The play is not about Israel but instead tells the story of a Jewish man preserving his family’s traditions in a village in imperial Russia at the turn of the 20th century. The performance on Monday went ahead as planned after the protest at the cafe.
“This is a performance of Fiddler on the Roof,” they wrote alongside footage of the protesters. “So, if you’re busy condemning racist demonstrations, but not this, & you don’t think they should be prosecuted, stop preening yourself. You’re happy with racism – it’s only the target that you worry about.”
That’s not what antisemitism means. This is like thinking that antipasto means someone is opposed to Pasto. Two different words.
Not a good example. Anti = before, pasto = meal. Antipasto is what you eat before the main dish. Whether people have meant antisemitism to mean specifically Jewish persons (a bad reading), the fact remains that Arabs are Semites and Palestinians are Arabs.
This article has nothing to do with Semites. You are wandering down a pointless thought experiment, and likely attempting to derail the conversation. I can understand your confusion; antisemitism as a word is historically derived from the same root as Semite, much as “antipasto” and “pastor” are derived from the same Latin root, although they have no common meaning today. Antisemitism is and has always been a specific prejudice against Jews.
Merriam-Webster | Oxford | Cambridge | Dictionary.com | Collins | American Heritage | The Atlantic (article)
That was something you just made up.
If you want to throw a definition at me that shows that antisemitism only applies to Jewish persons, then I can just as easily show you a definition that the word “literally” now means “really a lot” as in “I literally died when I heard that”. Language use changes.
What on earth are you talking about? You give me an awful lot of credit if you think I made up EVERY dictionary. I don’t think I missed any except for the community forums like wiktionary and urbandictionary. Of course language changes. That’s why professional linguists are employed by professional dictionaries to study the language and why words are frequently added or changed. That doesn’t mean words mean whatever you feel like at the moment.
You understood the use of the word in the article. You are trying to derail the conversation to make it about etymology rather than the subject of the news. You are wasting my time, as I’ve already sent you links to SIX dictionaries and an article in a major publication. You sent nothing but your personal feelings.
Just as an fyi it’s first use is in 1881 as interchangeably anti Judaic and anti semitic.
The use of anti semitic to mean anti Judaic is in fact bigoted as fuck. The word is literally taken from a racist who thought openly that Arabs were lesser than a Jew and didn’t care he was throwing them under the bus right alongside Jews. Just say anti Judaic since it’s actually accurate to an inarguable level and doesn’t make some weird bigoted class system.
The person we are responding to has an agenda. They aren’t in it to exchange ideas, they are in it to force you to accept their view of world. This person is offended personally that we don’t automatically agree.
There’s tons of that here, same as Reddit just more echo chambers.
You notice it when you’re downvoted heavily and go back an hour later to see that you’ve been voted into the low positives again. It’s really sad how people astroturf so often.
Many Jewish organizations have advocated using the term “Jew hate” in order to avoid the linguistically and historically problematic “antisemitism” or “anti-Semitism,” but I am skeptical of the success.
By the way, you are close, but to clarify: the term was originated by Wilhelm Marr, who founded the Antisemiten-Liga (League of Anti-Semites) in 1879. This organization was not concerned with Semites in general, but with Jews in particular, as evinced by publications such as “Do not choose a Jew!” “Jew’s Mirror,” and “The War of the Jews.” You are absolutely right in that it is bigoted and coined by a bigot.
I’m for anti Judaic, follows the same form but it’s accurate.
https://www.etymonline.com/word/anti-Semitism
No I’m correct, it want used until 1881 not 1879 and Wilhelm was scared of Jews he however didn’t think much of and disliked arabs. He only added specificity to make sure people knew he was against semites generally and Jews specifically. I dunno if you’ve actually read his book but it makes it pretty clear.
I’m not sure where they are getting the date - maybe that was the first use in English? The group was founded in 1879. The term (at least in German) traces to that date.
I don’t speak German and I haven’t read any of his works, so I appreciate your educating me on that point. If there is an English-language resource I can learn more about his anti-Arab views, please share it. TIA
This hilarious part is that I am actually a linguist. But you’re obviously sensitive to this topic so I’ll walk away.
Sensitive? You are the one arguing that every dictionary is wrong. If you have an axe to grind, take it up with your editors - not me.
You could have walked away just now, you had every chance.
You’re acting in bad faith. Stop putting words in my mouth, stop projecting yourself at me. Whatever is going on here comes from your own insecurities. You appeal to authority in every exchange, and you are gatekeeping how other are allowed to use language as if there was some objective truth in the use of language. Every part of this is done for your own purposes that have nothing to do with this conversation.
Walk away, stop talking.