Unmasking hate

The public discourse on Palestine and Israel has grown extremely tense all across Europe, and tinted with local political tropes. This has been the case for decades, but since the recent escalation of violence from October 2023, the debate has erupted with new fervour.

It would be foolish to suggest that we can do justice to this highly complex, ongoing conflict in a half-hour talk show. What we can do, however, is to inspect the underlying reasons why these discussions are so charged, and why they seem to go in circles. 

Antisemitism and anti-Muslim racism form a double helix across European history and have been used as political tools to galvanize fragmented societies against a shared enemy. Today we take a look at one part: Antisemitism, and in our next episode we will deal with anti-Muslim racism.

Standard Time talk show S2E09: Unmasking hate

You can also listen to the Standard Time talk show in a podcast format on the Cultural Broadcasting Archive – or wherever you get your podcasts.

The origins of Antisemitism

Antisemitism has taken so many shapes and forms in the past two thousand years. It has transformed from the Christian propaganda of John Chrysostom, or John the Golden Mouth in the 4th century, through the fervent Antisemitism of the religious reformer Martin Luther, through the political, social and economic Antisemitism of the early modern times into the racial ideology of the XX. century. The European history of Antisemitism is long and dark, and we recommend further reads below for more insight on the matter.

Many of us were taught that after the unprecedented horrors of the Holocaust, Europe has vowed to “never again” allow for such hate to build up that has led to this egregious industrialized genocide. Indeed, there have been great efforts to uproot this nasty prejudice, but it never disappeared entirely. And in recent years there is a significant rise in covert, dog whistle-style propaganda, and in outright hate rhetoric across the continent.

The definition is itself a political problem

The ongoing conflict of Palestine and Israel has sparked yet another wave of Antisemitic as well as Anti-muslim racism which infect the debate. 

In 2002, the European Union together with the OSCE, attempted to formulate a joint definition of the word, later adopted by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, which reads: ‘Antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of Antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities’.

But does that mean that a criticism of Israel’s for the aggression on Gaza is Antisemitic? 

In IHRA’s online resources on Antisemitism, one can read about the role of the Israeli state in the antisemitic ideology:  ‘Manifestations [of Antisemitism] might include the targeting of the state of Israel, conceived as a Jewish collectivity. However, criticism of Israel similar to that levelled against any other country cannot be regarded as Antisemitic.’

Criticizing the Israeli state’s actions has become difficult to navigate, and it polarizes Europeans. How can one tell hate from criticism? Today’s speakers offer some guidance, discussing where Antisemitism stands today and how it has transformed in the 21st century. 

Guests

Professor Helga Embacher is a historian at the University of Salzburg with a focus on National Socialism, Jewish history, Israel, and Antisemitism.

Johann Kneihs has been working in journalism since 1980 for the past few years and is also active in the programming of two music festivals in Austria, Glatt&Verkehrt and the newly created festival Jewish Weekends in St. Pölten.

Lidia Zessin-Jurek is an Assistant Professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Stockton University. She’s a Polish historian and author, currently working in New Jersey. Her research spans the memory of the Holocaust and the Gulag, as well as forced migration and refugee movements in historical and contemporary contexts.

Reading List

Professor Helga Embacher’s research

Lidia Zessin-Jurek on the 80th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

Märta Bonde’s topical reads: Rephrase and erase

Hilda Dayan and Jolande Yansen on Antisemitism, anti-Palestinian racism and Europe

Timothy Synder’s Speech to Europe at Judenplatz

Holocaust Remebrance Alliance

Creative team

Réka Kinga Papp, editor-in-chief
Daniela Univazo Marquina, writer-editor
Merve Akyel, art director
Zeynep Feriha Demir, producer
Zsófia Gabriella Papp, digital producer

Management

Priyanka Hutschenreiter, project manager
Judit Csikós, financial manager
Csilla Nagyné Kardos, office administration

OKTO Crew

Senad Hergić, producer
Leah Hochedlinger, video recording
Marlena Stolze, video recording
Clemens Schmiedbauer, video recording
Richard Brusek, sound recording

Postproduction

Milán Golovics, dialogue editor
Dániel Nagy, dialogue editor
Nóra Ruszkai, video editor
István Nagy, post production

Art

Victor Maria Lima, animation
Music by Crypt-of-Insomnia

Captions and subtitles

Julia Sobota  closed captions, Polish and French subtitles; language versions management
Farah Ayyash  Arabic subtitles
Mia Belén Soriano  Spanish subtitles
Marta Ferdebar  Croatian subtitles
Lídia Nádori  German subtitles
Katalin Szlukovényi  Hungarian subtitles
Olena Yermakova  Ukrainian subtitles
Aida Yermekbayeva  Russian subtitles

Hosted by

The Alte Schmiede Kunstverein, Vienna

Disclosure

This talk show is a Display Europe production: a ground-breaking media platform anchored in public values.

This programme is co-funded by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union and the European Cultural Foundation.

Importantly, the views and opinions expressed here are those of the authors and speakers only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor the EACEA can be held responsible for them.