Prominent voices in the Jewish community confidently pronounce: “Only Jews get to define antisemitism.” Popular Jewish writer Sarah Tuttle-Singer, for example, tweeted (before later removing), “Here is a complete and comprehensive list of the people who get to decide what is or isn’t anti-Semitic: 1. Jews.”
In an article in the San Diego Union-Tribune titled “Jews get to Define Antisemitism,” Micha Danzig asserted that “what is surprising is how many people give credence to such arguments to those telling Jews they don’t get to define Jew-hatred … It would not be tolerated for anti-Asian hate, anti-Muslim hate or anti-Black hate. And it shouldn’t be tolerated for antisemitism.”
It’s legitimate for Jews to insist on a major role in defining antisemitism as a matter of government policy, and illegitimate for us to demand that everyone agree with us.
So do Jews really get to define antisemitism? Yes and no. In the immortal words of Bill Clinton, “It depends on what the meaning of the word ‘is’ is.” Or in this case, it depends on what the meaning of the word “define” is. It’s legitimate for Jews to insist on a major role in defining antisemitism as a matter of government policy, and illegitimate for us to demand that everyone agree with us.
In one sense of the term “define,” Jews ought to have a major say in how government agencies define antisemitism. Originally adopted in a plenary in Bucharest, Romania in May 2016, the IHRA definition of antisemitism has become the dominant conception in much of the world and certainly the most widely held by Jewish institutions. IHRA holds that “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.”
In its contemporary examples of…
Read the full article here