Governance
Context: Clothing giant Adidas recently announced that it would be cutting all ties with Kanye West because of a series of tweets by him that were widely deemed to be anti-Semitic.
About Anti-Semitism:
- Anti-Semitism refers to any form of prejudice against the Jewish people.
- However, the term itself is a misnomer as Semitic designates a language group, not a race.
- Though anti-Semitism can linguistically be used to describe a prejudice against speakers of the Semitic languages (including Arabs and Ethiopians,) in practical terms, it is commonly used specifically to pertain to Jews.
- According to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, an intergovernmental organisation formed in 1998, the following should be used as a working definition of anti-Semitism:
- Antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews.
- Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.
- Five distinct categories of anti-Semitism:
- Racial anti-Semitism, most commonly associated with the Nazis, stems from a belief that Jews are a distinct, inferior race with inherent genetic traits.
- This form usually manifests in the belief that Jews need to be exterminated altogether.
- Religious anti-Semitism traces its roots to the early days of Christianity and is accompanied by a notion that Jews should be converted to other faiths.
- Social anti-Semitism is a form of exclusion of Jews from social situations.
- An example of the practice was reported in in 1959 that claimed that Jews in America were routinely excluded from golf and sports clubs.
- Economic anti-Semitism, the most prevalent amongst the biases, posits that Jews have a disproportionate degree of control over global and national financial institutions, and that their stronghold over those institutions ought to be diminished.
- Political anti-Semitism is the attempt to keep Jews out of power.
- It is often conflated with anti-Zionism, a movement that denies the Jewish right to a national homeland.
- Racial anti-Semitism, most commonly associated with the Nazis, stems from a belief that Jews are a distinct, inferior race with inherent genetic traits.
Source: Indian Express
