antiSemitism

Antisemitism is hostility toward or discrimination against Jews as a religious, ethnic, or racial group. It encompasses a range of attitudes and actions, including prejudice, stereotyping, social exclusion, harassment, and violence. Historically it has been expressed in religious hostility, racial theories, economic myths, political prejudice, and, in modern times, in both overt and coded forms. Antisemitism can fuel discrimination against individuals or Jewish communities and can manifest in policies, speech, and online content. Some scholars distinguish it from legitimate political critique of Judaism or Israel, noting that antisemitism targets Jews as a group regardless of individual beliefs.

Antisemitism has deep historical roots in ancient and medieval Europe, where religious persecution, expulsions, and blood libel myths were common. In the modern era it was joined to racial theories and pseudoscience, culminating in Nazi Germany’s genocide of six million Jews during World War II. After 1945 antisemitism persisted in religious, ethnic, and political forms and has continued in many regions, sometimes accompanying violent acts and hate crimes.

Forms include religious antisemitism (blaming Jews for alleged deicide), racial antisemitism (pseudoscientific claims about Jewish biological inferiority), economic and conspiracy myths (central bankers, global control), and political forms such as antisemitic tropes in public discourse. In recent years antisemitism has flourished online, i