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The Gray Area with Sean Illing

Antisemitism now, antisemitism then

The Gray Area with Sean Illing

Vox Media Podcast Network

Politics, News, News Commentary, Philosophy, Society & Culture

4.511.1K Ratings

🗓️ 27 January 2020

⏱️ 91 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

“The bad days are back” wrote Batya Ungar-Sargon in the Forward in December, “Orthodox Jews are living through a new age of pogroms. This week, as we celebrated the Festival of Lights, there were no fewer than 10 anti-Semitic attacks in the New York area alone.”  Antisemitism is occasionally called “the oldest hatred.” It thrums across continents and eras, finding new targets for old prejudices. But where, exactly, does it come from? Why is it such a hardy weed? And why does this era feel so thick with it?  Deborah Lipstadt, a professor of Modern Jewish History and Holocaust Studies at Emory University, is the author of Antisemitism: Here and Now. We discuss the earliest forms, tropes, and rationales for antisemitism, and the cultural reasons for their persistence. Lipstadt explains the way right- and left-wing antisemitism differ, and examines the charges of antisemitism levied against some modern politicians, like Donald Trump and Jeremy Corbyn. We talk about antisemitism in the age of social media and rising party polarization. And we talk about the convergence and divergence of antisemitism and anti-Zionism: what distinguishes a legitimate critique of Israel from an antisemitic slur towards it? This episode airs on International Holocaust Remembrance Day. It’s a reminder that the very worst days lie in living memory, in an age more similar our own than we like to admit.  References:  “Why No One Can Talk About The Attacks Against Orthodox Jews” by Batya Ungar-Sargon Book recommendations:  If This is Man by Primo Levi  Still Alive by Ruth Kluger  The Unwanted by Michael Dobbs New to the show? Want to listen to Ezra's favorite episodes? Check out The Ezra Klein Show beginner's guide. (http://bit.ly/EKSbeginhere) My book is available for pre-order! You can find it at www.EzraKlein.com. Want to contact the show? Reach out at ezrakleinshow@vox.com You can subscribe to Ezra's new podcast Impeachment, explained on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Overcast, Pocket Casts, or your favorite podcast app. Credits: Producer and Editor - Jeff Geld Engineer- Cynthia Gil Researcher - Roge Karma Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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1:04.0

I think the template of anti-semitism on the left is very similar to the template of anti-semitism on the right.

1:11.0

The Jews control the banks. The Jews are the interlopers. The Jews are the gentrifiers. The Jews are controlling the media so you can't criticize Israel.

1:21.0

You can't say anything bad. The Jews control the government. They get a direct line to the White House.

1:27.0

Hello and welcome to Zerklancho on the Vox Media Podcast Network. I want to start today by reading a couple sentences from a piece by Badya Ungar Sargon in the forward.

1:48.0

She was writing this in the aftermath of what has become a common place for a lot of us terrifying news story, which is about another anti-semitic attack this one in New York.

1:57.0

And she writes that the bad days are back. Orthodox Jews are living through a new age of programs.

2:04.0

This week as we celebrated the festival of lights, there were no fewer than 10, 10 anti-semitic attacks in the New York area alone.

2:12.0

A 65-year-old man in Manhattan punched as he saliently held fuck you Jews. A 67-year-old man and a 6-year-old son attacked by a group of teenagers in Brooklyn, three women slapped in the face by a woman who confessed it was simply because they were Jews.

2:24.0

And last night on the 7th of Hanukkah, a man wielding a machete the size of a broom charged into a Hanukkah celebration in a rabbi's house in the ultra orthodox enclave of Moncy and stabbed five people.

2:37.0

Two of them critically. There's been certainly a sense that anti-semitism is rising that it is having a new and renewed life in America in other parts of the world.

2:46.0

It was a big issue in the UK elections. It's been a big issue in very scary ways, I would say, in France.

2:52.0

And something I've been wanting to explore on the show today is actually the day it's coming out. It is National Holocaust Remembrance Day.

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