How to Fight Anti-Semitism

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How to Fight Anti-Semitism
First edition cover
AuthorBari Weiss
Audio read byBari Weiss
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
SubjectAntisemitism
GenreNon-fiction
PublisherCrown
Publication date
September 10, 2019
Media typePrint (Hardcover)
Pages224
ISBN978-0-593-13605-8
305.892/4
LC ClassDS145 .W46 2019

How to Fight Anti-Semitism is a 2019 book by journalist Bari Weiss that explores the history and current manifestations of antisemitism and attempts to provide strategies to oppose it. Weiss identifies the main strains of antisemitism as left-wing, right-wing, and Islamic antisemitism, and tries to provide a history of each variety. Weiss said that the book will discuss the "alarming rise of antisemitism in (the United States) and in Europe" and will propose ways to address the problem.[1][2]

As of January 2022, the book was translated into French[3] and Arabic.[4][5]

Content[edit]

The book opens about Bari Weiss' recollection of the events of the Tree of Life Synagogue shooting, a synagogue that Weiss had attended years earlier for her Bat Mitzvah. Weiss recalls in horror that the shooting hit so close to home for her, but she uses the story of the shooting to launch into the larger picture of what might be a growing trend of antisemitism in the United States.[6]

She touches on the notion of the different spellings of antisemitism from "anti-semitism" to "antisemitism." Though Weiss does acknowledge Deborah Lipstadt's usage and Lipstadt's sound reasoning for choosing to drop the hyphen (there is no semitism, so how can there be an anti- to something that does not exist), Weiss evidently prefers the hyphenated spelling, though she does not explain why.[6]

Weiss goes to great effort to point out in the book how Israel is uniquely singled out over and over by the United Nations and other critics in ways she considers to be unfair:

The suffering of the Palestinians...is a strain on the Jewish soul. Including mine. But it would be obscene to claim that Israel's flaws are indistinguishable from the killing fields of Sudan or the depravity of the North Korean slave state. And yet it is the Jewish state that is singled out for condemnation again and again. According to UN Watch, between 2006 and 2016, the United Nations Human Rights Council condemned Israel on sixty-eight different occasions. The country with the next most was Syria, with twenty. North Korea had nine. China, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan: all zero.[6]

Reception[edit]

How To Fight Anti-Semitism won the 2019 National Jewish Book Award of the Jewish Book Council.

Hillel Halkin writing in The New York Times (significantly the paper from which Weiss famously resigned in protest) opens his review saying that "Bari Weiss has written what must be judged a brave book. That it must be is a badge of shame for the 'progressive' America with which she identifies." Halkin praises Weiss for the "courage for a politically liberal American Jew like Weiss to point out that Jews, though a tiny percentage of the population of the United States, are the victims of over half of its reported hate crimes? That anti-Jewish rhetoric, once confined to right-wing extremists, now infests the American left, too?" Halkin goes on to explain the attacks Weiss received from progressives asking: "Should someone like Weiss, an editor and opinion writer at The New York Times, have to expect brickbats from her colleagues for observing that a vicious demonization of Israel and its supporters has become routine in much of the American left and endemic on college and university campuses?" This question asked in 2019 seems almost prophetic of the hundreds of anti-Israel protests—many slipping into anti-Jewish hate speech and actions [7]—on college campuses following the October 7 2023 Hamas attack on Israel."[8]

Yehudah Mirsky writing in The Guardian says, "Loosely written, going not deep but wide, she brings together trends whose crisscrossing makes for much current confusion. And her observations generally ring true. Her taking aim at both right and left will infuriate some but is on the mark."[9]

Tal Lavin of The Nation says that Weiss presents an anti-intellectual argument in her exploration of antisemitism. Lavin says that Weiss presents simplistic caricatures of both the left and the right, and that the presentation of Muslim antisemitism suggests exclusion of Muslim groups from Europe under a veil of plausible deniability. Lavin concludes his review by stating that the "profound lack of intellectual curiosity, proportionality, and material analysis in the book renders it worse than simply useless."[10]

Jordan Weissmann of Slate presents a sharp critique of Weiss's book. Weissmann highlights as his central criticism the false equivalence between antisemitism on the right and on the left. He argues that by reaching towards genocide as the endpoint of left-wing antisemitism, Weiss far overstates her case. However, the phrase, "When people are occupied, resistance is justified," became increasingly popular in the following years to justify attacks against Israeli civilians,[11] most notably following the October 7 massacres by Hamas, when this chant could be heard at scores of anti-Israel protests and was used to justify the brutal onslaught.[12][13][14][15][16][17][18] Weissman argues that Weiss often fails to present a complete picture of events and people, that Weiss never explores evangelical antisemitism, and that Weiss presents an oversimplified view of how antisemitic radicalization occurs.[19]

Linda F. Burghardt of the Jewish Book Council commented: "Weiss's exposition of modern antisemitism deep and layered, and her multifaceted plan for Jews and their allies to fight it is creative and insightful."[20] Burghadt summarizes Weiss's argument as advocating for Jewish authenticity, or positivity, to be proud of Jewish culture, and firm in respect and admiration for Jewish historical legacy. Strengthening Jewish identity will, in turn, strengthen Jewish image in the world. She refers to Weiss's book as "outstanding" in the face of rising antisemitism in the United States.[20]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Dolstein, Josefin (27 February 2019). "New York Times opinion editor Bari Weiss writing book on anti-Semitism". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 1 July 2019.
  2. ^ Spiro, Amy (28 February 2019). "Jewish 'New York Times' writer to pen book on antisemitism Bari Weiss signed a two-book deal with Crown Publishing". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 1 July 2019.
  3. ^ "Bari Weiss: "Le wokisme va consumer les institutions d'où il est parti"". LEFIGARO (in French). 16 November 2021.
  4. ^ "How to Fight Anti-Semitism by Bari Weiss, in Arabic - Ideas Beyond Borders". 6 January 2022. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
  5. ^ "Introducing How to Fight Anti-Semitism in Arabic". FDD. 24 August 2021.
  6. ^ a b c Weiss, Bari (2019). How to Fight Anti-Semitism. Crown Publishing. ISBN 978-0-593-13626-3.
  7. ^ Reeve, Elle (4 November 2023). "Protest, fear and pride: US college students reflect on how they're impacted by Israel-Hamas war". CNN. Retrieved 9 November 2023.
  8. ^ Halkin, Hillel (10 September 2019). "The Persistence of the Oldest Hatred: 'How To Fight Anti-Semitism' by Bari Weiss". The New York Times.
  9. ^ Mirsky, Yehudah (16 September 2019). "How to Fight Anti-Semitism review – Bari Weiss's elegy for Pittsburgh". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 November 2023.
  10. ^ Lavin, Talia (1 October 2019). "Bari Weiss's 'How to Fight Anti-Semitism' Is Just a Frustrating, Book-Length Op-Ed". The Nation. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
  11. ^ Daily, Victor Simoes The (5 December 2022). "Resistance is justified when people are occupied". The Daily of the University of Washington. Retrieved 1 March 2024.
  12. ^ Pengelly, Martin (10 October 2023). "AOC decries 'bigotry and callousness' of pro-Palestinian rally in New York". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 1 March 2024.
  13. ^ Hernandez, Tristan (26 October 2023). "Hundreds walk out for Palestine, demand action from Yale". Yale Daily News. Retrieved 1 March 2024.
  14. ^ Center on Extremism (8 October 2023). "Support for Hamas Terror at Anti-Israel Rallies Across the U.S." Anti-Defamation League.
  15. ^ Tress, Luke (9 October 2023). "Chanting '700,' pro-Palestinian activists in New York fete Hamas attack". The Times of Israel.
  16. ^ "Hundreds of UCLA students participate in march, walkout for Palestine". Daily Bruin. Retrieved 1 March 2024.
  17. ^ Hamburger, Jay (23 January 2024). "Pro-Palestinian march during Sundance: 'Resistance is justified when people are occupied'". www.parkrecord.com. Retrieved 1 March 2024.
  18. ^ "Ben & Jerry's chair: 'When people are occupied resistance is justified!'". Jewish News Syndicate. 6 December 2023.
  19. ^ Weissmann, Jordan (6 September 2019). "Bari Weiss' New Book on Anti-Semitism Talks About the Left the Way Anti-Semites Talk About Jews". Slate. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
  20. ^ a b Burghardt, Linda F. "How to Fight Anti-Semitism". jewishbookcouncil.org. Jewish Book Council. Retrieved 30 August 2023.
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