Anti-Semitism is a mutating poison that attacks democracy. This is how to fight it
The world’s oldest hatred must be confronted – clearly, courageously and with decisive action

By David Harris, Excerpted from The Telegraph

Anti-Semitism is the world’s oldest social hatred. For centuries, it has demonstrated a remarkable capacity for adaptation, reinvention, and persistence – not to mention lethality. Whether expressed in religious, racial, political, or cultural terms, it retains certain defining characteristics.

At its core, anti-Semitism is an elaborate conspiracy theory. It attributes to Jews both malevolent intent and extraordinary power. From poisoning wells to kidnapping Christian children, from triggering economic depressions to unleashing pandemics, from starting wars to manipulating global events, Jews have been cast as the hidden force behind society’s misfortunes.

In the anti-Semitic imagination, Jewish influence is limitless and malign. Jews are seen as everywhere, responsible for everything that goes wrong.

This obsessive, all-enveloping worldview has long defied rational rebuttal. Jews have been portrayed, often simultaneously, as poisoning the white race and exemplifying white privilege, as revolutionary communists and rapacious capitalists, as manipulative insiders and alien outsiders. Such contradictions recall Jonathan Swift’s observation: “You cannot reason a person out of a position he did not reason himself into in the first place.”

After the Holocaust – after the full extent of what Winston Churchill in 1941 called “a crime without a name” became clear; after the first-hand testimony of survivors and liberators; and after the realization that, with only a few notable exceptions, otherwise civilized nations had turned their backs on the plight of European Jewry – there emerged a fragile hope. Perhaps anti-Semitism, exposed in its most extreme and eliminationist form, would finally be discredited and confined to the margins, at least in democratic societies committed to self-reflection and renewal.

Not in the Soviet orbit, of course, where Jews were again targeted as enemies of the state after a brief wartime reprieve. Nor across much of the Muslim world, where Jews were largely relegated to unequal status or persecuted outright, and increasingly associated with the newly established State of Israel after 1948.

Yet in Britain, Europe, and other democratic societies, there were grounds for optimism. The horrors of Auschwitz-Birkenau and Treblinka, the mass executions at places such as Babyn Yar, the murder of 1.5 million Jewish children, and the cold bureaucratic efficiency of genocide itself seemed to mark a moral turning point.

Holocaust remembrance entered public consciousness. Schools incorporated its lessons. Barriers that had long restricted Jewish participation in national life fell like dominoes.

For several decades, anti-Semitism receded. Jewish communities experienced unprecedented acceptance and integration. It appeared that liberal democracy – with its ever-strengthening emphasis on individual rights, pluralism, and the rule of law – had created an environment in which anti-Semitism could no longer flourish openly.

But this sense of historical breakthrough proved premature. Anti-Semitism had not disappeared. It was hibernating. Several developments contributed to its re-emergence.

First, the generation of survivors and eyewitnesses gradually diminished, removing living testimony that had given the Holocaust its immediacy and moral force.

Second, in some quarters, “Holocaust fatigue” began to take hold, weakening the sense of urgency surrounding its timeless lessons.

Third, hostility towards Israel and Zionism – the movement for Jewish self-determination – became, in certain circles, a socially acceptable means of expressing ideas that would once have been recognised as anti-Semitic.

Fourth, as social media became, in effect, the public library for many, the widespread availability of Holocaust denial, distortion, and denigration reached millions, if not billions, of users, many without the filters to distinguish fact from fiction.

And fifth, as attacks on Jews and Jewish institutions increased in the early 21st century, official responses were too often hesitant, inconsistent, or inadequate. Declarations of “never again”, solemnly voiced across Europe, proved insufficient to guarantee Jewish security.

The Hamas invasion on Israel on October 7, 2023 marked a watershed moment. In a single day, over 1,200 Israelis were murdered and over 250 were taken hostage, including young children and elderly survivors of the Holocaust. Israel was left traumatized by the single deadliest attack in its history.

Yet as Israelis mourned, and before its army even fully mobilized, demonstrations erupted in cities and on university campuses across the democratic world, including in Britain. Protesters chanted slogans calling for Israel’s destruction, most notably: “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” This raised an urgent question: were these just expressions of political protest, or something more?

In many cases, they were indisputably something more. Criticism of Israeli government policy, like any democratic nation’s, is entirely legitimate.

But denying the very legitimacy of Israel’s existence – or calling for its elimination – crosses a fundamental line. No other nation is subjected to daily demands that it justify its very existence. No other people are told that their right to collective self-determination is inherently illegitimate.

The consequences extended far beyond Israel. Jews in Britain and elsewhere reported rapidly rising levels of intimidation, harassment, and violence, including horrific murders in Britain, Australia, America and elsewhere.

Synagogues required increased security. Jewish schools faced heightened threats. Individuals were targeted simply for being Jewish. Anti-Semitism, once again, was no longer confined to hateful rhetoric. It manifested itself in lived reality for many.

What is required in response is clear:

Outrage – not only from Jewish communities, but from political leaders across the spectrum, civil society, and the public at large. Real outrage that we can and must do better, that when Jews are attacked we will link arms and say “not on our watch and not in our name”.

Action – not merely symbolic gestures or formulaic condemnations, but concrete measures to monitor and confront the sources; to protect vulnerable communities; to identify those actors involved in foreign interference and funding; to expose networks of hate and designate additional terror groups; and to enforce, perhaps enhance, relevant laws and codes of conduct.

Courage – to name anti-Semitism clearly, even when it appears in politically (or electorally) uncomfortable contexts. The courage to recognize that anti-Semitism is not solely a Jewish concern, but a much broader threat to democratic society.

As the late Rabbi Jonathan Sacks said: “The hate that begins with Jews never ends with Jews.” History demonstrates that anti-Semitism is an early warning signal of deeper social fracture. It thrives where truth is distorted, conspiracy mongering replaces reason, and social fragmentation challenges national unity.

Today, anti-Semitism emerges from multiple ideological sources – far-Right extremism, far-Left radicalism and Islamist extremism. Though differing in language and justification, they converge in their hostility towards Jews and, ultimately, towards the foundational values that underpin democratic life.

The implications extend far beyond the Jewish community. Anti-Semitism threatens the very principles of pluralism, mutual respect and human dignity upon which democratic societies depend. It tests the resilience of institutions and the moral clarity of citizens.

The lesson of history is unmistakable. Anti-Semitism does not disappear on its own. It must be confronted – clearly, consistently, without illusion.

The question facing Britain and other democratic societies today is not whether anti-Semitism exists. It does and is now surging. Rather, the question is whether there is sufficient, and sustained, resolve to confront, combat, and defeat it.