What’s in a name? - Column 13
REFLECTIONS Written by Lana Melman for the SOUTH FLORIDA JEWISH JOURNAL / SUN SENTINEL. Originally published on July 15, 2024.
While other persecuted minorities define the injustice against them and rage against anyone who mislabels it, we Jews are still debating the definition of the word antisemitism both among ourselves and with third parties.
In 1998 the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) felt that it needed to define the term antisemitism to combat it. Its definition includes harmful stereotypes, Holocaust denial, and Israel-related discrimination. It has been adopted by numerous organizations, companies, cities, and countries. It aids in anti-hate training and the enforcement of laws prohibiting discrimination against us. Thank you, IHRA.
Yet, the debate, denial, and confusion continue.
During an interview in the podcast Drink Champs on October 16, 2022, Kanye West made the statement that Black people can't be antisemitic because they are the true descendants of Semitic tribes. The same has been said of Arab Jew-hatred.
A major problem is the root of the word. The Oxford Dictionary tells us a Semite is “a member of any of the peoples who speak or spoke a Semitic language, including in particular the Jews and Arabs.”
The term “anti-Semitism,” however, was coined in 1879 by the German agitator Wilhelm Marr to describe the anti-Jewish campaigns in central Europe and to spread the idea that Jews are a distinct and inferior race. It was propagated by people who hate us to describe a movement to get rid of us. Now, third parties think they have the grounds to redefine it.
I think it is time to revisit the name for the centuries-long scourge against the Jewish people and consider peppering our conversations with more elucidating language. Jew-hatred, anti-Jewish bigotry, anti-Jewish racism, and anti-Jewish discrimination are powerful phrases that describe who and what you are talking about. They derail the disingenuous claim that people don’t know what the word antisemitism means.
At first, this might make you uncomfortable. When I use these synonyms in my lectures, which I often do, eyebrows are raised. They are an unequivocal moral indictment of the perpetrator. They rouse feelings in us because they strip away any veil that clouds what is happening.
It is empowering. Try it.
And what’s with all the different spellings: antisemitism, anti-Semitism, Antisemitism? When we do use it, and I often do as a writer for word variety if nothing else, let’s pick one. I vote for “antisemitism” without the hyphen or any capital letters. It’s the spelling most like the other socially deplorable “isms” like racism, genderism, and ageism. It brings greater clarity and personalizes the experience.
How a community describes its experience is essential to its identity and ability to defend itself.
Let’s call this pox upon us what it is: Jew-hatred.
Read the original article here.
Bio: Lana Melman is the CEO of Liberate Art and the author of Artists Under Fire: The BDS War against Celebrities, Jews, and Israel. She is a 20-year veteran of the entertainment industry and has been a leader in the fight against the cultural boycott campaign against Israel since 2011. Learn more or contact: www.liberateart.net
Lana Melman is a contributing columnist for the South Florida Jewish Journal / Sun Sentinel.