Electronic copy available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1376592
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101
JURISPRUDENCEOFTHENEWANTI-SEMITISM
 KennethL.Marcus*
 [I]fthewatchmanseestheswordadvancinganddoesnotblowthehorn,sothatthepeoplearenotwarned,andtheswordcomesanddestroysoneofthem...Iwilldemandareckoning forhisbloodfromthewatchman. Ezekiel33:6
1
I
NTRODUCTION
Inhisbest-knownwork,NobellaureateElieWieseltellsthestoryofhisfather’sdeathintheShoah.
2
AsayoungboyinNazi-occupiedHungary,WieselsawtheexterminationbeginwithadecreeforbiddingJewsfromleavingtheirhomes,onpainofdeath,forthreedays.Afterthistimehadpassed,anewdecreewasissued:“EveryJewmustweartheyellowstar.”
3
WhenfriendsaskedWiesel’sfatherwhathethoughtofthesituation,herespondedthatitwasnotsogrim.Perhaps,Wieselcomments,hisfatherdidnot
 
*LillieandNathanAckermanChairinEqualityandJusticeinAmerica,BaruchCollegeSchoolofPublicAffairs,theCityUniversityofNewYork,andDirector,InitiativeonAnti-SemitismandAnti-Israelism,theInstituteforJewishandCommunityResearch.ThisArticlebenefitsfromconversationswithparticipantsin
WakeForestUniversityLawSchool’ssymposiumon“Equality-basedPerspectivesontheFreeSpeechNorm:21stCenturyConsiderations,”the2008
summerresearchworkshopoftheCenterfor AdvancedHolocaustStudiesattheUnitedStatesHolocaustMemorialMuseum,theBaruchCollegeSchoolofPublicAffairsFacultyResearchWorkshopSeries,commentsfromRichardDelgadoandStephanieMarcus,andableresearchassistancebyAmitaDahiya.1.
 Ezekiel
33:6(Tanakh).ChiefRabbiJonathanSacksoftheUnitedKingdomfirstobservedtherelevanceofthisparabletotheproblemofthenewanti-Semitism.
See
JonathanSacks,
 ANewAntisemitism?
,
in
A
N
EW
 A
NTISEMITISM
?
D
EBATING
J
UDEOPHOBIAIN
21
ST
-C
ENTURY
B
RITAIN
38,42(PaulIganski&BarryKosmineds.,2003).2.E
LIE
W
IESEL
,N
IGHT
(StellaRodwaytrans.,1989).
3
.Id.
at20.ForahistoricalanalysisoftheNaziuseofthissymbol,see
PhilipFriedman,
TheJewishBadgeandtheYellowStarintheNaziEra
,17H
ISTORIA
J
UDAICA
41
(1955).
 
Electronic copy available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1376592
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[Vol.44wanttodisheartenthemfurther.
4
“Theyellowstar?”heasked.“Oh,well,whatofit?Youdon’tdieofit.”
5
Wieselknewbetter.“PoorFather!”helamented.“Ofwhatthendidyoudie?”
6
IfWiesel’scommentshuddersthroughusnow,itisbecauseWiesel’sfathermovesamongusstill,morethansixtyyearsafterhismurder,askingJewstoacceptwithequanimitytheyellowstarsthatothersseektoaffix—marksthatstigmatize,shame,andghettoizeJewishbearers
7
inIsraelandthroughoutthediaspora,asJewshavebeenmarkedsinceancienttimes.
8
Inaffixingtheyellowstar,theNazisandtheirenablerssetinplaceamechanismthatcouldhaveonlyoneconclusion.Thisisthemeaningoftheyellowstarwhereveritisfound:“Anti-Semitismmaybeginwithwords,butrarelystopswithwords.”
9
Whenweexaminesuchmarksinthetwenty-firstcentury,itisnotbecausetheyhavethesamehistory,butbecausetheyhavethesameteleology.I.T
HE
N
EW
 A
NTI
-S
EMITISM
 A.TheQuestion
Whatiswrongwiththenew,putativelypoliticalanti-Semitismthatisnowresurgentacrosstheglobe,includingonAmericancollegecampuses?Thequestionisdeceptivelysimple,butitcarriesconsiderableresonance.
10
Numerousgovernmentalagencies,
11
 
4
.See
W
IESEL
,
 supra
note2,at20.
5
.Id.
6
.Id.
Similarly,in1942,HelmutKnochen,thenthechiefofthesecurityserviceandthesecuritypoliceforoccupiedFranceandBelgium,observedthattheJewishbadgewas“anotherstepontheroadtothefinalsolution.”IsraelGutman,
 JewishBadge
,
in
1E
NCYCLOPEDIAOFTHE
H
OLOCAUST
138,
141(IsraelGutmaned.,1990).
7.Acontemporaneousobservercharacterizedthe“impressiononereceives”fromsuchbadgesas“appalling....[O]nequietlyarrivesattheconclusionthatoneisdealingherewithacompletelydegenerate,inferiorpartofhumansociety.”Friedman,
 supra
note3,at42(quotingHerbertMorgen).
8
.Seegenerally
Gutman,
 supra
note6,at138–43.Suchmarkshaveincluded“theJewishhat,theJewishyellowspot,theJewishbadge,andtheStarofDavid.”Friedman,
 supra
note3,at41.
9
.See
U.S.
D
EP
’
TOF
S
TATE
,C
ONTEMPORARY
G
LOBAL
 A
NTI
-S
EMITISM
:
 A
R
EPORT
P
ROVIDEDTOTHE
U
NITED
S
TATES
C
ONGRESS
(2008)
(quotingVicePresidentRichardB.Cheney),
availableat
http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/102301.pdf[hereinafter2008G
LOBAL
 A
NTI
-S
EMITISM
R
EPORT
].
Forananalysisofthehistoricalrelationshipbetweenanti-Semiticpropagandaandanti-Semiticpersecution,see
 A
LEXANDER
T
SESIS
,D
ESTRUCTIVE
M
ESSAGES
:
H
OW
H
 ATE
S
PEECH
P
 AVESTHE
W
 AYFOR
H
 ARMFUL
S
OCIAL
M
OVEMENTS
11–27
(2002).10.TheformofthisquestionisadoptedfromtheanalogousinquirypursuedinKatherineM.Franke,
What’sWrongwithSexualHarassment?
,49S
TAN
.
L.
R
EV
.691(1997).
11
.See,e.g.
,
 A
LL
-P
 ARTY
P
 ARLIAMENTARY
G
ROUP
 A
GAINST
 A
NTISEMITISM
,
 
M
 ARCUS
_F
INAL
_6043922.
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5:08
PM
2009]
THENEWANTI-SEMITISM 
103nongovernmentalorganizations,
12
scholars,
13
andcivil-rightspractitioners
14
havedocumentedthedangersinherentinanti-Semitism’srecentmanifestations,bothgloballyandonUnitedStatescollegecampuses.
15
Yetmanycriticsstilldenyitsexistence,
16
severity,
17
newness,
18
anti-Semiticnature,
19
ordifferencefrommere
 
R
EPORTOFTHE
 A
LL
-P
 ARTY
P
 ARLIAMENTARY
I
NQUIRYINTO
 A
NTISEMITISM
(2006),
availableat
http://thepcaa.org/Report.pdf[hereinafter2006A
LL
-P
 ARTY
R
EPORT
];2008G
LOBAL
 A
NTI
-S
EMITISM
R
EPORT
,
 supra
note9;U.S.
D
EP
’
TOF
S
TATE
,
R
EPORTON
G
LOBAL
 A
NTI
-S
EMITISM
(2005),
availableat
http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/40258.htm[hereinafter2005
G
LOBAL
 A
NTI
-S
EMITISM
R
EPORT
].
12
.See,e.g.
,
I
LAN
M
OSS
,
E
UROPEAN
J
EWISH
C
ONG
.,A
NTI
-S
EMITIC
I
NCIDENTS AND
D
ISCOURSEIN
E
UROPE
D
URINGTHE
I
SRAEL
-H
EZBOLLAH
W
 AR
(2006),
availableat
http://www.eurojewcong.org/ejc/DOC/601_AS_report.pdf;T
HE
S
TEPHEN
R
OTH
I
NST
.
FORTHE
S
TUDYOF
C
ONTEMPORARY
 A
NTISEMITISMAND
R
 ACISM
,T
EL
 A
 VIV
U
NIV
.,A
NTISEMITISM
W
ORLDWIDE
2007(DinaPorat&EstherWebmaneds.,2008),
availableat
http://www.tau.ac.il/Anti-Semitism/asw2007/gen-analysis-07.pdf[hereinafterA
NTISEMITISM
W
ORLDWIDE
].
13
.See,e.g.
,
P
HYLLIS
C
HESLER
,
T
HE
N
EW
 A
NTI
-S
EMITISM
:
T
HE
C
URRENT
C
RISISAND
W
HAT
W
E
M
UST
D
O
 A
BOUT
I
T
(2003);
B
ERNARD
H
 ARRISON
,T
HE
R
ESURGENCEOF
 A
NTI
-S
EMITISM
:
J
EWS
,
I
SRAEL
,
AND
L
IBERAL
O
PINION
(2006);
W
 ALTER
L
 AQUEUR
,
T
HE
C
HANGING
F
 ACEOF
 A
NTISEMITISM
:
F
ROM
 A
NCIENT
T
IMESTOTHE
P
RESENT
D
 AY
(2006);
G
 ABRIEL
S
CHOENFELD
,
T
HE
R
ETURNOF
 A
NTI
-S
EMITISM
(2004);P
IERRE
-A
NDR
É
T
 AGUIEFF
,R
ISINGFROMTHE
M
UCK 
:
T
HE
N
EW
 A
NTI
-S
EMITISMIN
E
UROPE
(2004);Sacks,
 supra
note1;RuthR.Wisse,
On IgnoringAnti-Semitism
,
in
T
HOSE
W
HO
F
ORGETTHE
P
 AST
:
T
HE
Q
UESTIONOF
 A
NTI
-S
EMITISM
189
(RonRosenbaumed.,2004).
14
.See,e.g.
,
 A
BRAHAM
F
OXMAN
,
N
EVER
 A
GAIN
?
T
HE
T
HREATOFTHE
N
EW
 A
NTI
-S
EMITISM
(2003).15.Fordocumentationoftherecentanti-SemitismproblemsonAmericancollegecampuses,see,forexample,
G
 ARY
 A.
T
OBINETAL
.,
T
HE
U
NCIVIL
U
NIVERSITY
(2005);U.S.
C
OMM
’
NON
C
IVIL
R
IGHTS
,
C
 AMPUS
 A
NTI
-S
EMITISM
(2006),
availableat
http://www.usccr.gov/pubs/081506campusantibrief07.pdf[hereinafterC
 AMPUS
 A
NTI
-S
EMITISM
];KennethL.Marcus,
 Anti-Zionismas Racism:CampusAnti-SemitismandtheCivilRightsActof1964
,15W
M
.
&
M
 ARY
B
ILL
R
TS
.
J.837(2007).Inothercountries,recentcampusanti-Semitismhasbeendetailed.
 E.g.
,A
CADEMICS
 A
GAINST
I
SRAELANDTHE
J
EWS
(ManfredGerstenfelded.,2007);M
ICHEL
W
IEVIORKA
,T
HE
L
UREOF
 A
NTI
-S
EMITISM
:
H
 ATREDOF
J
EWSIN
P
RESENT
-D
 AY
F
RANCE
311–56
(KristinCouperLobel&AnnaDeclercktrans.,2007);GeoffreyShort,
 AntisemitismonCampus:AViewfrom Britain
,
in
A
NTISEMITISM
:
T
HE
G
ENERIC
H
 ATRED
119
(MichaelFinebergetal.eds.,2007);ManfredGerstenfeld,
 2007–2008:AnotherYearofGlobalAcademic Anti-SemitismandAnti-Israelism1
,
I
SRAELE
N
EWS
,
Sept.14,2008,http://www.israelenews.com/view.asp?ID=3098.
16
.See,e.g.
,
N
ORMAN
F
INKELSTEIN
,
B
EYOND
C
HUTZPAH
:
O
NTHE
M
ISUSEOF
 A
NTI
-S
EMITISMANDTHE
 A
BUSEOF
H
ISTORY
(2005)(denyingtheexistenceofanewanti-Semitism).
17
.See,e.g.
,
LeonWieseltier,
 AgainstEthnicPanic:HitlerIsDead
,
in
T
HOSE
W
HO
F
ORGETTHE
P
 AST
:
T
HE
Q
UESTIONOF
 A
NTI
-S
EMITISM
,
 supra
note13,at178,178(arguingthatclaimsofanewanti-Semitismareoverstatedandpanic-ridden).RuthR.WisserebutsWieseltier’sargumentinWisse,
 supra
note13,at189–207(urgingtheWestnottoignoreorunderestimatecurrentproblemsasitignoredHitler’spersecutionofEuropeanJews).WhileWalterLaqueurhasclearlyadumbratedthedangersofthenewanti-Semitism,hehasadmonishedthat“itisalsotruethattherewasandisatendencytoexaggerate

JURISPRUDENCE OF THE NEW ANTI-SEMITISM

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