Chasing the myth of the demon Jew
Antisemitism, the term used to describe an irrational animosity towards the Jewish people, is as old as the tensions which once drove a wedge between the three Abrahamic religions at the dawn of their emergence from a pagan past. Throughout the centuries, it has waxed and waned, but it has never entirely disappeared from our mental landscape. Now, as a fresh wave of antisemitism engulfs us like a tsunami, it is timely to turn to the social sciences for insights into how and why it has taken in so many people, so that we can arrive at possible ways of mitigating its impact.
Though often carefully disguised or dressed in rational garb, antisemitism is nothing more than naked prejudice directed at a fantasy of what Jews are. Two conditions for any form of prejudice immediately present themselves for attention, both of them ubiquitous in the human condition. The first is paranoia; the second is the closely related group phenomenon of scapegoating. Both are primitive responses to the emotion of fear which human beings have evolved in order to protect themselves from harm.
In times of social stress, such as when the economy declines or when disaster strikes, prejudice reaches its zenith. Without a proper understanding of the antecedents to these events, the easiest solution is to find someone ‘out there’ to blame.
The term paranoia applies to a spectrum of conditions ranging from psychosis to personality disorder. The paranoid individual sees malign influences at work, intent at causing harm; paranoia draws its inspiration from long-held mythical beliefs which, in the case of antisemitism, portray Jews as an alien force possessed of exceptional powers.
Jews, it is believed, are capable of assuming different guises, appearing and disappearing like ghostly apparitions. At times they merge with their surroundings, at other times they congregate in secret to perform weird rituals. A unifying theme in the identity of the mythical Jew is his ability use cunning and subterfuge in order to exercise his power. Reality has no bearing on these beliefs. The underlying assumption is a delusional one – that the Jew is an evil being.
Scapegoating, a group manifestation of paranoia, is a convenient way to rid the group of elements perceived as dangerous. The precursor to expulsion from the group is the attribution of culpability for some disaster or mishap which has befallen the group. The chosen object (at one time an actual goat) is symbolically laden with blame and driven into the wilderness, leaving the main group with the sense of having been cleansed. Mass psychology plays its part, too. Crowds, egged on by demagogues, fixate on Jews (nowadays referred to as Zionists) as war criminals.
Today, the medieval image of the Jew as an agent of Satan has largely been discarded. Instead he has been refashioned as a political demon. To antisemites of the right he is a communist, posing a threat to Christianity and democracy. To those of the left, he is the worst of capitalists, mercenary and exploitative, and now, with the establishment of the State of Israel, he is portrayed as a colonialist, intent on displacing the indigenous people of Palestine from a land which is rightfully theirs. Zionism, the term by which Jews have justified their entitlement to nationhood, has been turned into an abominable ideology by antisemites.
Antisemitism is by no means a unique form of prejudice. Jews must continue to call out lies and distortions on their own patch, but they must also align themselves with other ethnic groups who are suffering similar oppression and persecution. If those who persist in chasing mythical demons can be forced into the margins of society, we might just be able to turn the tide of irrationality before it drowns all of us.
