Resources on Antisemitism

A compilation of educational material from a non-judgmental lens

Oct 26, 2022

Kanye West’s comments on Jewish people have been on our minds. There is no need to repost his statement here. He has received plenty of air-time from his new Neo-Nazi fans. To summarize, West reinforced antisemitic tropes about Jewish people and their connection to banks and power. In addition, he made death threats to the Jewish people as a whole. We see this every few months. Public figure X makes antisemitic remarks. Jewish people and allies take to social media and condemn the comments. In this case, there were public and economic consequences. The issue dies down. Rinse and repeat.

One of the biggest issues regarding antisemitism today is the lack of education on the topic. Many people cannot identify it. Most of us can recognize that making death threats to Jewish people falls under that umbrella of hate speech, but what about the nuances? Below I have compiled some facts and resources on this subject for anyone struggling to discuss this topic.

Definition of antisemitism

According to the Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, “Antisemitism is a stereotypical 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.”

I highly encourage you to read this educational handout on the history of antisemitism from Echoes and Reflections. It is simply written and provides a great introduction to this subject.

Helpful facts

As of 2021, there were 15.2 million Jews in the world
Jews make up 0.19% of the world’s population
Before WWII there were 16.7 million Jews worldwide. After the war, there were 11 million
Israel and the U.S. have the largest Jewish populations
6.9 million Jewish people live in Israel, 6 million Jewish people live in the U.S.
New York City has more Jewish people than any other city in the world, and that accounts for 10% of the city’s population
Around 53% of religious hate crimes in the U.S. are committed against Jewish people, yet they make up only 2.4% of the U.S. population

Breakdown of different Jewish ethnic groups according to the World Population Review

Although the majority of American Jews are white and/or Ashkenazi, this does not reflect the world population of Jewish people. There are millions of Jewish people of color. Read more about this below.

Dog whistling

“Figuratively, a 'dog whistle' is a coded message communicated through words or phrases commonly understood by a particular group of people, but not by others.” - Merriam Webster Dictionary

This is one of the more powerful and sneaky ways that anti-Semitism is spread. The American Jewish Committee has compiled a succinct glossary of terms used in hate speech against Jewish people. Terms include “globalist,” “cosmopolitan elite,” and “dual loyalty.” I highly encourage you peruse this this glossary.

Conclusion

Antisemitism is an ancient form of hate. A short blog post cannot attempt to cover all the issues. This is intended as a starting point. I provided the resources that I used for this post, plus some other sources that are informative on this subject. In addition, the Jewish diaspora is so diverse that no one perspective on this subject is the authority. No one resource is perfect. The Jewish people aren’t a monolith. Continue to ask questions and expand your horizons.