LOOKING FOR AN ENEMY

Dispatches from the harrowing resurgence of global antisemitism.

One theme that emerges in this well-curated collection of essays is that while antisemitism has become more visible in recent years, it has never ebbed. As Glanville writes, “the perception of Jews as a globally united group, operating clandestinely across borders, has survived as a formula to be applied in any era.” Photographer and writer Mikołaj Grynberg describes how Poland’s Jewish population has eroded due to pogroms, Communist-era edicts, and gag orders. It is illegal there to assert that Poland played a role in the Holocaust despite it being the site of the most infamous Nazi death camps. Writer and translator Natasha Lehrer discusses how France’s culture of “universalism” provides cover for antisemitic rhetoric. Novelist Olga Grjasnowa shows the pervasiveness of antisemitism in Germany, often fobbed off on Muslim immigrants but common among native Germans as well. All of this has a long history, as Glanville discusses in an essay on “blood libel” and persistent false accusations of Jews committing murder for religious rituals. As many of the contributors note, antisemites are newly emboldened by a global wave of populism spearheaded by Donald Trump, infecting not just QAnon conspiracy theorists, but legislators in the U.S., England, and other nations. That line of demonization has a long history, as well: Activist Jill Jacobs points out that in the 1940s people spread rumors of murderous Communist Jews massing at the Mexican border. Israeli journalist Tom Segev thoughtfully explores how this shift has changed politics within and around Israel, intensifying debates over distinctions between anti-Zionism and antisemitism. The subject merits a longer, more comprehensive study, but the variety of perspectives in this slim collection captures the emotional intensity of the subject and the urgent need to address it. The other contributors are Philip Spencer and Daniel Trilling.

Thoughtful considerations on the intersection of history, bigotry, folklore, and politics.