Antony Lerman’s “Whatever Happened to Antisemitism?” – a must read
Published
by
Richard Kuper
JVL Introduction
In a considered review of Antony Lerman’s The New Antisemitism, Deborah Maccoby endorses his stark conclusion, based on careful argument and detailed historical background, that “the ‘new antisemitism’ is not antisemitism at all, but legitimate political free speech”.
Maccoby has her reservations about Lerman’s interpretation of Judaism which she argues has a more humanistic and universalist side than he acknowledges, but overall gives a very warm welcome to this new book.
- Special offer to our readers – 30% off the book if you use the discount code JVL30 when ordering on the Pluto website.
This article was originally published by Amazon on Wed 20 Jul 2022. Read the original here.
Antony Lerman's "Whatever Happened to Antisemitism?" – a must read
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Pluto book launch has Tony Lerman speaking but there is a particular powerful contribution by Barnaby Raine I thought.
https://youtu.be/avLL3glRGjU
Heather Mendick interviewed Tony about the book here in a lengthy video:
https://youtu.be/hChdHVa40zs
I just finished the book and agree with Deborah’s critique and reference to the prophets, many of whom railed against the corruption and iniquities of the rulers. On a more local point it was interesting to come across the name of Lesley Kraff, editor in chief of the Journal of Contemporary Antisemitism, who is based in my local university and is running. campaign to have a young Palestinian female lecturer sacked. Apparently having been born and growing up in Gaza is not enough punishment for her; she must be sacked for the crime of sharing her experiences and views as a victim of a cruel and unnatural system.
I don’t doubt that the book will be illuminating but what is most interesting is that Tony Lerman’s coverage of antisemitism statistics internationally in the Anti-Semitism World Report, was subject to pressure by the London representative of Mossad into either closing down the project or merging it with Dina Porat’s Project for the Study of Anti-Semitism. The whole story is in On Antisemitism by JVP.
The real question is why the equivalent of MI6 should be interested in antisemitism statistics and the answer is of course because it was seen as something that could be weaponised, as the CST now does.
Also disagree with Debbie about Judaism and human rights/justice. Of course Judaism CAN be all of those things but it can ALSO be what it is today in Israel, the divine rationale for all forms of bigotry and hatred. One only has to think of the 2009 Torat Hamelech which used the Talmud to justify murdering childen and infants.
All religions possess this ability. It depends what you want to take from them – justice or repression. Religion reflects society and today the Jewish religion is in the hands of the most bigoted elements
I agree with Deborah that this book deserves five stars. Here are a few extra comments.
Antony Lerman traces much of the “new antisemitism” thinking back to the UN General Assembly Resolution 3379 of 1975, engineered by the Soviets and declaring that “Zionism is a form of racism and racial discrimination”. It caused palpable indignation among Israelis who were more accustomed to seeing themselves as the “light unto the nations” (in the words of Ben Gurion). This in turn fed the new antisemitism thesis whereby Israel is “the persecuted Jew among nations”.
Antony and some other academics sought to study antisemitism according to high academic standards, on the basis of evidence, but were drowned out by a politically motivated discourse emanating from the State of Israel, a host of pro-Israeli bodies and advocates like Irvin Cotler and Robert Wistrich. The latter pedalled an “eternalist” narrative whereby antisemitism is presented as a recurring constant since before the time of Christ, and where in modern times, things only get worse, never better – while in reality the condition of Israel and diaspora Jews has continually become more secure. Their apocalyptic prognostications have set the tone for major media outlets.
At one point, Antony compares these guys to “the harbingers of doom who walked the streets clad in billboards pronouncing that ‘the end is nigh!’, saying that “yet when professors, public intellectuals, leading columnists, community leaders, politicians do the same when it comes to contemporary antisemitism, they are taken deadly seriously”. GOOD POINT!
I agree with Tony Greenstein’s point about human rights and justice.