A new cover for Jew-hatred: Why the word 'antisemitism' is under attack – opinion

The article discusses a deliberate campaign to degrade the word "antisemitism," transforming it from a term for hatred into an accusation of bad faith. This effort is compared to Edward Said's successful redefinition of "Orientalist," making it a pejorative term. The author explains that "antisemitism" gained its negative connotation after Auschwitz, and the current campaign aims to revert it to a publicly acceptable position, as it was for Wilhelm Marr's generation in 1879.

• The campaign involves diverse ideological actors who converge on attacking the word itself, rather than defending Jew-hatred, because "Jew-hatred loses in the open."
• This strategy recasts accusations of antisemitism as smears or weapons, making the accuser seem like the aggressor and the hater a "censored truth-teller."
• The degradation is financially motivated, with hate streamers earning significant income, and it indirectly increases the operational freedom of those the word describes.
• The author notes that the abuse of the word, similar to the misuse of the "communist" charge in the 1950s, grants cover to the guilty and manufactures immunity for the conduct it names.

The article concludes by highlighting the real-world consequences, citing the J7 task force report that 2025 was the deadliest year for antisemitic violence outside Israel since 1994, with 20 people murdered.