Anti-Semitism

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.

Source: Indian Express