What Is Anti-Semitism?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Not only the reality, but also the terminology of anti-Semitism has become controversial in recent years, especially since Israel\u2019s campaign against Hamas\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rogereolson\/2025\/07\/what-is-anti-semitism\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What Is Anti-Semitism?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Not only the reality, but also the terminology of anti-Semitism has become controversial in recent years, especially since Israel\u2019s campaign against Hamas\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rogereolson\/2025\/07\/what-is-anti-semitism\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Roger E. 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{"id":12776,"date":"2025-07-05T10:50:44","date_gmt":"2025-07-05T15:50:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rogereolson\/?p=12776"},"modified":"2025-07-05T10:50:44","modified_gmt":"2025-07-05T15:50:44","slug":"what-is-anti-semitism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rogereolson\/2025\/07\/what-is-anti-semitism\/","title":{"rendered":"What Is Anti-Semitism?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

$\"\"$ <\/a><\/p>\n

Anti-Semitism is any attitude of prejudice against Jews just because they are Jews. (Yes, I know \u201cSemite\u201d can also refer to Arabs, but that is irrelevant here.) To be sure, it also includes actions that are meant to harm Jews because they are Jewish, either ethnically or religiously or both. Those actions, however, tend to arise from a negative attitude, if not outright hatred, toward Jews.<\/p>\n

Anti-Semitism has a long and wretched history especially in the West. Most people think it really began with Hitler and the Nazis in Germany, but that is wrong. Long before Nazi anti-Semitism, many Jewish individuals and communities in Europe, especially Russia, Ukraine, Poland, and Spain, suffered unjust discrimination and oppression. \u201cPogroms\u201d against Jews broke out frequently in those and other European countries.<\/p>\n

None of that is to minimize the guilt of many Americans who to this day harbor anti-Semitic attitudes.<\/p>\n

I grew up in a form of American Christian life that favored Jews because, so we believed, they are God\u2019s chosen people. We were (and many still are) Christian Zionists who believed that \u201cblessing\u201d Jews brought God\u2019s blessings. My stepmother, for example, would only patronize Jewish doctors and business owners. When we (our church) went on two \u201cHoly Land Pilgrimages\u201d we would only have Jewish guides and we insisted on visiting a Jewish rather than a Palestinian Christian home.<\/p>\n

However, in spite of my strong belief that God does have a special place in his heart for Jewish people, I question the misuse of \u201canti-Semitism\u201d in society today. Anyone who demonstrates against Israel\u2019s actions in Gaza will be labeled anti-Semitic by someone. Anyone who dares to openly criticize the State of Israel risks being labeled anti-Semitic.<\/p>\n

One ought not to equate the State of Israel with Jewishness. No state or government is above criticism. And to criticize Israel for specific actions it takes is not automatically anti-Semitic. It is anti-Semitic, however, to blame all Jews, everywhere, for Israel\u2019s actions.<\/p>\n

Anti-Semitism is a demonic disease; it infects not only individuals but whole societies and communities. I denounce it unequivocally. On the other hand, I reject the accusation of anti-Semitism solely for criticizing Israel.<\/p>\n

I once had a colleague who was a Jewish scholar who believed in and taught Palestinian rights and did not hold the State of Israel above criticism. His very life was threatened by some militant Jews and he was often accused of anti-Semitism. How ironic, a Jew being accused of anti-Semitism!<\/p>\n

I call on people in the media and education and government to stop accusing critics of Israel\u2019s handling of the Gaza crisis of anti-Semitism. That is a misuse of the term and can itself be oppressive. People, including university students, have a right to speak out against Israel\u2019s treatment of the residents of Gaza without being labeled anti-Semitic.<\/p>\n

*Note: If you choose to comment, make sure your comment is relatively brief (no more than 100 words), on topic, addressed to me, civil and respectful (not hostile or argumentative), and devoid of pictures or links.*<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"