Talk:Antisemitism

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Former good article nomineeAntisemitism was a Philosophy and religion good articles nominee, but did not meet the good article criteria at the time. There may be suggestions below for improving the article. Once these issues have been addressed, the article can be renominated. Editors may also seek a reassessment of the decision if they believe there was a mistake.
Article milestones
DateProcessResult
June 12, 2006Good article nomineeNot listed
October 13, 2006Featured article candidateNot promoted
Current status: Former good article nominee

This Article Needs Review and Maybe Replacement[edit]

The text of this article contains deep subtexts of racism and political bias. It need to be reviewed immediately. The wording of this article could lead to very real crimes 2605:A601:AF6C:1700:A915:DB4F:28EA:266A (talk) 21:46, 2 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Do you seriously expect anyone to take the slightest notice of such evidence-free assertions? AndyTheGrump (talk) 21:52, 2 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

The difference between "anti-Semitism" and "antisemitism" should be made more clear in the article.[edit]

I fear that many users online will read the first paragraph and believe that all of those spellings are considered proper and acceptable, and may not use the Note icon to find the info suggesting otherwise, or read further to find the "Usage" section describing the discrepancies, deeper in the article.

I believe it is important to emphasize the discrepancies and make it as first and foremost as possible in the article. If my search results reveal anything, it's that we may be the only people doing so. Even Britannica has the non-proper spelling in my searches. - TheVGMLover 2607:FEA8:A99F:D600:1D1B:7F38:F2F8:3995 (talk) 14:08, 4 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

All the spellings are considered proper and acceptable. The footnote indicates a preference, not a rule. --jpgordon𝄢𝄆𝄐𝄇 14:15, 4 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Origins of Concept[edit]

"From the outset the term "anti-Semitism" bore special racial connotations and meant specifically prejudice against Jews."

I believe this is historically false, as outlined under the topic of AntiSemitism in The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia, starting on p.341. The term was, by design, a racial/racist one, tied to a (now antiquated) concept of there being a Semitic race, characterized by certain physiognomic features. It was meant to label prejudice against people of that race, i.e. people with those features, among whom Jews were one subset, the one most general to Germany, so in practice in Germany it was almost exclusively Jews who were the targets, but the concept was very explicitly NOT intended to mean prejudice specifically against Jews. Part of the reason given for coining a new term was to distinguish discrimination and prejudice on a racial basis from those against Jews on a religious, political, or other bases.

"....there are many speakers of Semitic languages (e.g., Arabs, Ethiopians, and Arameans) who are not the objects of antisemitic prejudices..."

Thinking anyone is an object of antisemitism based on language is a stretch. Yes, ethnic hostility is often also considered "racism" insofar as ethnicity and race can be conflated, but again this is a term deliberately coined in reference to what was imagined to be biological qualities, so generally one only is an object of antisemitism to the extent that one's physique fits the (antiquated) model.

Even replacing "languages" in this sentence with something like "ethnic origins" or "physiognomy", to conform to the meaning of the term antisemitism, I think this sentence would also still be false. I think there ARE widespread racial/racist prejudices against Arabs, Palestinians, Arameans, etc, often based on physiognomy/appearance, in precisely the way that the term antisemitism was originally meant to convey, the antiquated nature of the Semitic Race as a biological or anthropological concept notwithstanding. Indeed, I think prejudice against "arabs" *on a racial basis* generally exceed and are more prevalent than those against Jews. Many Jews do not even look "Semitic". 2601:980:C000:2E30:8C2B:24EC:96B9:1C6B (talk) 20:19, 28 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]