“Who can guarantee that a future US administration will not one day feed the Jew to the negro in celebration of a grand day of atonement?” Jean Améry, “Virtuous Antisemitism” (1969) First Argument: Antisemitism is a Form of Racism, therefore Jews have to be Anti-Racists Second Argument: Solidarity Third Argument: It is Morally the RightContinue reading ““Jews must…” On the Hidden Truth Underlying the Fallacious Truism that “Jews must Fight Racism””
Author Archives: Lars Fischer
Twelve Easy Ways to Distinguish Racism from Antisemitism
Sometimes, when you have been studying a topic for a long while, it can be difficult to see the forest for the trees, and a fresh perspective can be extremely helpful. I just had a friend from outer space staying for a few days. Since the need to maintain physical distancing made her stay aContinue reading “Twelve Easy Ways to Distinguish Racism from Antisemitism”
Back to the 1880s: The “Antiracist” Mass Psychosis Obliterates Everything We’ve Found out About Antisemitism in the Meantime
Though my style of presentation may not always reflect this, I am actually a fairly thoughtful person and do occasionally ask myself whether I might be exaggerating or overstating the case. Once in a while, things don’t turn out as badly as I thought they would. Generally, however, it turns out that I was stillContinue reading “Back to the 1880s: The “Antiracist” Mass Psychosis Obliterates Everything We’ve Found out About Antisemitism in the Meantime”
Fundamental Misunderstandings in the Fight Against Antisemitism I: When do we Take People who Believe in Father Christmas Seriously?
Imagine you are in a conversation with an adult of whom you have no reason to assume that they suffer from some form of learning disability or that they have only recently come out of the total isolation in which they spent their entire previous life, and they set out to convince you that FatherContinue reading “Fundamental Misunderstandings in the Fight Against Antisemitism I: When do we Take People who Believe in Father Christmas Seriously?”
Introducing the “Clinton Chasm” to Help Explain Why Most Exchanges About Antisemitism are Entirely Pointless
Team A and Team B Israel-Related Antisemitism The Clinton Chasm Why Team B has not Developed an Alternative to the IHRA Definition Consequences Team A and Team B Broadly speaking (like all taxonomies, this one too is imperfect and hardly covers all possible cases; yet, like many others, it is nevertheless helpful in allowing usContinue reading “Introducing the “Clinton Chasm” to Help Explain Why Most Exchanges About Antisemitism are Entirely Pointless”
It Wasn’t me, Sir, it Was the Reservoir What Done it
The Pears Institute for the Study of Antisemitism Tries its Hand at Satire: On “Labour and Antisemitism: A Crisis Misunderstood” by Ben Gidley, Brendan McGeever and David Feldman Distinguishing Between Antisemites and Antisemitism: The IHRA Definition of Antisemitism Impact vs. “Outcomes”: Structural Antisemitism The Cherry on the Satirical Cake: Taking Cherry-Picking to a Whole NewContinue reading “It Wasn’t me, Sir, it Was the Reservoir What Done it”
Research or Propaganda?
My Seven Favourite Bloopers and Outtakes from the EVZ/Pears Institute study Antisemitism and Immigration in Western Europe Today Framing “Quality Control” Cherry-Picking Statistical Criteria Cannibalizing Your Own Contributors Cherry-Picking Years Antisemitism and the Critique of Israel Cherry-Picking Interpretations Self-Contradiction This text is part of a broader critique of the work of the London-based Pears InstituteContinue reading “Research or Propaganda?”
On the (not so) Hidden Antisemitism of the Netflix Miniseries “Hollywood”
This text is part of a longer, as yet unfinished critical discussion of the means by which antisemitism is currently being combated. Netflix has just sunk several million Dollars into a star-studded, seven-part miniseries offering the most elaborate demonstration to date of the fact that postcolonial “antiracism” is intended not to complement but to displaceContinue reading “On the (not so) Hidden Antisemitism of the Netflix Miniseries “Hollywood””
Just What the World was Waiting for: Yet another Blog
I have been involved in serious scholarship focusing, inter alia, on antisemitism and proper, serious (i.e. Frankfurt School) Critical Theory for the best part of a quarter of a century and will continue to grapple with these issues as a scholar. I am principally starting this blog as a forum in which I can present myContinue reading “Just What the World was Waiting for: Yet another Blog”
Fictitious Quotation of the Week
“People from Transylvania cannot be transphobic because they are themselves trans.” Trad. folksong, sung to the tune of “Palestinians cannot be antisemitic because they are themselves Semites”, most recently recited by Daniel Barenboim in Germany’s most prestigious broadsheet, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
Bridging the Chasm at my own Peril 