Anti-Semitism in Britain: continuity and the absence of a resurgence

Kushner, Antony (2013) Anti-Semitism in Britain: continuity and the absence of a resurgence. [in special issue: Racialization and Religion: Race, Culture and Difference in the Study of Antisemitism and Islamophobia] Ethnic and Racial Studies, 36 (3), 434-449. (doi:10.1080/01419870.2013.734387).

Record type: Article

Abstract

It has become the orthodoxy in recent years to assume that anti-Semitism globally is not only rising but also taking a new form – it is a ‘new anti-Semitism’ or even a new phenomenon: Judeophobia. This article takes a different perspective. It initially covers approaches to anti-Semitism and how, especially in the light of the Holocaust, it has been viewed academically as no longer the fault of the Jews but as a natural and constant feature of history since antiquity. A critique is provided of the idea of a continuous history of anti-Semitism and of the metaphors used to describe it. There then follows a case study of anti-Semitism in Britain. The British case is valuable as it is seen as a key example of the ‘new anti-Semitism’, and one that is more striking given the alleged absence of previous hostility towards Jews in that country. By employing a comparative approach – both temporal and in relation to responses to other groups – change and continuity are charted through a study of racial violence. Such comparisons, it is argued, allow a more nuanced and balanced analysis of this issue, which has created much alarm and little sober reflection.

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