Jews but to attack human rights as well. Third, delegitimization of Israel has become a new form of antisemitism. Fourth, "human rights" and the United Nations are being used as part of this antisemitic assault. Cotler points out that a world which is unsafe for Jews will be unsafe for other minorities as well as for democracy or human rights. The second article is a fine one by Bernard Lewis, showing how antisemitism has increased in the Middle East. The next article, by Skip Porteous, discusses antisemitism among those of the Christian Right, mostly involving stereotyping and aggressive missionary activity (presumably regarded as antisemitic due to the emphasis on Jews as targets). In the fourth article, Joshua Muravchik discusses Black antisemitism. I think it is counterproductive for one minority to be fooled into opposing minority rights for another minority. The fifth article, by Cherie Brown, talks about the psychological impact of antisemitism on Jews. And the next article, by the American Jewish Committee, attempts to soberly assess the extent of antisemitism in 1996. The seventh article, by Naim Ateek, is fascinating. In it, someone I would consider a blatant antisemite claims that antisemitism is bad and is caused by Israel. He says that "Israel has done a great disservice to God." And that it "has done a disservice to humanity." And that a big fraction of Israeli land is "confiscated" from Arabs. Obviously, he'd consider me a total antisemite. I think he's projecting, big-time. In the eighth article, Richard John Neuhaus argues that much of Christian America is not antisemitic. As near as I can tell, this is consistent with some Christians, both on the Left and on the Right, being very different in that respect. The ninth article is by Joseph Sobran, who argues that Christians ought not be blamed for antisemitism. But I think this misses the point. A fundamental aspect of antisemitism is the bullying, the lies, the taunts, and so on. These assaults are on a group that is perceived to be different and weak. While Sobron does not blame the Jews per se for antisemitism, I think he does whitewash the extent to which Christ