In this review of the just published book “On Antisemitism: A Word in History” by Mark Mazower, Omer Bartov, the Dean’s Professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Brown University, lays out well-established arguments on why anti-Zionism is not implicitly antisemitism. Bartov’s elaboration in this piece of the threat of Jew hatred from the right, however, is his most important contribution to this discussion. This is the first of two parts.
A string of incidents over the last month has revealed the extent to which bigotry and Jew hatred have taken center stage in the Republican Party and the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement, which ushered Donald Trump to a second term in the White House. The widespread antisemitism and racism within the right wing have also led to a public debate among conservative politicians and pundits. And they have taken the fig leaf off Trump’s claims that he is combating antisemitism by arresting and trying to deport pro-Palestinian students, academics, and others; strong-arming universities like Columbia; and threatening non-profits and other groups opposing his policies by applying terrorism designations and more.