Why I don’t love ‘Jew hate’ as a substitute for ‘antisemitism’

BY TODD L. PITTINSKY

(JTA) – I read a lot about antisemitism – as a professor researching prejudice, as a former fellow at a Holocaust memorial center, as a blogger for The Times of Israel, as the son of a Jewish father who was so grateful to get to live in the United States and as the father of a Jewish son in that same country, but with antisemitism on the rise.

I’ve noticed a shift in what I’m reading. The media, especially social media, are increasingly replacing the term “antisemitism” with a new term: “Jew hate.”

“Simply put, antisemitism is Jew hate,” Richard Lovett, co-chairman of Creative Artists Agency, the world’s leading entertainment and talent agency and a mar- keting and branding powerhouse, remarked last month in an address encouraging his industry to fight antisemitism. Also last month, the governor and attorney general of Massachusetts, the mayor of Boston and other state leaders launched a campaign to “#StandUpToJewishHate,” an effort bankrolled by New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft.

Brooke Goldstein, the founder of the pro-Israel Lawfare Project and author of the book “End Jew Hatred,” has started an organization with the same name. The nonprofit JewBelong launched the #EndJewHate billboard campaign in 2021 in cities around the country.

London’s Jewish Chronicle – the oldest continuously published Jewish newspaper in the world – has now run several articles using “Jew hate” in addition to or instead of “antisemitism.”

I have asked colleagues who work on Holocaust remembrance, fighting antisemitism and promoting tolerance why they now prefer “Jew hate” to “antisemitism.” They consider it strong and clever branding, jarring and unapologetic, and I can’t argue with that. The phrase packs a punch. And it aligns Jewish groups with a larger social phenomenon: the various efforts to study and stop the menacing resurgence of hate groups. There are new university centers for the study of hate, new hate-focused conferences and several journals dedicated to hate studies. Hate is hot. Branding antisemitism as

“Jew hate,” it is hoped, will help to mainstream concern about antisemitism.

The popularity of “Jew hate” coincides with concerns about the term “antisemitism.” Once usually spelled “anti-Semitism,” the term is increasingly spelled without the hyphen and with a lowercase first “s.” This change was made out of concern that the former spelling reinforced the pseudo-scientific, long-discredited idea that Jews are members of the “Semitic” race.

Nevertheless, adopting “Jew hate” in place of “antisemitism” is a big mistake. It misses way too much.

The term “antisemitism” – like the reality it describes – encompasses not only hate, but also fear and envy. People can fear or envy Jews with- we raised nearly $3.1 million for our annual campaign, and another $200,000 for special projects and initiatives. $3.3 million to support all of the important elements in our local community, and with our partners in Israel, in Warsaw, and in Rosario, Argentina. This community happens because of all of you. Thank you for your support. I also have such gratitude for our tribe of JCC members. Over 1,500 individuals, who inspire me when I see you around the building. Whether it’s the sound of basketball players running up and down the court on Sunday mornings, the unique sound when a pickleball hits the wooden paddle, or the sound of prayer emanating from Congregation Beth Sholom on Saturday morning, this building is alive with community. It’s because of our JCC members

CONTINUED ON PAGE 19 out hating them. True, these biases can lead to stereotypes about Jews and the negative consequences of those stereotypes. People with preconceived notions about Jews are likely to notice and remember selectively or simply hear and believe whatever supports their biases while disregarding, disbelieving or downplaying information to the contrary. One Jewish head of a major newspaper or movie studio, according to this thinking, shows that Jews control the media. In this way, antisemitism can be self-perpetuating even when not powered by outright hatred.

“Jew hate” does not take into account apathy, the lack of concern that throughout

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