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“Antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.”
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"Antisemitism is discrimination, prejudice, hostility or violence against Jews as Jews (or Jewish institutions as Jewish)."
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"Antisemitism consists of anti-Jewish beliefs, attitudes, actions or systemic conditions. It includes negative beliefs and feelings about Jews, hostile behavior directed against Jews (because they are Jews), and conditions that discriminate against Jews and significantly impede their ability to participate as equals in political, religious, cultural, economic, or social life.
"As an embodiment of collective Jewish organization and action, Israel is a magnet for and a target of antisemitic behavior. Thus, it is important for Jews and their allies to understand what is and what is not antisemitic in relation to Israel."
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"A persisting latent structure of hostile beliefs towards Jews as a collectivity manifested in individuals as attitudes, and in culture as myth, ideology, folklore, and imagery, and in actions—social or legal discrimination, political mobilization against Jews, and collective or state violence—which results in and/or is designed to distance, displace, or destroy Jews as Jews." [Italics in the original.]
READ AN ARTICLE EXCERPT FOR A FULL DESCRIPTION: Fein_Dimensions_of_Antisemitism-excerpt.pdf
A statement with over 1200 signatories opposing legislation based on the IHRA definition: "The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) definition conflates criticism of Israel with antisemitism. This definition hardens the dangerous notion that Jewish identity is inextricably linked to every decision of Israel’s government. Far from combating antisemitism, this dynamic promises to amplify the real threats Jewish Americans already face."
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"Coined by a Polish-Jewish literary critic named Artur Sandauer, the term describes ... the idea of Jews as the perpetual 'other.' Allosemitism can embrace both positive and negative feelings toward Jews—everything, as the sociologist Zygmunt Bauman put it, 'from love and respect to outright condemnation and genocidal hatred.' At root is the idea that, good or bad, Jews are different from the non-Jewish mainstream and thus unable to be dealt with in the same way or measured by the same yardstick."
"Anti-Israelism, or the blanket disapproval of all things Israeli, should not be automatically conflated with hatred of Jews. ... [Israeli] Jews live as a majority with an identity—Israeli—that is over and above Jewishness, a condition that is simply incomparable with life as a Jew in the diaspora. ... Like America, Israel is a nation of immigrants, but it has had to absorb its waves of newcomers in a far more compressed time frame. ... Consequently, the process of acculturation or Israelization has been far more intensive. ...
"Anti-Israelism is an irrational feeling of repulsion against this hybrid national type, which is by no means synonymous with the Jew. And it is directed against one and all Israelis alike; in this sense it is certainly a form of bigotry, since it attributes inherent negative characteristics to an entire national group. ... Anti-Israelists do not distinguish between the country and its citizens, or between the society’s virtues and vices, but instead indict it thoroughly and indiscriminately. They view the entire country as a false construct, one lacking historical or moral validity. ... It is anti-Israelism to believe that Israel is willfully intent on committing genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza and elsewhere. ...
"Anti-Israelism builds on the legacy of antisemitism but almost as an inversion. Because Israel refuses to behave as Jews were alleged to behave—as a people who cowered in the shadows, manipulating events—Israeliness, with its frank, in-your-face character, comes as a shock. Whereas antisemites long falsely accused Jews of physical cowardice, Israelis’ widespread military service and formidable reputation as a fighting force invites a fundamentally different set of libels. They are bellicose bullies and brutal aggressors. ..."
