Abstract: For a well-functioning and inclusive democracy, it is crucial that minority voices can participate in public debate and express their opinions through the news media. However, media participation can be demanding, especially considering the proliferation of online hate. Based on in-depth interviews with 15 self-identified Jews who have participated in Norwegian media as Jews, this article explores the strategies Jewish minority voices employ when participating in the news media, both to position themselves and achieve their aims as representatives of a small-sized and vulnerable minority, and to deal with the risk of and experiences with antisemitism. The findings show that it can be demanding and distressing, but also rewarding to participate in the media as a minority voice, and most often the motivations and gains outweigh the risks. Although it is common to experience antisemitic hate speech in the wake of media participation, this has not led the participants to withdraw from public engagement. Consequently, this article argues that hate speech does not necessarily represent a boundary for public participation. However, participating as a minority voice requires strong motivation, emotional resilience, and the ability to focus on the positive outcomes of media participation, including the possibility of social change.
Abstract: The historiography and the memory of the Holocaust, of the Romanians, and of Romanian Jews can be understood only through knowledge of the peculiarities of the Holocaust in Romania within the wider context of Holocaust Studies. Certain characteristic features of the history of the modernization of Romania in the twentieth century turned the “Jewish problem” into an ideologically active element, present on a large scale in the public sphere. Unquestionably, the tragedy of the Romanian Jewry was bound up with the European context, but it also had its own manifestations because of the political regime in Romania from 1938 to 1944. Six decades ago, Lucretiu Pătrăşcanu accurately remarked that “anti-Semitism in Romania still remains a Romanian phenomenon, which should be examined in its specific nature, and not only in what it imitates” (1944, 171). Romanians never embraced this research project; instead, they explained the Romanian Holocaust by blaming it on imported Fascism. One of the most frequently invoked reasons for this neglect is the ideology of national Communism; in this view, everything Romanian was good, while the origin of evil was always from outside. According to this preconception, risen to the rank of a “theory” of history, atrocities either did not occur in Romania from 1938 to 1944 or, if they happened, were caused by external forces.
Abstract: Im Herbst 2008 warnte die Anti Defamation League wiederholt vor einem neuen Aufkeimen
des Antisemitismus im Zuge der globalen Wirtschafts- und Finanzkrise und belegte ihre
Sorge durch eine Vielzahl von Artikeln in US-amerikanischen, südamerikanischen und
europäischen Printmedien und Internetforen, in denen in der Auseinandersetzung mit der
Krise mehr oder weniger offene antisemitische Ressentiments artikuliert wurden. Diese
reichten von traditionellen antisemitischen Stereotypen wie dem „raffgierigen Juden“ bis hin
zu Weltverschwörungstheorien, die auch durch eine spezifische Verknüpfung von
Antisemitismus, Antiamerikanismus und Israelfeindschaft gekennzeichnet sind.
Vor diesem Hintergrund starteten wir am Institut für Konfliktforschung, in Kooperation mit
dem Institut für Zeitgeschichte, im August 2009 eine Studie zu antisemitischen
Diskurselementen in den Debatten um die Krise in österreichischen Printmedien. Wie wird
die Krise generell dargestellt und unter welchen Bedingungen und thematischen Kontexten
tauchen antisemitische Versatzstücke in der Argumentation auf? Dies ist die
forschungsleitende Kernfrage, der wir uns in dem Projekt widmeten.
Da Antisemitismus weder als einheitliches noch als statisches Phänomen verstanden wird,
sind die Kontinuitäten und Diskontinuitäten der antisemitischen Stereotypenbildung und
deren Situierung in gesellschaftlichen, ökonomischen, politischen und historischen Kontexten
von zentralem Belang. Denn selbst wenn sich antisemitische Stereotype in ihrem Inhalt und
ihrer Struktur innerhalb des letzten Jahrhunderts nicht grundsätzlich verändert haben mögen,
ist es für eine Analyse der Funktion und Struktur des Antisemitismus notwendig,
Veränderungen in den Bedingungen zu berücksichtigen, unter denen Antisemitismus auftritt.
Nur eine solche Vorgehensweise erlaubt substantielle Konklusionen über das Verhältnis von
Antisemitismus und Politik/Gesellschaft/Ökonomie. So sind die gesellschaftspolitischen
Veränderungen der letzen drei Jahrzehnte, die sich auch in einem neoliberalen Diskurs
niederschlagen, ebenso von Bedeutung wie etwa die Transformationen des Nationalen im
Zuge der teilweisen Transnationalisierung von Politik und Verwaltung in der EU, welche
Auswirkungen auf den nationalistischen Diskurs zeitigen, der seinerseits häufig mit
Antisemitismus einhergeht.
Das Projekt verbindet eine gesellschaftstheoretische und historische Überblicksstudie über
Antisemitismus im spezifischen Zusammenhang ökonomischer Krisen, seine Artikulationsund Manifestationsformen sowie die Motivationen, die dahinter stehen, mit einer
diskursanalytischen Untersuchung eines ausgewählten Medienkorpus zur gegenwärtigen Finanz- und Wirtschaftskrise. In den verschieden gelagerten Textsorten (Berichte,
Kommentare, Reportagen, LeserInnenbriefe, etc.) werden manifeste und latente
antisemitische Diskursstränge herausgestrichen und ihre Wirkungsmacht hinsichtlich der
gesamten Diskursstrategie analysiert. Da vor allem im Internet zum Teil unverhohlen
antisemitisch argumentiert wird, wurden über den Korpus an Printmedien hinaus auch
Forumsdiskussionen in Augenschein genommen und, eine davon genauer analysiert. Im
Zentrum dieses Projekts steht jedoch der Diskurs in den österreichischen Printmedien Kurier,
Die Presse, Der Standard, Neue Kronen Zeitung, profil, Format und News.
Ausgangsüberlegung für diese Herangehensweise ist, dass der in diesen Printmedien
„veröffentlichte Diskurs” eine Datensorte darstellt, die weite Teile in allen
Bevölkerungsschichten erreicht und dominante Deutungsmuster repräsentiert.
Abstract: This dissertation is concerned with present-day representations of Jews, with a focus on mainstream media. Research objectives are two-fold: first, to examine the ways Jews are constructed as Other in (1) traditional, offline mainstream media, (2) online environments, specifically in (a) comment fields under news content, and (b) SNS, and (3) offline group discussions with young people; second, to explore the relationship between the consumption of news and information through different channels and attitudes towards Jews in adolescents. This research builds on Social Identity Theory and Social Representations Theory, and insights from the literature on media representations of ethnic minorities, antisemitism, and hate speech. It employs a multi-method approach, including quantitative and qualitative content analysis, discourse analysis, text mining, and survey methods. The research questions are addressed in five studies: (1) a longitudinal (2006-2016), quantitative content analysis of the television news coverage of the Jewish minority in Belgium; (2) a semantic network analysis of the word "jew" in online reader comments under news content shared on the Facebook page of a leading Flemish news outlet; (3) a qualitative content analysis and co-occurrence network analysis of Instagram posts annotated with the hashtags #jew, #jewish, and #jews; (4) a cross-sectional survey study into the relationship between news consumption through different channels and attitudes towards Jews in adolescents; (5) a focus group study into perceptions and representations of Jews among non-Jewish youth. Findings point to substantial differences in representations of Jews between news media discourse on the one hand, and the "general public" on the other. Furthermore, attitudes towards Jews in adolescents are predicted by education and religious affiliation, rather than news consumption.
Abstract: Executive summary
• Three of the four ‘alternative media’ platforms analysed were found to promote a
negative view of Jews
• The fourth was found to promote a negative view of Muslims, but not of Jews
(although it sometimes made use of arguments and images that are in other
contexts used to stigmatise Jews)
• A significant relationship was found between holding antisemitic views and having a
positive opinion of each of the three platforms that were found to promote a
negative view of Jews
• A significant relationship was also found between holding antisemitic views and
having a positive opinion of the Russian state-owned propaganda broadcaster, RT
(formerly Russia Today)
• By contrast, there was no relationship, or a substantially weaker and more conflicted
relationship, between antisemitism and evaluation of named ‘mainstream media’
sources
• Moreover, drawing on the ‘mainstream media’ in general for political information
was associated with lower levels of antisemitism
• In the interests of reducing prejudice, it would appear desirable to encourage use of
high quality, reputable sources of information at the expense of low quality fringe
sources
• Partial solutions to the problem could include:
- Demonetisation of problematic websites (for example, through withdrawal of
advertising)
- De-prioritisation of content from such websites in social media news feeds
and search algorithms
- Guidelines for members or employees of organisations such as political
parties, voluntary sector organisations, trade unions, and media companies,
both against sharing content or repeating claims from such websites and
against providing them with content in the form of interviews, quotations, or
stories
- In extreme cases, legal or regulatory sanctions against the owners of the
websites themselves
• However, it is at least as important for government, individual consumers, and other
stakeholders (including social media companies) to play their part in ensuring that
reputable media-producing organisations are able to remain viable as businesses
that can both invest in and promote high-quality content within a democratic
regulatory framework
Abstract: This article focuses on the media practices of Russian-speaking Orthodox Jews seeking patterns of observance relevant to secular modernity. The author applies the conceptual framework of “communicative figurations” to describe the process of everyday Torah observance in post-Soviet countries, Israel, the United States, and Western Europe. Empirical research on media repertoires reveals that members of post-Soviet Orthodox communities use Facebook and Instagram to maintain closed women’s groups and rabbis’ blogs focused on observance. Women’s groups frame everyday observance in terms of modesty, family purity, the kosher home, and the like. Personal rabbis’ blogs introduce practices of “digital Judaism” that include Torah lessons, the daily page of the Talmud, question and answer exchanges, and so forth. Content-based textual analyses uncover thematic intersections, the circulation of stories, and reciprocal hyperlinks between both types of groups. The media practices of women’s groups and rabbis’ blogs link the local Russian-speaking Jewish communities with a transnational Orthodox constellation.
Abstract: Rund 75 Jahre nach dem Holocaust verzeichnet die Polizei einen An-stieg antisemitischer Straftaten in Deutschland; als bedrohte Minderheit sorgen sich jüdi-sche Menschen um das gesellschaftliche Meinungsklima, das auch die etablierten Massen-medien prägen. Vor diesem Hintergrund untersucht der vorliegende Beitrag mit Hilfe des normativen Konzepts der „interkulturellen medialen Integration“ die medienjournalisti-sche Berichterstattung der Wochenzeitung Jüdische Allgemeine. Die Befunde der qualitati-ven Inhaltsanalyse von 168 Beiträgen zeigen, dass die vom Zentralrat der Juden in Deutschland herausgegebene Publikation in verschiedener Hinsicht heftige Kritik an etab-lierten Medien übt. So hätten einzelne Medien antisemitische Stereotype verbreitet, Perso-nen, die sich antisemitisch äußern, eine Plattform geboten und Antisemitismus als solchen nicht erkannt, relativiert oder negiert. Im Sinne einer differenzierten Medienkritik macht die Jüdische Allgemeine aber auch deutlich, welche Merkmale von Medieninhalten sie für wünschenswert hält, darunter Berichte über alltägliches jüdisches Leben in Deutschland, aber auch authentische Beiträge über Antisemitismus, in denen Betroffene zu Wort kom-men. Die Befunde können zum einen verstehen helfen, warum viele Jüd*innen in Europa Antisemitismus in den Medien als Problem sehen. Zum anderen liefern sie Produzierenden von Medienangeboten Hinweise darauf, welche Resonanz ihre Inhalte innerhalb der jüdi-schen Gemeinschaft finden.
Abstract: Antisemitism is a prototype of racially inspired hatred against minorities and a highly moral issue, particularly in Germany. Against this background, this qualitative study explored role conceptions and enactments among German journalists covering antisemitism. Interviews with 21 journalists indicated that their normally passive role conception became more interventionist when reporting on antisemitism. This more active role was enacted through a high frequency of reporting on antisemitic incidents, intensive research on the motivational backgrounds of antisemitic violence, and high levels of reflection on their word choices and the potential effects of media coverage on public opinion, the Jewish community, and potential imitators of violence. Our findings suggest conditions under which journalists may demonstrate interventionism in favor of minorities, which are as follows: (a) key events in history, (b) the national issue culture; (c) the degree to which issue characteristics make it ethically questionable for journalists to strictly follow a news media logic, (d) the concurrence of discrimination against minority members and attacks on journalists, and (e) journalists’ conviction that the issue at stake indicates a dangerous transformation of a country’s society.
Abstract: This paper examines the discourses relating to antisemitism in the three leading UK national “quality” newspapers from 1993 to 2009. To this end, three corpora were compiled, each consisting of the complete set of instances in context in these papers where antisemitism is mentioned, the first from 1993 the others from 2005 and 2009. Considerable changes were noted between the discourses in the earlier corpus compared to the later ones. In the first, the majority of discourses were either historical and/or literary-artistic (typically discussing whether a particular writer or artist had been antisemitic) or, if they were related to contemporary society, they were discussions of potential or reported antisemitism outside the UK, especially in Eastern Europe. In the later corpora, however, there is much more discussion about a perceived resurgence of antisemitism in the UK and Western Europe. After an overview of these changing patterns, particularly controversial recent cases of alleged antisemitism in British politics are discussed. The methodology of this research combines corpus-analysis techniques with more traditional close textual analysis, characteristic of corpus-assisted discourse studies (CADS: Stubbs 1996, Partington 2008).
Abstract: Contemporary expressions of Judeophobia—in Germany, as elsewhere in Europe—contain a potentially explosive mix of traditional and newer forms of antisemitism. Since 9/11, and especially in the wake of the Iraq war, anti-Americanism has been a potent factor in envenoming hostile attitudes to Israel and the Jews—as alleged architects of the war, and “aggressors” in the Middle East. Conspiracy theories, with an antisemitic subtext, have flourished on the Left and in the mainstream media, as well as on the far Right. One-sided representations of the Middle East conflict, downplaying Palestinian terrorism, the threat posed by radical Islam and the genocidal antisemitism rampant in the Muslim and Arab media—while highlighting Israeli counter-violence as gratuitous sadism—have contributed to fostering anti-Jewish feelings. “AntiSharonism” has been widely used as a cover to present Israel as a
“criminal” state in its essence.
Such commentaries reinforce long-standing and widespread antiJewish stereotypes, revealed by surveys of German public opinion over the years—especially those related to Jewish money, power, and exploitative “abuse” of the Holocaust. Much of contemporary German antisemitism can best be understood as a form of ressentiment against constant reminders of the Nazi past and the desire to reverse the roles, to turn Israelis/Jews into “perpetrators”
and Germans into “victims.”
Topics: Main Topic: Other, Circumcision / Brit Milah, Newspapers, Magazines and Periodicals, Media, National Identity, Islam, Islamophobia, Antisemitism, Jewish - Non - Jewish Relations, Body
Abstract: Antisemitism and anti-Zionism are complex, delineable, yet inter-related social-psychological phenomena. While antisemitism has been described as an irrational, age-old prejudice, anti-Zionism is often represented as a legitimate response to a ’rogue state’. Drawing upon media and visual sources and rich interview data from Iran, Britain and Israel, Antisemitism and Anti-Zionism: Representation, Cognition and Everyday Talk examines the concepts of antisemitism and anti-Zionism, tracing their evolution and inter-relations, and considering the distinct ways in which they are manifested, and responded to, by Muslim and Jewish communities in Iran, Britain and Israel. Providing insights from social psychology, sociology and history, this interdisciplinary analysis sheds light on the pivotal role of the media, social representations and identity processes in shaping antisemitism and anti-Zionism. As such, this provocative book will be of interest to social scientists working on antisemitism, race and ethnicity, political sociology and political science, media studies and Middle Eastern politics.
Abstract: Denne rapporten presenterer HL-senterets undersøkelse av hvorvidt og hvordan antisemittisme kommer til uttrykk i et utvalg
norske medier. Undersøkelsen har tatt utgangspunkt i et begrenset og strategisk utvalg saker fra redigerte nyhetsmedier og
kommentarfelt fra nettaviser og én av de utvalgte nyhetsmedienes Facebook-sider. Det er gjort kvantitative innholdsanalyser
av totalt 824 artikler og 2689 kommentarer. Det er også gjort en rent kvalitativ gjennomgang av cirka 250 Twitter-meldinger tilknyttet
emneknaggen «jøde», fra perioden 14. juli 2010 – 28. mai 2016.
Undersøkelsen viser at negative og problematiske utsagn og ytringer om jøder eksisterer i både de redigerte nyhetsmediene
og kommentarfeltene. Samlet sett er likevel slike ytringer, og spesielt eksplisitte antisemittiske utsagn, relativt lite utbredt i
det undersøkte materialet. Fremstillinger av jødene som en kollektiv størrelse og ansvarliggjøring av jøder for staten Israels politikk
er de problematiske uttrykksformene som har høyest forekomst i det undersøkte materialet. Den vanligste formen for
slike ytringer er generaliserende sammenblandinger av jøder som gruppe og staten Israel, og oppfordringer om at jøder som
gruppe skal ta tydelig avstand fra israelske handlinger. I blant refereres det også til «amerikanske jøder» eller «norske jøder»
som en enhet med felles meninger, interesser og mål. Det er videre en viss forekomst av ytringer som sammenlikner Israels
politikk overfor palestinerne med den nazistiske jødeforfølgelsen og negative utsagn som spiller på forestilte negative trekk ved
jødisk religion. I enkelte av kommentarfeltene forekommer tradisjonelle konspiratoriske antisemittiske forestillinger.
De problematiske enkeltutsagnene i redigerte nyhetsmedier er mest utbredt i leserbrev, kronikker og debattinnlegg som er
skrevet av eksterne bidragsytere, mens de kommer sjeldnere til uttrykk i redaksjonelle kronikker, ledere og nyhetsartikler tilknyttet
medienes egne medarbeidere. Slike ytringer utløser imidlertid i de fleste tilfeller konkrete tilsvar og reaksjoner, og blir dermed sjeldent
stående uimotsagt. Problematiske og til dels jødefiendtlige ytringer er noe mer utbredt i artikler som også inneholder uttalte
Israel-kritiske standpunkter. Samtidig har et tydelig flertall av de Israel-kritiske artiklene overhodet ikke forekomst av problematiske/
negative utsagn om jøder. Mange av de problematiske ytringene i de redigerte mediene er utslag av upresis og ubevisst språkbruk,
og sjeldent et uttrykk for antisemittiske intensjoner. Eksplisitte antisemittiske ytringer forekommer i svært liten grad i denne delen
av mediene.
Enkelte av de jødefiendtlige ytringene tenderer til å være mer eksplisitt uttrykt i kommentarfeltene.På samme måte som i de redigerte
nyhetsmediene har negative/problematiske ytringer om jøder i kommentarfeltene noe høyere forekomst i sammenheng med Israel-kritiske standpunkter. Det er imidlertid kommentarfeltene under saker om antisemittisme og Holocaust som utmerker seg ved å ha
høyest forekomst av problematiske og jødefiendtlige ytringer. Slike saker aktiverer også et klart flertall av de groveste konspiratoriske
antisemittiske ytringene. Selv om denne type ytringer er relativt lite utbredt også i de undersøkte kommentarfeltene, viser mangfoldet
blant de groveste antisemittiske uttrykkene en bemerkelsesverdig kontinuitet i det antisemittiske tankegodset.
Twitter-meldingene tilknyttet emneknaggen «jøde» skiller seg fra det øvrige undersøkte materialet. Selv om et mindretall
av meldingene spiller på antisemittiske klisjeer, er koplingen av denne emneknaggen til penger og moralske avvik innenfor
økonomi og profitt et gjennomgående trekk.Slike meldinger refererer ikke til faktiske eller forestilte jøder, men viser bl.a. til venners
gjerrighet, overdreven sparsomhet og kollegers lave arbeidsmoral. #jøde blir altså brukt som en metafor for slette karaktertrekk,som uvilje mot å betale gjeld, uærlig profittog latskap. Slike ytringer refererer til klassiske forestillinger i den moderne antisemittismen,og inngår i en historisk norsk satirisk tradisjon.
Abstract: Jødisk Menighetsblad (“Jewish Community Letter”) was published in Oslo in the years 1976–1991 as an organ for the two Jewish (“Mosaic”) congregations in Norway. It appeared three times a year, usually before the Jewish festivals Pesach, Rosh Hashana, and Chanukka. Each number counted between 45 and 75 pages. Its chief editor was Oskar Mendelsohn, well known for his two-volume work on the history of the Norwegian Jews. The community letter brought reports on Jewish congregational life and annual meetings, registered births, bar and bath mitzwahs, weddings, and deaths. The general picture given is a slow but steadily increasing activity in both congregations. In addition, the community letter also recorded what was said and written about Jewish and Israeli questions in radio, television and press. It gave up-to-date information about Israel, and presented articles on Jewish religion and culture. Its most outstanding feature, however, is the meticulous recording and report on literature, poetry and factual prose as well, regarding some aspect on Israel or Judaism. Through this journal, its editors have secured documentation about Jewish life and culture in Norway. In addition, there can be no doubt that the community letter has been of pivotal importance for promoting a conscious feeling of Jewish identity in Norway.
Abstract: This thesis examines the mediation of the nation-state as a dimension of the diasporic
experience of place. It focuses on the consumption of mass-media about Israel or
originating from it by people residing outside of the country. I understand this
mediation to take place continuously throughout the day, in multiple spaces, through
different technologies. As such, it forms part of the experience of place in mediasaturated
(urban) environments, allowing for a distant nation-state to become
embedded in daily routines. In order to theorise this experience, I draw on MerleauPonty’s
phenomenology, which understands place through embodied perception and
habit, and on studies of diaspora and media, which examine the social meanings and
uses of media among specific transnational groups. This qualitative project is based
on a researcher-absent exercise and extended interviews with British Jews and Israeli
immigrants in London. Analysis reveals that orientation includes four areas of
practice: investing and withdrawing emotions as part of managing ‘care’, searching
for truth, distinguishing between ordinary and extraordinary time, and domesticating
media. Some of these practices may be particular to the case of Israel, but some are
shaped by discourses around insecurity, rather than Zionism itself. Others appear to
be related to experiences of migration and diaspora in general. I argue that these
practices are ‘orientational practices’ in which people endeavour to make sense of
spatial positioning through negotiating distance and controlling media. I theorise
media as ‘orientation devices’ in diasporic everyday life, but ones that are unstable,
contested and reflected upon, and hence never fully habituated. The resulting
experience is one of increased reflexivity about everyday place and, paradoxically,
increased dependency on media for orientation. I conclude by suggesting that
practices of orientation point to a mode of being in place in globalisation that is not
sufficiently addressed by the dominant understanding of ‘belonging’.
