Overview #
“Antisemitism: An Introduction” provides a crucial overview of one of history’s oldest and most persistent forms of hatred. This booklet traces antisemitism from its roots in ancient civilizations to the modern day, examining its transformation through eras, religions, and ideologies. It covers the main ideological drivers of contemporary antisemitism—the far-right, Islamist extremists, and the far-left—and explains how antisemitic stereotypes continue to adapt across societies and political movements. With educational insights and actionable steps, this booklet serves as a powerful resource for understanding and countering antisemitism in all its forms, encouraging readers to recognize, confront, and fight this deeply ingrained prejudice.
Footnotes #
Footnotes
- “Israel Embassy Staffers’ Killing: What We Know So Far,” BBC News (London), June 2, 2025, https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cev47ze8vp3o.
- “Montreal Police Arrest Suspect After Man Beaten in Front of His Children in Park,” CTV News (Montreal), https://www.ctvnews.ca/montreal/article/montreal-police-arrest-suspect-after-man-beaten-in-front-of-his-children-in-park/.
- “UK Police Respond to Suspected Stabbing, Shoot Suspect at Synagogue,” ABC News (New York), https://abcnews.go.com/International/uk-police-respond-suspected-stabbing-shoot-suspect-synagogue/story?id=126144273.
- “In broad daylight: French rabbi assaulted, bitten in front of son on way back from synagogue,” The Jerusalem Post (Jerusalem), https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/article-847164.
- “Jewish Schools in Paris Evacuated After Bomb Threat,” Jewish News (London), https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/liveblog_entry/jewish-schools-in-paris-evacuated-after-bomb-threat/.
- “There Is Legitimacy to Hurt Jews: Jewish Children Attacked in Antwerp,” Israel Hayom (Tel Aviv), May 19, 2025, https://www.israelhayom.com/2025/05/19/there-is-legitimacy-to-hurt-jews-jewish-children-attacked-in-antwerp/.
- “Woman denied Melbourne job for being Israeli, owner accuses her of supporting genocide,” The Jerusalem Post (Jerusalem), https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/antisemitism/article-872358.
- “Australia expels Iranian ambassador after spy agency finds Iran directed antisemitic attacks on its soil,” CNN Edition (Atlanta), March 5, 2025, https://edition.cnn.com/2025/08/26/australia/australia-iran-antisemitic-attacks-intl-hnk.
- “A Shocking Act of Antisemitic Discrimination: 52 Jewish Teens Removed From Flight in Spain,” Combat Antisemitism Movement (Washington D.C.), July 24, 2025, https://combatantisemitism.org/cam-news/a-shocking-act-of-antisemitic-discrimination-52-jewish-teens-removed-from-flight-in-spain/.
- David Hirsh, Contemporary Left Antisemitism, (London, New York: Routledge, 2018), xvi.
- Robert S. Wistrich, The Longest Hatred, (New York: Pantheon Books, 1991).
- CE – Common Era, aka AD
- Menahem Mor, The Second Jewish Revolt: The Bar Kokhba War, 132-136 CE, (Brill, 2016), 471.
- Matthew 26:5
- Matthew 27:20-25
- Christopher R. Browning, The Origins of the Final Solution: The Evolution of Nazi Jewish Policy, September 1939-March 1941, (Jerusalem: Yad Vashem, The Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Authority, 2004), 4.
- A Dictionary of Jewish-Christian Relations, Cambridge University Press
- Joshua Trachtenberg, The Devil and the Jews, (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1943), 12.
- Ibid. p. 13.
- Yitzhak Arad, Bełżec, Sobibor, Treblinka: The Operation Reinhard Death Camps, (Indiana University Press, 1999).
- “Simon (Simedl, Simoncino) Of Trent,” entry in Jewish Encyclopedia Online, http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/13752-simon-simedl-simoncino-of-trent
- Talia Lavin, “The San Diego shooter’s manifesto is a modern form of an old lie about Jews,” The Washington Post, April 29, 2019, https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2019/04/29/san-diego-shooters-manifesto-is-modern-form-an-old-lie-about-jews/
- “Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions, Nostra Aetate Proclaimed by His Holiness Pope Paul VI on October 28, 1965,” http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_decl_19651028_nostra-aetate_en.html
- Jewish Virtual Library, https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/pope-john-paul-ii-israel-visit
- Jo-Anne Rowney, “Pope Francis says ‘attacks on Jews are antisemitic, as are attacks on Israel’”, Catholic Herald (UK), 29 October, 2015, https://catholicherald.co.uk/news/2015/10/29/pope-francis-says-attacks-on-jews-are-antisemitic-as-are-attacks-on-israel/
- Pew Research Center, “More white evangelicals than American Jews say God gave Israel to the Jewish people,” October 3, 2013, https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2013/10/03/more-white-evangelicals-than-american-jews-say-god-gave-israel-to-the-jewish-people/
- Norman A. Stillman, Jews of Arab Lands: A History and Source Book, (New York: Jewish Publication Society, 1998), 4.
- Abraham Halkin and David Hartman, “Letters of Maimonides: Crisis and Leadership,” (New York: The Jewish Publication Society, 2009.)
- Stillman, Jews of Arab Lands. p. 8-9.
- Ibid.
- Ibid.
- Reuven Firestone, An Introduction to Islam for Jews, (New York: Jewish Publication Society, 2008), 33
- Maxime Rodinson, Mohammed, (Penguin Press, 1971), 158.
- Stillman, Jews of Arab Lands, (1998) pp. 9-15
- Muhammad Husayn Haykal, The Life of Muhammad, (Selangor: Islamic Book Trust, 2008), 380-383.
- Leon Poliakov, The History of Antisemitism, Volume 2: From Mohammed to the Marranos, (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2003).
- https://nabilmufti.wordpress.com/2010/03/03/perang-khaibar-khaibar-khaibar-ya-yahud-jaisyu-muhammad-saufa-yaud/
- Stillman, Jews of Arab Lands, p. 19.
- Bernard Lewis, The Jews of Islam, (Princeton University Press, 1984).
- André N. Chouraqui, Between East and West: A History of the Jews of North Africa, (New York: Jewish Publication Society, 1968), 69-70
- Ibid.
- Bat Ye’or, The Dhimmi: Jews and Christians Under Islam, (Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1985), 45.
- Islam Question & Answer, Shaykh Muhammad Saalih al-Munajjid, General Supervisor, https://islamqa.info/en/answers/223275/in-the-battle-between-the-jews-and-the-muslims-at-the-end-of-time-the-aggressors-will-be-the-jews
- Robert S. Wistrich, “Muslim Antisemitism: A Clear and Present Danger,” cited by David Harris, American Jewish Committee,
- Mark Cohen, Under Crescent and Cross: The Jews in the Middle Ages, (Princeton University Press, August 24, 2008), p.62.
- Zafrani, H. “Mallah”, Encyclopaedia of Islam Online, eds. P.J. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel and W.P. Heinrichs. Brill Academic Publishers
- Bernard Lewis, Semites and Antisemites: An Inquiry into Conflict and Prejudice, (W. W. Norton & Co., 1999), 126.
- Abraham Halkin and David Hartman, “Letters of Maimonides: Crisis and Leadership,” (New York: The Jewish Publication Society, 2009.)
- Bassam Tibi. “The Islamist Venture of the Politicization of Islam to an Ideology of Islamism: A Critique of the Dominating Narrative in Western Islamic Studies.” Soundings: An Interdisciplinary Journal 96, no. 4 (2013): 431-49.
- Ibid.
- Bassam Tibi, “From Sayyid Qutb To Hamas: The Middle East Conflict and the Islamization of Antisemitism,” The Yale Initiative for the Interdisciplinary Study of Antisemitism, Working Paper #5, (Yale University Press 2012).
- Hendrik Hansen & Peter Kainz, “Radical Islamism and Totalitarian Ideology: A Comparison of Sayyid Qutb’s Islamism with Marxism and National Socialism,” Totalitarian Movements and Political Religions, 8:1, (2007), 55-76.
- ADL/Global 100
- Quoted in Alan Johnson, “Book Review: Parting Ways: Jewishness and the Critique of Zionism,” Fathom Journal, Spring, 2013, http://fathomjournal.org/book-review-parting-ways-jewishness-and-the-critique-of-zionism/
- Eva Illouz, “Judith Butler Gets a Taste of Her Own Politics,” Haaretz, September 20, 2012, https://www.haaretz.com/an-anti-zionist-gets-a-taste-of-her-own-politics-1.5165162
- Pascal Bruckner, The Tyranny of Guilt: An Essay on Western Masochism, (Princeton University Press, 2010), 25.
- Howard Morley Sachar, The Course of Modern Jewish History, (New York: Dell Publishing 1958), 25.
- Ibid, 66.
- Deborah E. Lipstadt, Antisemitism Then and Now, (New York: Schocken Books, 2019), 24.
- Saul Friedlander, Chapter 3 “Redemptive Antisemitism” in Nazi Germany and the Jews 1933-1939: The Years of Persecution, (London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1997), 73-112.
- Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf, Ralph Mannheim, translator, (New York: The Houghton Mifflin Company, 1971), 65.
- Gervase Phillips, “Antisemitism: how the origins of history’s oldest hatred still hold sway today,” The Coordination Forum for Countering Antisemitism, April 4, 2019, https://antisemitism.org.il/en/145847/
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/protocols-of-the-elders-of-zion
- Norman Cohn, Warrant for Genocide: The Myth of the Jewish World Conspiracy and the “Protocols of the Elders of Zion,” (London: Serif, 1966).
- Cohn, Ibid
- Deborah E. Lipstadt, quoted in The Holocaust’s Ghost: Writings on Art, Politics, Law, and Education, F. C. DeCoste, Bernard Schwartz, editors, (University of Alberta Press, 2000), 134.
- Anatoli Kuznetzov, Babi Yar: A Document in the Form of a Novel, translated by David Floyd, (New York: Farrar Straus & Giroux 1970).
- Edwin Black, The Farhud: Roots of The Arab-Nazi Alliance in the Holocaust, (Rockville, MD: Dialog Press, 2010).
- Ian Hancock, “True Romanies and the Holocaust: A Re-evaluation and an overview”, The Historiography of the Holocaust, (Palgrave Macmillan, 2005), pp. 383–396.
- Robert Payne, The Life and Death of Adolf Hitler,” (Jonathan Cape LTD., 1973), 591.
- https://jewishjournal.com/cover_story/303681/the-rise-of-anti-semitism-and-what-to-do-about-it/
Bibliography
- Almog, Shmuel, ed. Antisemitism Through The Ages. Oxford: Pergamon Press, 1988.
- Arendt, Hannah. Origins of Totalitarianism. NY: Meridian, 1958.
- Ben-Itto, Hadassa. The Lie That Wouldn’t Die: The Protocols Of The Elders Of Zion. Mitchell Vallentine & Company, 2005.
- Berger, David, ed. History and Hate: The Dimensions of Anti-Semitism. PA: Jewish Publication Society, 1997.
- Carroll, James. Constantine’s Sword: The Church and the Jews. Boston and NY: Houghton Mifflin, 2001.
- Cohn, Norman. Warrant for Genocide: The Myth of the Jewish World-conspiracy and the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. NY: Serif, 1996.
- Dinnerstein, Leonard. Antisemitism in America. NY: Oxford University Press, 1995.
- Dundes, Alan, ed. The Blood Libel Legend: A Casebook in Anti-Semitic Folklore. WI: University of Wisconsin Press, 1991.
- Flannery, Edward. The Anguish of the Jews: Twenty-Three Centuries of Antisemitism (Studies in Judaism and Christianity). NJ: Paulist Press, 1985.
- Frankel, Jonathan. The Damascus Affair: ‘Ritual Murder,’ Politics, and the Jews in 1840. Cambridge University Press, 1997.
- Gilman, Sander L. and Steven T. Katz, eds. Anti-Semitism in Times of Crisis. NY: New York University Press, 1991.
- Hirsh, David. Contemporary Left Antisemitism. London and NY: Routledge, 2017.
- Kertzer, David. The Popes Against the Jews: The Vatican’s Role in Modern Anti-Semitism. NY: Knopf, 2001.
- Küntzel, Matthias. Germany and Iran: From the Aryan Axis to the Nuclear Threshold. Telos Press Publishing, 2014.
- Lee, Albert. Henry Ford and the Jews. NY: Stein and Day Publishers, 1980.
- Levin, Itamar. Locked Doors: The Seizure of Jewish Property in Arab Countries. CA: Praeger, 2001.
- Lewis, Bernard. Semites & Anti-Semites. NY: WW Norton & Co., 1986.
- Lipstadt, Deborah. Denying the Holocaust: The Growing Assault on Truth and Memory. NY: Free Press, 1993.
- Lipstadt, Deborah. Antisemitism: Here and Now. NY: Schocken, 2019.
- Mamet, David. The Wicked Son: Anti-Semitism, Self-Hatred and the Jews. NY: Schocken Books, 2006.
- Marcus, Jacob R., ed. The Jew in the Medieval World: A Source Book 315–1791. OH: Hebrew Union Press, 1990.
- Mosse, George. Toward the Final Solution: A History of European Racism. NY: Howard Fertig, 1997.
- Nelson, Cary. Israel Denial: Anti-Zionism, Anti-Semitism, & the Faculty Campaign Against the Jewish State. IN: Indiana University Press, 2019.
- Patterson, Charles. Anti-Semitism: The Road to the Holocaust and Beyond. iUniverse, 2000.
- Poliakov, Leon. The History of Anti-Semitism: From the Time of Christ to the Court Jews. Vol. 1. NY: Vanguard Press, 1972.
- Poliakov, Leon. The History of Anti-Semitism: From Mohammed to the Marranos. Vol. 2. NY: Vanguard Press, 1974.
- Poliakov, Leon. The History of Anti-Semitism from Voltaire to Wagner. Vol. 3. NY: Vanguard Press, 1976.
- Poliakov, Leon. The History of Anti-Semitism: Suicidal Europe 1870–1933. Vol. 4. NY: Vanguard Press, 1976.
- Roth, Cecil. Ritual Murder Libel and the Jew: The Report by Cardinal Lorenzo Ganganelli (Pope Clement XIV). London: Woburn Press, 1934.
- Roth, Norman. Jews, Visigoths, and Muslims in Medieval Spain: Cooperation and Conflict. Brill, 1994.
- Roumani, Maurice. The Case of the Jews from Arab Countries: A Neglected Issue. Tel Aviv: World Organization of Jews from Arab Countries, 1977.
- Sarte, Jean Paul. Anti-Semite and Jew. NY: Schocken Books, 1995.
- Stillman, Norman. The Jews of Arab Lands. PA: The Jewish Publication Society of America, 1989.
- Stillman, Norman. The Jews of Arab Lands in Modern Times. NY: Jewish Publication Society, 1991.
- Trachtenberg, Joshua. The Devil and the Jews: The Medieval Conception of the Jew and Its Relation to Modern Anti-Semitism. PA: Jewish Publication Society, 1989.
- Weinberg, Meyer. Because They Were Jews: A History of Antisemitism. NY: Greenwood Press, 1986.
- Wistrich, Robert S. Antisemitism: The Longest Hatred. NY: Pantheon Books, 1991.
- Wistrich, Robert S. Anti-Zionism and Antisemitism in the Contemporary World. NY: Schocken, 1994.
- Wistrich, Robert S. A Lethal Obsession: Anti-Semitism from Antiquity to the Global Jihad. NY: Random House, 2010.
- Wistrich, Robert S. From Ambivalence to Betrayal: The Left, the Jews, and Israel. University of Nebraska Press, 2012.
- Ye’or, Bat. The Dhimmi. Associated University Press, 1985.
- Zola, Emile, Eleanor Levieux, Alain Pages (Ed.). The Dreyfus Affair: ‘J’Accuse’ and Other Writings. CT: Yale University Press, 1996.
