Facing a Daunting Reality

The survey data we have collected conveys in concrete terms the stunning ubiquity and normalization of some of the most egregious forms of antisemitic ideation, across cultures and civilizations, economic class and religious orientation, educational background, and gender. The surveys demonstrate that the danger of antisemitism is not simply in its centrality to the toxic ideologies of the masses of people affiliated with extreme right wing, left wing or Islamist ideologies across the globe. Its true success in its current globalized formulation is its normalization and proliferation within the mainstream of global discourses related to almost any area of human endeavor including theology, politics, and culture. Its embrace by entire populations unaffiliated with extremist or radicalized entities – the vast majority of which have had little if any contact with Jews^[1][1] https://global100.adl.org/did-you-know — is a new and alarming development in the evolution of antisemitism with potentially ominous consequences. The data regarding the magnitude of antisemitic sentiment found within these divergent populations leads us to several important findings defining the challenge we are facing:

The Numbers Define Globalized Antisemitism as a Distinct New Mode of Jew-hatred

The data leaves no doubt that antisemitism is not only globally endemic but is truly a globalized phenomenon that needs to be addressed as such. As noted^[2][2] https://edition.cnn.com/2013/10/18/opinion/goldhagen-anti-semitism-internet/index.html by expert Daniel Goldhagen, 21^st century globalized antisemitism is not defined only by its extraordinary numbers but by its distinct characteristics as a new mode of antisemitism. Often genocidal or eliminationist in intent or expression, the current premutation is as an unprecedented fusion of multiple strains of Jew-hatred in a virtually limitless and reinforcing assortment of configurations that is “immensely more dangerous” than any of the individual strains of this animus.  

Notably, it is defined by its emergence as a new interactive, interfaced, and unprecedented collectivity. Modern technology has catalyzed the founding of the first global antisemitic community, comprised of hundreds of millions of people, whose core identity as a collective, regardless of their fundamental and in many cases incompatible differences in other areas of political, cultural or theological orientation, is grounded in a commonality of antisemitism. Based on the essential template of demonization which underlies antisemitic ideation in its multitude of varieties, this globalized antisemitism is broadly inclusive of all the various strains of antisemitism but also collectively transcends the limitations and particularism of individual ideologies in favour of a more generic model. It casts the Jew broadly as fundamentally noxious, malevolent and dangerous, in any manner suited to any environment, providing antisemitism as a unifying common global identity.  The astounding numbers of antisemites presented by the survey literature then, is actually a symptom of the extraordinary virality of this new mode of Jew-hatred that has adapted itself to the culture and technological contours of our globalized era.

The Numbers Reveal the Uniqueness of Jew-hatred as a Distinct Phenomenon of Prejudice

The pervasiveness of globalized Jew-hatred cannot be explained only by the capacities of our technologies in the spreading ideas. It does not explain the egregious, fantastical, obsessive and eliminationist nature of this particular hatred’s global ubiquity, variety and lethality. The numbers point to unique characteristics of the DNA of antisemitism that afford it unprecedented mutability and virality which are necessary for understanding antisemitism as a unique phenomenon. Understanding its particular dynamics can help dispel the widespread misunderstanding or willful misconstruing of antisemitism as a prejudice and provide better foundations for the development of effective counterstrategies. 

The data, in our opinion, reinforce the rigorously argued positions of scholars like Wistrich, Goldhagen, Patterson, Trachtenberg and others that Jew-hatred, while overlapping with other prejudicial modalities, is not a subset of the broader genre of racially based animus nor explainable as a particularly egregious symptom or side-effect of other social or political factors. It is unique phenomenon and cannot be effectively fought without being recognized as such.

The Numbers as Indicators –The Trajectory of Antisemitism

Globalized antisemitism’s inherent virality, auger an accelerating trajectory for antisemitism in the coming years. The expansion in the numbers of people exposed to and accepting of antisemitic ideation, as well as a deepening of the antipathy towards Jews within the broader global discourse, is inevitable as antisemitism becomes increasingly widespread and normalized as a global given. This trajectory is enhanced by being self-propelled as new mode of Jew-hatred is self-propagating. Those within its purview who accept any variation of the foundational demonology at the heart of antisemitism are prone to accept virtually any of the endless calumnies consistent with what was described by one scholar as the template’s “diabolisation of the Jew”^[3][3] Trachtenberg, Joshua. The Devil and the Jews: The Medieval Conception of the Jew and Its Relation to Modern Anti-Semitism (p. 17). The Jewish Publication Society. Kindle Edition.. These tropes, manufactured and distributed incessantly across the globe, in turn become ubiquitous and normalized creating broader and deeper foundations for the further propagation, deepening, normalizing and acceptance of the ever-expanding corpus of antisemitic ideation within the global community.

Most precariously, the global normalization of this new mode of Jew-hatred and the diversification of its audience inevitably creates the grounds for the broader acceptability of the need for mobilization to confront the putative Jewish peril – a call to action of one sort or another – within the globalized community.  This call to action is embedded in the very nature of the demonological dynamic of antisemitism which deems the Jew to be synonymous with the very concept of a pending if not fully activated threat to humanity. It is this conception that renders antisemitism as a fundamentally proactive eliminationist construct, given the intractable, irredeemably malevolent menace it defines, and the “protective” responses it legitimizes and in fact mandates in its practitioners. Antisemites of all genres often perceived their actions or at least have portrayed them, as defensive in nature, not unsimilar to other necessary “measures” taken by humankind in response to any threat posed by a deadly pathogen or other forms of mortal peril. 

This legitimation for a mobilized, active, and concrete gameplan against the perceived insidiousness of the Jewish peril is the essential condition for enabling ideological extremist groups across the spectrum to rise and thrive, as they migrate unobtrusively from the fringes of legitimacy to the mainstream of global opinion as part of this discourse. Once “The Jewish Question” of the historical antisemite has been reformulated and legitimized in the context of the current era, these groups are always well armed and well positioned with “answers” to that vexing dilemma – answers that again and again, have unleashed the most lethal hatred that humanity has even known.  As poignantly surmised by the former Chief Rabbi of England, Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks:

“Anti-Semitism, or any hate, becomes dangerous in any society when three things happen: when it moves from the fringes of politics to a mainstream party and its leadership; when the party sees that its popularity with the general public is not harmed thereby; and when those who stand up and protest are vilified and abused for doing so.”^[4][4] https://rabbisacks.org/antisemitism-hate-become-dangerous-three-things-happen-rabbi-sacks-speaks-house-lords/

The Numbers Undermine the Weaponization of Antisemitism by Antisemites

Antisemitism is often deeply misunderstood, but it has also been willfully and malevolently misconstrued, diminished, or reconfigured by antisemites themselves, seeking to obfuscate and weaponize antisemitism for their own antisemitic purposes.  Today we see antisemites of various stripes in a coordinated effort to normalize the homogenization of antisemitism into the generalized rubric of xenophobia in public discourse. This effort seeks to rob antisemitism of its distinctive and exceptional character, and by doing so makes antisemitism all the more difficult to identify, confront and contain. Ultimately this distortion and diminishment of antisemitism has helped enable antisemites to shift accountability for the existence of Jew-hatred from the antisemites to the Jews themselves, deemed responsible by virtue of their malevolent Jewish behaviours or those of the Jewish State, for their own victimization at the hands of those who seek their annihilation. The findings of these surveys belie the attempts of these antisemites to deny, diminish, or subvert the antisemitism they espouse, and to obscure or shield their antisemitism from public scrutiny.

The Numbers Expose the Truth About Anti-Zionism

Over the last few years an international campaign has been undertaken for the universal adoption of the definition of antisemitism proposed by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA).^[5][5] https://www.holocaustremembrance.com/resources/working-definitions-charters/working-definition-antisemitism As noted by the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA), the IHRA definition now constitutes the world’s most widely accepted definition of anti-Semitism, having been endorsed or adopted by dozens of countries and international bodies including Canada. Critically the IHRA definition “explicitly recognizes that anti-Zionism – the delegitimization and demonization of the Jewish state – is a clear and unequivocal expression of anti-Semitism. The definition states clearly that Jew-hatred includes applying anti-Semitic slurs to Israel, denying the Jewish people’s legitimate right to self-determination, accusing Israelis of blood libels and holding Israel to double standards. The IHRA definition also recognizes that, like any democracy, criticism of Israeli policy is not anti-Semitic. But calling into question the right of the Jewish people to self-determination is.”^[6][6] https://www.cjnews.com/news/canada/canadian-government-adopts-ihra-definition-of-anti-semitism

Anti-Zionism as defined in the IHRA definition has correctly recognized that “the incessant, and utterly licentious assault upon Israel and Jews that dominates the global antisemitic discourse”^[7][7] Goldhagen, Daniel Jonah. The Devil That Never Dies (p. 329). Little, Brown and Company. Kindle Edition is a widespread, insidious and eliminationist expression of classical antisemitic tropes. A fuller examination of this globally obsessive antisemitic discourse regarding the actions and indeed the very right to existence of the Jewish State is beyond the purview of this preface and will be examined in a future memo. But in short, this formulation of antisemitism is characterized by the application of the full array of antisemitic canards and eliminationist ideation to Jewish collectivity and national identity – as embodied in the Jewish State of Israel. It utilizes the culture of human rights and universal values to demonize Israel as a fundamentally criminal, ill begotten, and illegitimate state entity; to enact measures and policies which would inevitably strangle or obliterate the Jewishness of the Jewish State; and to demonize Jewish national identity as inherently and essentially a source of moral turpitude across the globe and as such a threat to humanity.

As noted by the Hon. Irwin Cotler former Attorney General of Canada and one of the world’s preeminent human rights experts, this anti-Zionism discriminates against, denies or assaults “the right of the Jewish people to live as an equal member of the family of nations, with Israel as the targeted “collective Jew among the nations”.  “[I]f classical antisemitism was anchored in discrimination against the Jewish religion, the new anti-Jewishness is anchored in discrimination against the Jews as a people – and the embodiment of that expression in Israel. In each instance the essence of antisemitism is the same – an assault upon whatever is the core of Jewish self-definition at any moment in time….”^[8][8] http://www.crif.org/fr/actualites/human-rights-and-new-anti-jewishness-irwin-cotler

The data clearly demonstrates that Israel’s actions are not a cause of antisemitism, but that foundational antisemitic ideation is the grounding for the obsessive hatred towards Israel saturating our public discourse.

 

The data clearly demonstrates that Israel’s actions are not a cause of antisemitism, but that foundational antisemitic ideation predating the State of Israel and unrelated to its actions is the grounding for the obsessive hatred towards Israel saturating our public discourse.

The survey materials we have collected provide some important insights into the perfidious nature of this essential component of globalized antisemitism. The data clearly demonstrate that Israel’s actions are not a “cause” of antisemitism, but that foundational antisemitic ideation is the grounding for the obsessive hatred towards Israel.  In line with the mechanics of classical antisemitism, it is not the behavior of the Jewish state that is the issue but its Jewishness as a state – its very existence – that is driving force of this anti-Zionism. This accounts for the ease with which the most egregious of the classical corpus of antisemitic calumnies aimed at Jews and Judaism have been transferred largely intact to anti-Zionist discourses regarding Jewish national identity and the essentialized malevolence of the Jewish state and the Jews who live there, and in fact Jews who live anywhere who are deemed complicit in its alleged misbehaviours and its continuance as a fundamentally illegitimate entity. 

Put simply by Daniel Goldhagen: “These data, and the reality they reflect and reveal, have nothing to do with Israel’s policies or its people’s conduct. They have nothing to do with Israel’s alleged transgressions. They have nothing to do with the Middle East conflict.” Goldgahen asserts that they demonstrate “beyond any doubt” that this phenomenon of anti-Zionism “has nothing to do with what it is written off to: Israel.”^[9][9] Goldhagen, Daniel Jonah. The Devil That Never Dies (p. 271). Little, Brown and Company. Kindle Edition. Put another way by Catholic feminist theologian Rosemary Radford Ruether, “There is no doubt that anti-Zionism has become a way of reviving the myth of the ‘perennial evil nature of the Jews’”^[10][10] Patterson, David. Anti-Semitism and its Metaphysical Origins (p. 196). Cambridge University Press. Kindle Edition. which as these surveys demonstrates is already ubiquitous across the face of the globe. 

The data presented below bears out Ruether’s contention. These surveys for the most part do not explore antisemitic attitudes as related to Israel but to antisemitic perceptions of the noxious, malevolent traits inherent to the Jew, or to antisemitic expressions of disdain for Jewishness, as opposed to issues related to Israel-related matters. Multiple aspects of demonization of Jews, wholly unrelated to Israel, are clearly quantified in stunning proportions by these surveys. These data depict a broad foundation of global Jew-hatred, indicating that it is not Israel’s behavior or existence that “causes” antisemitism as often claimed by antisemites, but rather it is the underlying antisemitism already embedded within hundreds of millions of people that “frames and influences many people’s perception of and reactions to Israel’s conflict with Palestinians in a manner that demonizes Israel, which then, owing to another aspect of antisemitism that implicates all Jews in some Jews’ putative transgressions, exacerbates or activates hostility toward Jews in general ….”^[11][11] Goldhagen, Daniel Jonah. The Devil That Never Dies (p. 277). Little, Brown and Company. Kindle Edition.

Please note – Most Surveys on Antisemitism Often Underestimate the True Numbers of Those Ascribing to Antisemitic Ideas

As noted by various experts like Daniel Goldhagen^[12][12] Goldhagen, Daniel Jonah. The Devil That Never Dies (p. 255-256). Little, Brown and Company. Kindle Edition. and Robert Wistrich^[13][13] Wistrich, Robert S. A Lethal Obsession . Random House Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. Location 782 , most of these polls on antisemitism can for a variety of reasons be extremely limited in their purview for measuring antisemitism and can often underestimate the full extent of global antisemitism, or generally do not measure the depth and intensity of such views within those that embrace it. 

There are entire areas of antisemitic sentiment which these surveys do not explore. They are often limited to the most common of antisemitic tropes and calumnies and rarely delve into areas related to other aspects of antisemitic ideation such as theological worldviews harbored by hundreds of millions of people in various parts of the world. Jew-hatred entrenched in a theologically grounded framework or seen to be sanctioned by scripture or embedded in a political or ideological worldview is difficult to mitigate, as these deeply held beliefs often predispose those who harbour to them believe a multitude of other pernicious attitudes towards Jews.^[14][14] Goldhagen, Daniel Jonah. The Devil That Never Dies (p. 255-256). Little, Brown and Company. Kindle Edition.

Even within the purview of the questions that these surveys do explore, many people are hesitant to answer honestly with regard to their antisemitic inclinations in societies where there may be multiple deterrents to expressing such thoughts publicly:

• More generally, surveys are well known to underreport people’s prejudice because people are reluctant to express their prejudicial views when such views are not sanctioned in the public sphere, and such views might get them dubbed racists or antisemites, especially as the latter might be seen to link them to Hitler and the gas chambers. This underreporting becomes that much more obvious when we see what surveys, for all their failings, do reveal about the discrepancy between how enormously prejudiced people are in their personal beliefs and attitudes and how comparatively little these views are expressed in the public spheres of, say, Western countries, even if, regarding antisemitism, there is a flood.^[15][15] Goldhagen, Daniel Jonah. The Devil That Never Dies (p. 256). Little, Brown and Company. Kindle Edition.

This would be particularly true in countries where antisemitic or racist public expression can be a punishable criminal act. “If people underreport their antisemitism by only 10 percent, let alone by 50 percent, which is entirely likely, then antisemitism is that much greater than the vast amount the surveys already register.”^[16][16] Goldhagen, Daniel Jonah. The Devil That Never Dies (p. 258). Little, Brown and Company. Kindle Edition.

But given these mitigating factors, the statistical data that is available is all the more significant in in its depiction and measurement of the unparalleled reach, ubiquity and depth of antisemitism as a global discourse of particularly consequential animus and unmatched historical lethality.