From Diane Abbott’s recent letter in the Observer, to Whoopi Goldberg’s assertion that the Holocaust wasn’t about race, it still seems that no one can agree on what antisemitism actually is. Is it racism? Religious persecution? Prejudice? More questions swiftly arise: Aren’t Jews white? Is the Labour party antisemitic? What’s the difference between antisemitism and anti-Zionism? Picking apart these claims and counterclaims, Rachel Shabi provides a comprehensive analysis of contemporary antisemitism. Reflecting on its various and nebulous forms, Shabi demonstrates how this quagmire of confusions, conspiracies and misinformation is by design. And how there might be a hopeful way forward for progressive politics.
