‘The Jews are our Misfortune!’ Contemporary antisemitism as a hydra-headed phenomenon

Abstract

ABSTRACT Antisemitism has once again proven itself to be an international phenomenon, crossing borders and cultures with ease and adept at finding major issues in the public square, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, upon which to hang its claims. This article argues that antisemitism currently takes four major forms: Anti-Zionist antisemitism, which targets the State of Israel as a Jewish collectivity; Neo-Traditionalism, which revives pre-modern anti-Judaic notions in contemporary guise; Holocaust relativisation, which involves instrumentalizing and distorting the nature of the Holocaust without denying it outright; and anti-Judaism, which manifests in efforts to ban circumcision, kosher slaughter and other core Jewish rituals. The article concludes by examining whether the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Working Definition of Antisemitism is an adequate tool for engaging with a growing problem, suggesting ways in which the definition might be amended to make it more effective.