Introducing Antisemitism and Antisemitic Tropes

• What is antisemitism, and how is it visible in the world today?
• What are some commonly believed antisemitic lies and myths?
• What is the impact of antisemitism? 

• Students will be able to define antisemitism.
• Students will identify some of the commonly believed lies and myths of contemporary antisemitism.

The history of hatred and prejudice towards Jews extends back in time more than two millennia, when malicious lies and rumours were first circulated about Jews. Early on, the discrimination of Jews was linked to their religious beliefs, and thus known as anti-Judaism; however, it later became linked to an idea that Jews were biologically different. In Spain in the mid 1400s, Purity of Blood laws were developed ‘to differentiate between “Old Christians” of Catholic heritage, and conversos, the newer Christian converts of known or suspected Jewish or Muslim heritage’. ¹ By focusing on ‘blood’, the laws suggested there was an innate, biological and hateful difference between conversos and ‘Old Christians’. Those who were considered to have ‘impure’ blood due to their Jewish or Muslim heritage were subsequently prevented by law from marrying ‘Old Christians’, discriminated against and prohibited from taking on certain positions in public life. These Purity of Blood laws were later central to the Spanish Inquisition and were used to justify the persecution, torture and expulsion of Jews and Muslims from Spain. The notion that Jews were biologically different was then reinforced by the emergence of the concept of race during the Enlightenment: Jews were depicted as a separate ‘semitic’ race. 

‘Race science’, which advanced the idea that humankind is divided into separate and unequal races, was originally invented in the 1700s by scientists in Europe and the Americas to justify slavery and other imperialistic practices: if it could be scientifically proven that white people were biologically superior to those who they colonised and enslaved, then their actions would not contradict the Enlightenment ideals of human freedom and equality. The trend for ‘race science’ continued on into the late 1800s with many white European and American scientists continuing to divide humankind into smaller and smaller ‘races’. One of these was the ‘Semitic race’, which they used to categorise Jews and which led to the emergence of antisemitism: antisemites used ‘race science’ to justify discrimination against Jews. Antisemitism is, therefore, a form of racism. 

Although ‘race science’ was widely denounced after the Second World War and the mass murder of 6 million Jews by Nazi Germany and its allies, the ideas it propagated of racial difference have not gone away. Antisemitism still exists, as does anti-Judaism. At their root, both antisemitism and anti-Judaism rely on the idea that certain physical, intellectual and moral differences exist between Jews and other groups, and that these differences are biological, permanent, and render Jews odious. 

Since 2009, the number of antisemitic incidents recorded in the UK has, on the whole, been increasing. ² The Community Security Trust (CST), a UK charity that advises and represents the Jewish community on matters of antisemitism, terrorism, policing and security, has documented this rise and highlighted how the number of incidents has been historically high in recent years. ³

This rise in antisemitism is due to a range of factors: far-right theories of white supremacy, which build on ideas initially propagated by ‘race science’, have gained more momentum in recent years, aided by nationalistic sentiment; ⁴ the political sphere – the rise in populism, antisemitism in the Labour Party, and the referendum on the UK’s membership of the European Union (EU) in 2016 – has created a space in which antisemitic ideas have gained prominence; conspiracy theories scapegoating Jews to suggest they are behind – and the beneficiaries of – global events such COVID-19, 9/11 and, paradoxically, the Holocaust have, with the help of social media, reached large audiences; ⁵ and spikes in conflict between Israel-Palestine have been exploited by those with antisemitic prejudices and used as an opportunity to attack Jews everywhere. ⁶ These manifestations, along with others, deploy old antisemitic tropes, adapting them to retain relevance in contemporary society. 

As Joe Mulhall notes: 

Across the millennia the core prejudice and hatred has remained constant, but the form and lexicon of antisemitism has often changed and updated to reach new audiences in each new century and for each new generation. ⁷

Antisemitism is a threat to human rights: it can make Jewish individuals and communities fearful of displaying their Jewish identity in case they are attacked, and, like all expressions of hate, it can allow intolerance to flourish (hate begets hate). 

As Human Rights First notes:

Antisemitic violence harms not only its direct victims but entire Jewish communities, preventing them from being able to exercise their fundamental rights. And the potential damage is even greater: Left unchecked, antisemitism leads to the persecution of other minorities, and to an overall increase in repression and intolerance. An increase in antisemitism is a harbinger of societal breakdown. ⁸

The persistence of, and rise in, antisemitism in the UK and around the world should be of concern to us all.

• 1 Meghan Berry, ‘Limpieza de Sangre: Legal Applications of the Spanish Doctrine of “Blood Purity”’, Library of Congress, 10 September 2021 (accessed 14 October 2021).
• 2 Although the number of incidents in 2010, 2011 and 2012 was lower than in 2009, the totals of each of these years was higher than in 2008. The dip in 2013 seems to be an anomaly: from 2014, the incidents rose considerably until the dip in 2020. It is worth noting that the amount of antisemitic incidents the CST recorded in the UK in 2020, though slightly lower than in 2019, was still the third highest total ever recorded (2019 remains the highest annual total ever recorded by the CST). Antisemitic Incidents: Report 2020 , Community Security Trust, 13 (accessed 14 October 2021).
• 3 Ibid.
• 4 Cristina Ariza, ‘White nationalists are recruiting the younger generation in the UK’, Open Democracy, 3 December 2020 (accessed 22 November 2021).
• 5Joe Mulhall, Antisemitism in the Digital Age: Online Antisemitic Hate, Holocaust Denial, Conspiracy Ideologies and Terrorism in Europe , Amadeu Antonio Foundation, Expo Foundation and HOPE not hate, October 2021 (accessed 22 November 2021).
• 6Benjamin Ward, ‘Europe’s Worrying Surge of Antisemitism’, Human Rights Watch, 17 May 2021 (accessed 30 September 2021).
• 7Mulhall, Antisemitism in the Digital Age , 10.
• 8 ‘Breaking the Cycle of Violence’, Human Rights First, 7 January 2016, 1 (accessed 23 November 2021).

We recommend that you revisit your classroom contract before teaching this lesson. If you do not have a class contract, you can use our contracting guidelines for creating a classroom contract or another procedure you have used in the past.

A note on the terms anti-Judaism and antisemitism: 

• The term anti-Judaism refers both to the religious prejudice against Jews before the historical emergence of the concept of race, and to the continued existence of negative ideas about Jews and what it means to be Jewish. 
• The word Semitic does not actually refer to a group of people. It is not a ‘race’ but rather a linguistic term that refers to a group of languages traditionally spoken in the Middle East and parts of Africa, including Amharic, a language spoken in Ethiopia, as well as Hebrew and Arabic. 

Antisemitism is hatred of, or hostility towards, Jews and is also a form of racism. 

• Trope – A commonly shared idea, phrase or story.
• Dog-whistling – Using code words to express racist and/or hateful feelings and content to avoid being called out on what you are saying.  

Add these words to your Word Wall, if you are using one for this unit, and provide necessary support to help students learn these words as you teach the lesson. 

Please note, we have opted not to use a formal definition of antisemitism, such as those outlined in the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism, the Nexus Document or the Jerusalem Declaration on Antisemitism as formal definitions, though helpful, can be limiting. If you do choose to share any of these definitions with students, consider sharing more than one of them and inviting students to consider the similarities and differences. It is also important to ensure that students understand that these definitions are just guidelines and, as such, may not capture the realities of certain situations. Please be attentive to the needs of your students and consider how different definitions might impact their feelings of safety.

Several antisemitic tropes have their origins in the discriminatory behaviour of the early Christian church and its treatment of Jews: Jews were blamed for social ills, banned from serving in most professions and accused of killing Jesus (and later Christian children). When teaching the reality of this difficult history, it is important students understand that interfaith dialogue and work has helped to heal generations of religious conflict between Jews and Christians. In 1965, for example, the Catholic Church released a declaration called the ‘Nostra Aetate’, which stated that the wider Jewish community and Jews today could not be held responsible for the death of Jesus. 

The Church of England has also made attempts at religious reconciliation. To learn more about this work, see Tony Kushner’s article ‘The Church of England is apologising for medieval antisemitism – why now?’ ¹ and the book God’s Unfailing Word: Theological and Practical Perspectives on Christian–Jewish Relations published by the Faith and Order Commission of the Church of England.

• 1Tony Kushner, ‘The Church of England is apologising for medieval antisemitism – why now?’, The Conversation, 16 July 2021 (accessed 22 September 2022).

Give students the handout Overview of Anti-Judaism and Antisemitism to help them understand the long history of hatred and discrimination against Jews, and learn about how anti-Judaism, a religious prejudice, was transformed in the nineteenth century into antisemitism, a form of racism. 

Once students have worked their way through the handout independently or in pairs, debrief the handout with students by asking them to share their answers to the questions. Take this opportunity to correct any misunderstandings regarding the history of anti-Judaism and antisemitism.

To help students reflect on othering and how humans respond to difference, share James Berry’s poem What Do We Do With a Variation?. Read it out loud as a class before asking students to discuss the accompanying questions in pairs or small groups. Then, lead a short class discussion to debrief the activity and encourage students to make connections between what they have learnt in the lesson and the content of the poem.

For further assistance on helping students understand what antisemitism is, how it shows up in contemporary settings, why it persists, and how it impacts individuals and communities, please see our Explainer: Antisemitism and Its Impacts. Please note, this Explainer has a US focus.