what does antisemitism mean

Antisemitism means prejudice, hatred, hostility, or discrimination directed at Jews because they are Jewish, whether as individuals, a community, or as a people.

Quick definition

• In plain words, antisemitism is unfair negative attitudes, speech, or actions targeting Jews or Jewish institutions, just because of their Jewish identity.

• It can show up as insults, threats, violence, discrimination, or stereotypes about “Jews” as a group, rather than criticism of specific people or policies.

How experts define it

• A widely used “working definition” says antisemitism is “a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews,” including harmful words or actions against Jewish people, their property, or their institutions.

• Other expert definitions use similar wording: antisemitism is discrimination, prejudice, hostility, or violence against Jews as Jews (or Jewish institutions as Jewish).

What antisemitism can look like

• Spreading stereotypes about Jews being secretly powerful, greedy, or controlling governments, media, or banks.

• Blaming “the Jews” as a whole for real or imagined wrongs, or holding every Jew responsible for what one Jew (or a non‑Jew) did.

• Denying or minimizing the Holocaust, or claiming Jews invented or exaggerated it.

• Attacking synagogues, Jewish schools, cemeteries, or people who are visibly Jewish (for example, because of religious dress or symbols).

What is not automatically antisemitism

• Criticizing specific actions of the Israeli government or any other government, without using hatred or stereotypes about Jews as a people, is not automatically antisemitic.

• Focusing on concrete policies, leaders, or events, rather than making sweeping claims about “Jews” or “the Jewish people,” is a key line that many scholars and guidelines highlight.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.