The Semitic myth gains force when allied with state institutions

Evidence

Through much of the 20th century the meanings attached to antisemitism rested on universal ideals as well as Jewish interests – upon the ideas of equality vested in Jewish emancipation and minority rights. This concept of antisemitism has not disappeared but it has been supplemented and sometimes overshadowed by a concept of antisemitism that is attached to the defence of Israel, its right to exist and its policies. The creation of the State of Israel in 1948 marked a radical break in Jewish history. When Israel is the subject of debate the charge of antisemitism may still invoke the rights of a historically persecuted minority, such as whenever Jews are libelled as a uniquely self-interested and darkly conspiratorial force. However, the charge of antisemitism often arises in contexts in which Jews defend the policies of a state which defines itself as Jewish and in which Jews compose the majority of the population, in which the non-Jewish minorities suffer some systematic disadvantage and which since 1967 has exercised dominion beyond its internationally recognized borders (Peleg and Waxman 2011). When the charge of antisemitism arises in the context of debate on the politics of Israel/Palestine it is wielded, in part at least, as an adjunct to state power and not as an auxiliary to the claims of a vulnerable minority. — Runnymede Trust (ed. Farah Elahi & Omar Khan), Islamophobia, 714 (#exemplifies, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: State benevolence toward Jews deliberately preserved their felt separateness; Nation-state formation generates founding myths that legitimate ruling-class orders; Orientalism becomes national authority when backed by state institutions (+8 more)

Related

• Charges of antisemitism can serve state power rather than minority rights (similarity 0.83)
• Antisemitism won over rival movements by letting parties attack the state through the Jews (similarity 0.80)
• Antisemitism’s political aim was liquidating the nation-state, not just the Jews (similarity 0.79)

Broader Connections

• Orientalism becomes national authority when backed by state institutions #exemplifies (0.90)
• Nation-state formation generates founding myths that legitimate ruling-class orders #expands (0.85)
• States rule subject groups by allying with their internal elites #expands (0.80)
• Charges of antisemitism can serve state power rather than minority rights #exemplifies (0.80) — Runnymede Trust (ed. Farah Elahi & Omar Khan), Islamophobia, 714
• Shared-origin myths license a kingdom to inherit imperial sovereignty #exemplifies (0.80)
• State benevolence toward Jews deliberately preserved their felt separateness #expands (0.75)
• Antisemitism won over rival movements by letting parties attack the state through the Jews #exemplifies (0.75) — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 152
• Jewish prominence grew inversely with their real power and with nation-state stability #complicates (0.70)
• Clash-of-civilizations rhetoric ideologically legitimized both foreign wars and domestic attacks #expands (0.70) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 421