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by Junk Yard Dog on March 20th, 2007

Junk Yard Dog

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What does anti-semite mean?

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  • by nevets - badgicide on March 20th, 2007

    nevets - badgicide

    An anti-Semite is a person who exhibits anti-Semitism.

    For more information please see the question on anti-Semitism:
    # http://www.answerbag.com/a_view/547970

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  • by singwell-is off researching a lot on March 20th, 2007

    singwell-is off researching a lot

    I just had a talk with someone about this. I don't know on what level to answer. In a true philogical sense anti-Semitism would have to be negative feelings/actions towards someone of Semitic heritage (which includes many of the people of the Middle East inc Jews, Arabs, Arams etc) but, in WW2, it became narrowed down to negative feelings/actions towards the Jewish people.
    Is this philoligical distinction why the Jewish state has changed the wording of discrimiation claims against to to "ani-Jewish" rather than "anti-Semetic" ie in order for it to accurately represent who the negative feelings/actions are aimed at?

    I would think the new anti-Semitism, if it is referring to anti-Jewish feelings/actions, would be the attempt to discredit the Holocaust, and to discredit the descent of modern Jews from those who were pushed out by the Romans in AD 70, and the lies spread that they are only descendants of Jewish converts in central asia, named the Khazars.(DNA evidence refutes this out of hand).
    However, I am not an expert, and I am prepared to be corrected.

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  • by AntigoneRising on March 20th, 2007

    AntigoneRising

    Well, by definition, anti-Semitism would be a feeling/movement against Semites - those of Semetic descent. However, it currently refers to racist thought/movements against the Jews (who are not the only Semites...Arabs are also Semitic, as are other groups).

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  • by singwell-is off researching a lot on March 20th, 2007

    singwell-is off researching a lot

    The Semites are the descendents of Shem, first or second son (depending on tradition) of Noah. Shem is mentioned as the ancestor of several middle eastern groups, most importantly the Hebrews, through Abraham. The name Semite has been narrowed to refer to the Hebrews alone, so an anti-Semite is anri-Hebrew, anti-Jewish. The adjective is anti-Semetic.

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  • by nevets - badgicide on March 20th, 2007

    nevets - badgicide

    I would like to add a generic Wikipedia answer:

    Antisemitism (alternatively spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is discrimination, hostility or prejudice directed at Jewish persons as a religious, racial, or ethnic group. Instances of antisemitism range from individual hatred to institutionalized, violent persecution. Extreme instances of persecution include the Spanish Inquisition, eviction from Spain, various pogroms, and, above all, Adolf Hitler's Holocaust.

    Antisemitism can be broadly categorized into three forms:

    * Religious antisemitism, also known as anti-Judaism, focuses on the practice of Judaism itself. Discrimination against Jews has been commonplace in Christian and Musim lands. Sometimes this discrimination is similar to that suffered by "infidels" in general. At other times, Jews have been singled out for discrimination. Both Christianity and Islam seek converts, and Jews that converted (or pretended to, see Marranos) could escape at least some religious persecution.

    * Racial antisemitism. Racial antisemitism is the misconception that the Jews are a distinct and inferior race. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it gained mainsteam acceptance as part of the eugenics movement, which categorized non-Europeans as inferior. Racial antisemites emphasize the Jews' "alien" extra-European origins. (See the numerous anthropological theories on if the Jews possessed any Arabic-Armenoid, African-Nubian or Asian-Turkic ancestries.) Today, racial antisemitism has lost general credibility and appears most often among Neo-Nazi and white supremacist movements.

    * New antisemitism is the concept of a new form of 21st century antisemitism coming simultaneously from the left, the far right, and radical Islam, which tends to focus on opposition to Zionism and a Jewish homeland in the State of Israel, and which may deploy traditional antisemitism motifs. The concept has been criticized for what some authors see as a confusion of antisemitism and anti-Zionism.

    # http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Semitism

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