Antisemitism
here and now
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- $16.99
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- $16.99
Publisher Description
The award-winning author of The Eichmann Trial and Denial provides a penetrating and provocative analysis of the hate that will not die.
In the past few years there has been a decided rise in acts and expressions of antisemitism worldwide. No one could have predicted the contemporary situation: a Labour Party in the UK whose leadership has condoned expressions of overt antisemitism and debated whether to condemn Holocaust denial; a white supremacist/nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, with chants of ‘Jews will not replace us’ and the murder of a counter protestor; the prime minister of Hungary using blatantly antisemitic imagery to win a political campaign; and a former mayor of London and a major UK trade union leader claiming that discussions about antisemitism were nothing more than an attempt by Israel to cover up its wrongdoings.
In Antisemitism, Deborah Lipstadt argues that this is a problem that comes from both ends of the political spectrum.
She exposes those who use classic antisemitic imagery to attack Israel, and challenges those supporters of Israel who automatically equate criticism with antisemitism.
Antisemitism is based on countless conversations Lipstadt has had over the past few years about definitions of antisemitism, types of antisemites, and the current troubling situation. Written as an exchange of letters with an imagined college student and imagined colleague, both of whom are perplexed by this resurgence, Lipstadt gives us her own superbly reasoned, brilliantly argued, and sure- to-be-controversial responses to these troubling questions.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Lipstadt (Beyond Belief), a professor of Jewish history at Emory, gives a thoughtful overview of and response to anti-Semitism in the West. In a series of letters addressed to an imaginary Jewish student and non-Jewish colleague, Lipstadt taxonomizes the contemporary sources of anti-Semitism (white supremacists, Holocaust deniers, "anti-Semitism enablers," and even certain parts of the left, in which hoary stereotypes of Jews as a global, cosmopolitan class circulate). Though she gives a short list of violent Islamist incidents that have caused some Jews to disguise their identities in Europe, Lipstadt spends more time reflecting on the threats to academic freedom in American universities, where critiques of Israeli policy have led to boycotts, protests, and bans of Israeli speakers. It concludes with a gentle celebration of Jewish culture and history that should hearten scholars, Jews, and anyone interested in a democratic, multicultural society. Keeping her tone measured, unaccusing, and carefully noninflammatory, Lipstadt presents an intelligent, evenhanded explanation of how Jews come under attack today for appearing white and privileged, and the book's civil conversation might well sway more readers than a ringing denunciation. Informed, historically sound, and deeply rational, Lipstadt's book offers both convincing reasons for the recent rise of anti-Semitism and apt advice to "call out and combat" it.
