Refuting Antisemitism: Dismantling the Stereotypes, Canards, and Tropes of Jew Hatred

Author: 

Havardi, Jeremy, PhD

Credentials: 

Dr. Jeremy Havardi is a cultural historian and journalist based in London, where he serves as Director of the B’nai B’rith UK Bureau of International Affairs. His role is to advocate for the international legal rights of the Jewish people, fight against all manifestations of antisemitism, work for a better understanding of Israel within the international community and tackle hatred against minorities. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Alcala in cultural and literary history. He has written several previous books, including The Greatest Briton: Essays on the Life and Political Philosophy of Winston Churchill, Projecting Britain at War: The National Character in British World War II films, Refuting the Anti-Israel Narrative: A Case for the Historical, Legal and Moral Legitimacy of the Jewish State and A Persistent Prejudice: Anti-Semitic Tropes and Double Standards in the Anti-Israel Movement. His articles have appeared in many publications, among them The Spectator, The Guardian, The Gatestone Institute, Times of Israel, The Jewish News, Spiked, and Military History Magazine.

Antisemitism in the twenty-first century remains a major threat to Jewish communities around the world, and a potent challenge to the liberal international order. But it can so often be a more hidden form of racism, relying on codes, images, cues, and ciphers embedded in the cultural mythology of prejudice against Jews. It is about the invocation of the blood libel, attacks on so-called “cosmopolitans,” accusations of “dual loyalty,” and conspiratorial notions of malign “Jewish power.” It is also a highly protean prejudice, ever adaptable to a multitude of changes in political and social circumstances, always ready to mutate and shape-shift to fit a new environment. That is why it has so easily become a feature of the modern anti-Israel movement. In this short volume, Jeremy Havardi explores how anti-Israelism has reproduced many of the canards, tropes, and ciphers of historic Jew-hatred and regurgitated them as attacks on Zionism and Israel. Today, the “Jewish question” has been replaced by the “Israel question,” with a similarly obsessive and ritualistic form of demonization and delegitimization. Anyone concerned about the future of liberal democracy should take note.

Market: 
Political Science, History, Jewish Studies, International Relations, Anti-Semitism, Identity Politics, Cultural History
Release Date: 
June 15, 2025
ISBN: 
9781680533903 Hardcover
Price: 
$39.95
Trim Size: 
6x9
Pages: 
272
Illustrations: 
None
Publisher: 

ACADEMICA PRESS
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