The WWI era turned the Semite from an academic category into a political actor

Evidence

But as soon as Sykes attempted to transform the Semitic into a political category, the tension at the heart of the idea—the sharp division between Christian Europe’s relationships with Judaism and Islam—started to come to the fore. From the start, the political Semite was bedevilled with opposition: among Zionists, Arabs and agents of the British and French imperial states. And once the new global public sphere, embodied in the League of Nations, was presented with the figure of the anti-Zionist Arab, the Semitic category ceased to make sense and began to unravel. — James Renton, Ben Gidley (eds.), Antisemitism and Islamophobia in Europe, 705 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Nineteenth-century Orientalists collapsed the Semite onto the ancient Hebrew; Politicizing the Semite category caused the concept to unravel — James Renton, Ben Gidley (eds.), Antisemitism and Islamophobia in…, 705; Zionist leaders courted Arab and Armenian allies to embody the political Semite ideal — James Renton, Ben Gidley (eds.), Antisemitism and Islamophobia in…, 668 (+4 more)

Broader Connections

• Politicizing the Semite category caused the concept to unravel #complicates (0.84) — James Renton, Ben Gidley (eds.), Antisemitism and Islamophobia in Europe, 705