The New Anti-Semitism
Dr. Phyllis Chesler
Gefen Publishing House
Dr. Phyllis Chesler has released a new edition of her essential book The New Anti-Semitism. Originally written more than a decade ago, this expanded and updated version provides readers the necessary context and perspective with which to understand the phenomenon of contemporary Jew-hatred.
Chesler, a professor emerita of psychology and the bestselling author of 15 books including the feminist classic Women and Madness, was among the first to have understood and denounced the suicidal alliance between the Western intelligentsia and fundamentalist Islam. The al Aqsa intifada, launched in 2000, and the 9/11 attacks a year later, served as the impetus for the book.
“War and a new kind of anti-Semitism had been declared,” she writes.
Because she is keenly aware that anti-Semitism may start with the Jews but never ends with the Jews, she makes the logical connection between the opprobrium for both America and Israel so commonplace on the political left.
“The Palestinian uprising has increasingly been seen as the uprising of all oppressed peoples against their colonial oppressors, that is, Jews, Zionists and Americans,” she ruefully observes. And, she notes, few understand that Muslim history is one of imperialism, colonialism, conversion by the sword, gender and religious apartheid, and slavery. Only the post-enlightenment Judeo-Christian West is seen as a blight on humanity.
Chesler’s meticulous research shines through her writing as she explores the genesis of post-9/11 Islamic terrorism directed against the West. Israel, of course, is viewed as very much an adjunct and outpost of Western culture and “imperialism” – the “little Satan” – by pro-Palestinian apologists and Chesler takes their Big Lies and bold propaganda to task by exposing their motives. Case in point: The unfortunate Muhammed Dura incident and the use of “fauxtography” are given more than an ample dose of good old-fashioned sunlight as she looks at one of the most egregious anti-Israel hoaxes ever sold to the public.
As would be expected in a book of this kind by an academic as thorough and penetrating as Chesler, extensive attention is devoted the rise of anti-Zionism and outright anti-Semitism on college campuses: physical attacks on pro-Israel students, heckling of pro-Israel speakers, the phenomenon of academic boycotts against Israel, and the lies promulgated during the widespread annual college event known as Israel Apartheid Week, for starters.
Chesler is a realist who doesn’t attempt to sugarcoat the obvious. European anti-Semitism is at pre-World War II levels and the flames of destruction are being consistently fanned not only by the usual suspects but by the formidable fourth estate. The European press, she writes, has “continuously held Israel accountable for Palestinian terrorism, and justified human homicide bombing as a function of Palestinian ‘despair.’ ”
The book is driven by concrete and verifiable data. What causes the words to leap off the pages, however, is the nuanced and sharp analyses offered by Chesler and an extensive array of experts. Frightening though it may be, it’s a necessary and informative read that provides us with the kind of perspective we need to tackle the new anti-Semitism, so much of which is conveniently disguised as anti-Zionism.
On an uplifting note, she offers suggestions as to how each of us can support Israel and Judaism.
In one of her closing exhortations, Chesler hits on inarguably the most important component in the struggle to stay afloat as a people confronted with a rising tide of anti-Semitism.
She writes: “Dare I say it? I must. I implore Jews to stop fighting with each other. Even if we disagree, we must try to do so respectfully, soulfully…. We are an eternal people engaged in an eternal struggle with evil.”