What does it mean to be antisemitic? We explain the term and why it's part of the debate over protests.
Pro-Palestinian protest movements have sprung up around the country since police first tried to end an encampment at Columbia University in New York nearly two weeks ago. There have also been numerous instances of antisemitism recorded on campuses since the start of the Israel-Hamas war in October 2023.
As a result, the House approved legislation on Wednesday that attempts to enshrine a single definition of antisemitism to decide when it constitutes an illegal and discriminatory act. The bill's language adopts the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's (IHRA) definition of antisemitism: "Stereotyping, dehumanizing, or demonizing Jews based on their religion."
Amid the controversy over the Israel-Hamas war and the protests it has fueled, the definition of antisemitism itself has become a flashpoint for debate.
Student protestors have accused critics - including some politicians - of conflating speaking out against Israel's government with antisemitism. Netanyahu recently described the college protestors as “antisemitic mobs.”
In an interview with USA TODAY, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) suggested the term “antisemitic” was being weaponized by Netanyahu and by some people who disagree with the protesters.
“I reject very strongly the suggestion that if people are concerned and raise strong concerns about the military, that makes one antisemitic. That is just not the case,” Sanders said. “I really find it outrageous that Netanyahu wants to hide the outrageous military behavior of his government behind the terrible image of antisemitism.”
Just as criticizing the government of Italy or Ireland does not make one anti-Italian, or anti-Irish, criticizing the government of Israel doesn’t make one anti-Jewish or antisemitic, he said.
But at the same time, Sanders acknowledged that antisemitism and Islamophobia are on the rise.
“I would say to any protestors, whether it is antisemitism or racism against Muslim students, Black students, or gay students, it is unacceptable. It is not what a peace movement is about,” he said. “And I strongly condemn it.”
President Joe Biden also denounced antisemitism on college campuses while defending the right of pro-Palestinian protesters to peacefully demonstrate on Thursday in his first public address on this week’s unrest on college campuses.
“Threatening people, intimidating people, instilling fear in people is not peaceful protest,” said Biden, who had called on Americans on Sunday to speak out against the “alarming surge of antisemitism” in the U.S.
More: Why Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene says she voted against the Antisemitism Awareness Act
What does antisemitism look like?
The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance notes a few examples of what contemporary antisemitism looks like:
Justifying violence or the killing of Jews
Stereotyping, dehumanizing, or demonizing Jews based on their religion
Denying the Holocaust, claiming Jews created or exaggerated the event that killed millions
Holding Jews accountable for the actions of the Israeli state
Endorsing debunked conspiracy theories surrounding Jews (ex. Jews were responsible for the death of Jesus, Jews were responsible for the 9/11 attacks.
High-profile celebrities and politicians have spread antisemitic tropes, resulting in condemnation and backlash. President candidate and leading voice in the anti-vaccine movement Robert F. Kennedy Jr. pushed a conspiracy theory last year that COVID-19 was "ethnically targeted and spared Ashkenazi Jewish people as well as Chinese people. The Anti-Defamation League told multiple outlets last year this this rhetoric demonizes Jews and spreads the false conspiracy that they used coronavirus as a weapon against the rest of the population.
More contemporary examples include high-profile celebrities like Ye, former known as Kanye West, that have praised the likes of Adolf Hitler and the crimes committed by Nazi's during WWII. Ye was suspended from X, formerly known as Twitter, after a series of antisemitic posts after appearing on far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones' show. Ye received support from white supremacists for his comments.
Related: Antisemitism is everywhere. We tracked it across all 50 states.
In an interview with USA TODAY last year, Dan Granot, the director of government relations at the Anti-Defamation League said that antisemitism can take many forms.
Often what comes to mind is Nazi symbolism and violence towards Jews, but Granot said it can be much more subtle, like stereotyping Jews as wealthy or illiberal with their finances.
“In many ways, antisemitism, like other forms of hate, is a caricature of a people, and it only looks at the most successful or the most visible and takes those characteristics and presumes that they exist across the entire people,” Granot says. “It often just disregards very clear and important historical aspects of the Jewish people that led them to be in certain industries.”
Dig deeper: Antisemitism is rampant. Campus protests aren't helping things. | The Excerpt
Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy contributed to the reporting of this story.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: What is antisemitism? Definition, plus examples of what it looks like
