“Anti-Semetic” is antisemetic who knew?

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ASPartOfMe
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07 Jul 2021, 8:14 am

Here’s Why BuzzFeed News Is No Longer Hyphenating “Antisemitism”

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On the BuzzFeed News copy desk, we are constantly unpacking the minutiae of language — precisely because the smallest detail can have a big impact. Even something as tiny as a hyphen.

Moving forward, our style guide will include “antisemitism” — one word, no hyphen — as opposed to “anti-Semitism.” Our new guidance contradicts the dictionary we reference and AP style, but the history behind the term has made it clear that this is a necessary change. The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance and the Anti-Defamation League have supported the usage of “antisemitism” to cut the word’s original ties to what the IHRA calls a “pseudo-scientific racial classification.”

The term “anti-Semitism” breaks down as soon as you look closely at its parts. As Lindsay’s thread highlights, “Semitic” refers to a group of languages that originated in the Middle East. The people who speak those languages “do not otherwise have shared heritage or history,” the ADL points out, adding, “There is no such thing as a Semitic peoplehood.” And antisemitism is defined as discrimination against or hostility toward Jewish people — not against those who speak a Semitic language. The meaning of “Semitic” was twisted by German journalist Wilhelm Marr, considered the “father of modern antisemitism,” who in the late 1800s introduced the term “Antisemitismus” to refer to hatred of Jewish people under the guise of a made-up race, which itself is othering.

The IHRA says the hyphenated spelling “legitimizes a form of pseudo-scientific racial classification that was thoroughly discredited by association with Nazi ideology” and “divides the term, stripping it from its meaning of opposition and hatred toward Jews.” It also notes that many languages, including German, French, and Spanish, do not hyphenate the term. “Leaving out the hyphen is one way of rejecting ‘Semite’ as a meaningful term,” the IHRA told BuzzFeed News.

The hyphen accentuates “Semitism” and implies the existence of a Semitic race of people. The word “antisemitism” itself isn’t ideal because of its history — writers may opt for terms like “anti-Jewish discrimination” in its place — but as long as the term is widely used, this is how we’ll style it

Oy vey. As a Jew they can blow this “controversy” out of my ass. All this is is more PC presentism. One dude used it in a bad way over a 100 years ago so what? The problem is people who hate and more specifically that act on that hate not what we call that attitude.

The above might seem inconsistent with my arguing with the changed definitions of racism and privilege. Those changes were done to push an agenda that has had significant and ongoing societal effects. The only negative agenda pushing from the use of “anti-semitism” I have noticed is in their minds.


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07 Jul 2021, 8:27 am

How, if I may ask, do you feel about the term "anti-Semantism"?


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ASPartOfMe
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07 Jul 2021, 8:33 am

magz wrote:
How, if I may ask, do you feel about the term "anti-Semantism"?

It is a colloquial term that means hating Jews.


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07 Jul 2021, 2:09 pm

Regarding anti-semitic or antisemitic (whatever the spelling), it is a term wrongfully used against anyone who don't think circumcision should be legal before the child can decide for itself.

I'm not an antisemetic/anti-semitic, but I do think that circumcision should be a voluntary choice of the child, meaning when the child reaches an age where it can legally make a voluntary decision to be circumcised.

We had this discussion in Denmark a year ago, and 90 % of the Danish population agree with the above opinion. But the Jewish community called everyone who supported this view antisemitic.

And the baptism of children in Christianity is not an argument. Because baptism is only water, whereas circumcision is a medical procedure (without a medical diagnosis which prescribes circumcision) with lifetime consequences. That's a HUGE difference.



naturalplastic
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07 Jul 2021, 2:39 pm

ASPartOfMe wrote:
magz wrote:
How, if I may ask, do you feel about the term "anti-Semantism"?

It is a colloquial term that means hating Jews.



No.

Read carefully.

It means "hating semantics". She making a play on words.



funeralxempire
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07 Jul 2021, 7:04 pm

Maybe it's just a term that's already served it's purpose and can be retired in favour of more precise language like anti-Jewish, anti-Israel, anti-Zionist, etc because often times the term antisemitic is used to invalidate reasonable criticisms of political matters because they might harm Israel's interests, not because they're actually based on hate for the Jewish people, their culture, their cultural contributions, etc.


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07 Jul 2021, 7:39 pm

Its actually spelled "anti-semitism"/antisemitism".

The many peoples (ancient and modern) of north Africa and southwest Asia who speak the related Semitic languages, and tend to share some ethnic ancestry are called "Semites", because according the Bible they are all "the children of Shem". Maltese, Assyrians, speakers of Aramaic, Jews, Arabs, ancient Babylonians, Akkadians, etc.

In Germany hatred of Jews was called simply Judenhass (Jew hatred). Then in 1879 a Jew hating Gentile German journalist named (oddly enough like the modern TV personality) Bill Marr (Wilhelm Marr) popularized the term Antisemitism. There was always two kinds of hatred of Jews- hatred by religion, and hatred by blood/ancestry. He was into both. And he thought it sounded more scientific to hate Jews for being nonAryan Semites. Semites are a language group, and not really a "race". Arabs, Babylonians, Assyrians, are all Semitic speakers. Hebrew, Aramaic, and Arabic are all Semitic languages. So strictly speaking "Antisemitism" would mean hatred of all of those groups. Not just Jews. But the term is used (by both antisemites, and those opposed to them) to mean "hatred of Jews".

In the 1880s the term made its why in English language dictionaries.

It is a confusing term. We should just go back to calling Jew-hatred, or something. Jewphobia.



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07 Jul 2021, 7:41 pm

naturalplastic wrote:
Its actually spelled "anti-semitism"/antisemitism".

The many peoples (ancient and modern) of north Africa and southwest Asia who speak the related Semitic languages, and tend to share some ethnic ancestry are called "Semites", because according the Bible they are all "the children of Shem". Maltese, Assyrians, speakers of Aramaic, Jews, Arabs, ancient Babylonians, Akkadians, etc.

In Germany hatred of Jews was called simply Judenhass (Jew hatred). Then in 1879 a Jew hating Gentile German journalist named (oddly enough like the modern TV personality) Bill Marr (Wilhelm Marr) popularized the term Antisemitism. There was always two kinds of hatred of Jews- hatred by religion, and hatred by blood/ancestry. He was into both. And he thought it sounded more scientific to hate Jews for being nonAryan Semites. Semites are a language group, and not really a "race". Arabs, Babylonians, Assyrians, are all Semitic speakers. Hebrew, Aramaic, and Arabic are all Semitic languages. So strictly speaking "Antisemitism" would mean hatred of all of those groups. Not just Jews. But the term is used (by both antisemites, and those opposed to them) to mean "hatred of Jews".

In the 1880s the term made its why in English language dictionaries.

It is a confusing term. We should just go back to calling Jew-hatred, or something. Jewphobia.


The term antisemitism rarely is extended to include people who aren't Jewish.
Apparently it isn't meant to be understood literally.


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08 Jul 2021, 8:25 am

funeralxempire wrote:
naturalplastic wrote:
Its actually spelled "anti-semitism"/antisemitism".

The many peoples (ancient and modern) of north Africa and southwest Asia who speak the related Semitic languages, and tend to share some ethnic ancestry are called "Semites", because according the Bible they are all "the children of Shem". Maltese, Assyrians, speakers of Aramaic, Jews, Arabs, ancient Babylonians, Akkadians, etc.

In Germany hatred of Jews was called simply Judenhass (Jew hatred). Then in 1879 a Jew hating Gentile German journalist named (oddly enough like the modern TV personality) Bill Marr (Wilhelm Marr) popularized the term Antisemitism. There was always two kinds of hatred of Jews- hatred by religion, and hatred by blood/ancestry. He was into both. And he thought it sounded more scientific to hate Jews for being nonAryan Semites. Semites are a language group, and not really a "race". Arabs, Babylonians, Assyrians, are all Semitic speakers. Hebrew, Aramaic, and Arabic are all Semitic languages. So strictly speaking "Antisemitism" would mean hatred of all of those groups. Not just Jews. But the term is used (by both antisemites, and those opposed to them) to mean "hatred of Jews".

In the 1880s the term made its why in English language dictionaries.

It is a confusing term. We should just go back to calling Jew-hatred, or something. Jewphobia.


The term antisemitism rarely is extended to include people who aren't Jewish.
Apparently it isn't meant to be understood literally.

That is why I called it a colloquial term. Vaguely like “racism” is morphing into a catch all term referencing bigotry not only against racial groups but any ethnic or national group.


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funeralxempire
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08 Jul 2021, 12:43 pm

ASPartOfMe wrote:
That is why I called it a colloquial term. Vaguely like “racism” is morphing into a catch all term referencing bigotry not only against racial groups but any ethnic or national group.


Race used to be used as a synonym for those terms even though these days people tend to think of it as referring to how they're colour-coded, so using that term in that context makes perfect sense.


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09 Jul 2021, 10:14 pm

naturalplastic wrote:
Semites are a language group, and not really a "race". Arabs, Babylonians, Assyrians, are all Semitic speakers. Hebrew, Aramaic, and Arabic are all Semitic languages. So strictly speaking "Antisemitism" would mean hatred of all of those groups. Not just Jews. But the term is used (by both antisemites, and those opposed to them) to mean "hatred of Jews".

[...]

It is a confusing term. We should just go back to calling Jew-hatred, or something. Jewphobia.


Agreed. Moreover, referring to anti-Jewish bigotry as "antisemitism" (with or without the hyphen) is itself a slight to non-Jewish Semites, e.g. Arabs and Chaldeans.


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10 Jul 2021, 7:38 am

I’ve seen a few objections to “anti-Semitism”:

- it’s confusing and inconsistent - a British politician recently said that they were “anti-racist and anti-Semitic”, which obviously wasn’t what they meant as they were attempting to deny accusations of antisemitism! If politicians can make that mistake then so can ordinary people.

- it’s inaccurate - I have seen Jew-hating Arabs say that they are not antisemitic because they are Semites.

- it’s based on a fairly uncommon word (Semitism). It would be easy for someone to assume that Semitism is an ideology, like Zionism.

- it is euphemistic - Jew-hatred would be clearer.

I personally switched to using “antisemitism” a few years ago because it gets around issue 3, but it doesn’t solve the other two.

I have seen campaign groups use “antisemitism” to refer to things like thinking Jewish people are good with money (a common belief that, while untrue, isn’t necessarily accompanied by malice - about 1 in 3 people holds at least one such belief), and “Jew hatred” for hardcore people who think that Jews deserve to die or should be deported (in the Anglophone West I think this is about 0.5% of the population, most of whom are otherwise ordinary people - they aren’t far right, far left, or Islamists). I don’t think using “anti-Semitic” is necessarily bad, but I think adjusting slightly is fairly effortless and I don’t care if media organisations do it.



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10 Jul 2021, 8:42 am

The_Walrus wrote:
I’ve seen a few objections to “anti-Semitism”:

- it’s confusing and inconsistent - a British politician recently said that they were “anti-racist and anti-Semitic”, which obviously wasn’t what they meant as they were attempting to deny accusations of antisemitism! If politicians can make that mistake then so can ordinary people.
.


They must have meant "anti-anti-Semitic". "Anti anti Semitism" is also a "thing". The creed of opposing antisemitism. Leon Trotsky tried to instill that policy- with that very name- on the newly born Soviet Union- nice idea- but it didnt last long.

But its a rarely used term. And you have to be careful when you do...SAY ...it (make sure that you say both "antis"). And even if you say it right the person being addressed may not HEAR it right. :lol:

Just one more issue with the terms.



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10 Jul 2021, 9:27 am

naturalplastic wrote:
They must have meant "anti-anti-Semitic". "Anti anti Semitism" is also a "thing". The creed of opposing antisemitism. Leon Trotsky tried to instill that policy- with that very name- on the newly born Soviet Union- nice idea- but it didnt last long.
Some time ago in Poland (somewhere in my childhood), the public discussion included anti-Semitism, crypto-Semitism, anti-crypto-Semitism, crypto-anti-Semitism, anti-crypto-anti-Semitism, crypto-anti-crypto-Semitism, name the combination and you have it :mrgreen:


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10 Jul 2021, 12:18 pm

magz wrote:
naturalplastic wrote:
They must have meant "anti-anti-Semitic". "Anti anti Semitism" is also a "thing". The creed of opposing antisemitism. Leon Trotsky tried to instill that policy- with that very name- on the newly born Soviet Union- nice idea- but it didnt last long.
Some time ago in Poland (somewhere in my childhood), the public discussion included anti-Semitism, crypto-Semitism, anti-crypto-Semitism, crypto-anti-Semitism, anti-crypto-anti-Semitism, crypto-anti-crypto-Semitism, name the combination and you have it :mrgreen:

8O

And I used to laugh at the supposed "longest word in the English Language": "antidisestablishmentarianism".

It means "to be opposed to...the removal of...the Anglican church as... the official religion of England".

When I was a kid I used to wonder why they didnt just call "antidisestablishmentarians" ...."Establishmentarians"? Get rid of the double negative.



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10 Jul 2021, 4:32 pm

naturalplastic wrote:
magz wrote:
naturalplastic wrote:
They must have meant "anti-anti-Semitic". "Anti anti Semitism" is also a "thing". The creed of opposing antisemitism. Leon Trotsky tried to instill that policy- with that very name- on the newly born Soviet Union- nice idea- but it didnt last long.
Some time ago in Poland (somewhere in my childhood), the public discussion included anti-Semitism, crypto-Semitism, anti-crypto-Semitism, crypto-anti-Semitism, anti-crypto-anti-Semitism, crypto-anti-crypto-Semitism, name the combination and you have it :mrgreen:

8O

And I used to laugh at the supposed "longest word in the English Language": "antidisestablishmentarianism".

It means "to be opposed to...the removal of...the Anglican church as... the official religion of England".

When I was a kid I used to wonder why they didnt just call "antidisestablishmentarians" ...."Establishmentarians"? Get rid of the double negative.


It didn't need established, it was already established.
One faction was in favour of disestablishing it and the other was opposed to that. :nerdy:

These days they'd just be called ANTIDI.

And I wonder, if Aunt Edi and Aunt Ifa meet, would they have tea and crumpets, or tea and scones? :chin:


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