Israel-criticism and modern anti-Semitism

Abstract

After the Third Reich was defeated, the expression of openly anti-Semitic attitudes was, to be sure, discredited in the German public, but anti-Semitism did not, however, disappear entirely. It was instead camouflaged in various ways, and even found socially and politically compatible expression in the criticism of Israeli Palestine policy.Previous research in this area gives evidence that modern anti-Semitism represents a complex formation constituted from a variety of facets which range from classical (manifest) anti-Semitism via latent anti-Semitism, secondary anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism to the use of Israel-criticism as a medium where anti-Semitic attitudes can be expressed in a seemingly unsuspicious way. However, it can be assumed that not all criticism of the Israeli Palestine policy is motivated by anti-Semitic attitudes. It may be motivated by pacifist attitudes and/or human rights considerations as well.The present paper discusses some theoretical and methodological issues of a forthcoming research project, which aims to investigate how the various facets of anti-Semitism can be measured, how they combine in individual attitude patterns, how these patterns are disseminated, and how criticism of Israel motivated by anti-Semitism can be differentiated from other forms of criticizing Israel.