Confronting the oldest hatred in its newest forms – from the editor

Some say that antisemitism is the world’s oldest form of racism. No one can quantify if that is true or not, but the reality is the world has become a scary place for Jews since the Hamas-led massacres on October 7, 2023.

Whether you love Israel, support its government, or believe its actions in Gaza in this war are justified or not, Jews are prime targets of hate and antisemitic incidents, which are surging everywhere.

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Attacks against Jews come in many guises. From Australia to Britain, France to the US and Canada, some have been deadly, while others more nuanced – Jews erased from certain industries, challenged about their views, or forced to hide their identities to stay safe.

In this edition of The Jerusalem Report, we look at the resurgence of this age-old hatred and hear from top professionals combating it.

For the cover story, David Harris, executive vice chair of the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy (ISGAP), lays out how the organized Jewish world must view antisemitism as an extension of Israel’s war.

The Jerusalem Post’s editor-in-chief, Zvika Klein, asks why, after the billions spent on fighting antisemitism, this phenomenon is still growing. Kenneth Jacobson, deputy national director of the Anti-Defamation League, shares the latest data on the scourge.

Jeffrey Veidlinger, director of the Raoul Wallenberg Institute at the University of Michigan, argues it’s time for US colleges to better distinguish between protected political protest and antisemitic intimidation or criminal conduct by employing clear legal standards

On a global level, Ben Cohen, director of Rapid Response at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies in Washington, looks at the pervasive blood libel being wielded against Jews in international institutions.

Israeli author and online activist Hen Mazzig, at the forefront of the digital fight to counter antisemitism, recounts his personal experiences, while Report staff writer Chani Kaplan tells about her first-hand experience monitoring online Jew-hatred.

Feature writer Lianne Kolirin sums up the relentless antisemitism in the United Kingdom and The Post’s correspondent Mathilda Heller delves into the lives of British Jewish college students who have been abandoned by their institutions.

Feature writer Batsheva Shulman talks to South African Jews about what they’ve gone through since October 7, and Neville Teller explores the roots and validity of “intersectionality.” 

Egyptian dissident Dalia Ziada, a research fellow at ISGAP, writes about the rampant – and unchallenged – Jew-blaming in the Arab world.

The Post’s Lara Sukster Mosheyof takes us back to an era of antisemitism through the eyes of Zevi Ghivelder – one of the few journalists still alive who covered Adolf Eichmann’s 1961 trial.

Looking at the ongoing war, Eric R. Mandel writes about the role Syria could play in emerging diplomacy, and Israel’s former deputy foreign minister, Danny Ayalon, and Moran Alaluf, a Middle East analyst, examine the diplomatic miscalculations by America vis-à-vis Iran. Feature writer Dana Ben-Shimon explains recent developments in Jordan, which recently brought back the death penalty.

Wrapping up the edition are two articles from students who participated in the “Art of Journalism” workshop at Reichman University’s School of Communications: Ben Kauschansky explores the trend of Israelis moving to Germany 80 years after World War II, while Noa Jeifetz writes about integration challenges facing young olim.

It’s another packed edition, putting the urgent issues facing the Jewish world and the Middle East into perspective.