This is a guide about antisemitism — what it is, what it isn’t, how it’s appeared in history, and how it shows up in politics and culture today.
At the most basic level, antisemitism is hostility or prejudice toward, or hatred of, Jews.
Many times that is easy to spot, and this guide will help you do so, breaking down centuries-old antisemitic stereotypes and tropes. Other times, determining whether something is antisemitic or not can be a bit trickier, and this guide is here to help you ask the right questions to come to your own conclusions.
We focus on Jews and foreignness, Jews and finance, Jews and Hollywood, Jews and power, and Jews and Israel (though we should stress that this guide is about antisemitism, not Israel; for the latter, we encourage you to check out Hey Alma’s guide to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict). For each topic, we look at episodes of history, common tropes and, in some cases, places where we feel discussions of antisemitism could use more nuance.
Our goal is to offer a better understanding of how antisemitism has manifested throughout history and its influence and impact on present politics and society. To show what it might look like in your life. And to empower you to talk about it more confidently with others.
We won’t pretend that everyone agrees on all of this, but we will try to walk you through those disagreements.
And now, for some housekeeping: The Hey Alma team worked closely with Emily Tamkin, author of “The Influence of Soros” and “Bad Jews,” when producing the content for this guide. All images were designed by Avital Dayanim.
Thank you for spending time with Hey Alma’s Guide to Antisemitism. Age-old hatred does best when we keep it in the dark, afraid of or unwilling to look and talk about it. This guide is our effort to turn on the light.