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Romania’s 2024 election crisis: neo-legionarism’s revival of the “Judeo-Bolshevism” myth and the jouissance of punishment
Author(s): Marincea, Adina
Date: 2025
Topics: Antisemitism: Far right, Elections, Main Topic: Antisemitism, Populism, Political Parties
Abstract: The article argues that Călin Georgescu’s success in the first round of the 2024 presidential elections was a result of both economic and cultural resentment materialized in a collective will to radically punish the traditional political class. In attempting to explain the resurgence of fascism’s seduction in Romania, with the contribution of a captured and highly polarized media system, it draws parallels to the interwar period. Today’s far-right and neo-legionary “sovereigntists,” like past ultranationalists, channelled public anxieties and resentment generated by social transformations and multiple crises into a reaction against modernity, framing democracy and liberal values as a foreign product of the West, that is imposed on and therefore threatens national(ist) identity. By updating and recirculating interwar antisemitic, anti-communist and anti-liberal myths such as that of “Judeo-Bolshevism” and “Judeo-Democracy,” today’s neo-legionary movement that Georgescu is part of is claiming an ideological continuity with the mindset of the interwar fascist Legionary Movement. The “sovereigntist” neo-legionaries’ declared fight against “neo-Marxism,” “globalism” and “progressivism” can therefore be read as a modernized sequel of a century-old ultranationalist ultraconservative reaction against modernity’s offspring.
Whistling to the Right Publics? AUR’s Doublespeak in Reaction to Antisemitism Allegations
Author(s): Marincea, Adina
Date: 2022
Topics: Antisemitism: Discourse, Antisemitism: Far right, Antisemitism: Secondary Antisemitism, Holocaust Denial, Main Topic: Antisemitism, Political Parties
Abstract: Romania has proved to be no outlier in the ongoing trend of mainstream-ization of far-right and neo-fascist politics and discourses, despite the optimistic outlook that many shared not long ago. AUR marked a historical success, being the first “radical return” political formation to gain seats in Parliament after 1989. As a result, a process of accelerated normalization of the far-right discourse is taking place, moving the political spectrum further to the (extreme) right, while also rehabilitating historical figures that played a significant role in the Holocaust. The present paper draws on Discourse Historical Analysis and concepts such as “calculated ambivalence” and “dog-whistle politics” to unpack the coded meanings and whistles entwined in the discursive provocations and reactions of AUR’s leader, George Simion. Starting from AUR’s press release from January 2022, minimizing the Holocaust, which set in motion the “right-wing populist perpetuum mobile”, I analyze the main discursive strategies, both confrontational and submissive, used by Simion in his effort to “dog-whistle” to AUR’s ultranationalist supporters, while at the same time denying allegations of antisemitism, Holocaust minimization, and fascist sympathies. For a qualitative measure of the success or failure of these strategies, a complementary critical analysis of the reactions of some of the most prominent antisemitic ultranationalist voices in Romania is carried out. Is Simion a skillful “dog-whistler” or a “traitor”? The study shows that there is a thin and fluid line between the two.
Antisemitism in the Finnish Blue and Black Movement: Ideological Roots and Contemporary Expressions
Author(s): Czimbalmos, Mercédesz
Date: 2025
Topics: Antisemitism: Far right, Elections, Main Topic: Antisemitism, Political Parties
Abstract: While far-right organizations often differ in their specific agendas—shaped by the political and geographical contexts in which they operate—antisemitism and anti-Jewish sentiment remain recurring elements across most of them. The Finnish Blue and Black Movement (Fin. Sinimusta liike, SML) was initially founded as an organization, later registered as a political party, and subsequently had its party status revoked in April 2024. As of 2025, it is seeking re-registration as a political party. Despite its brief history, SML has provoked public discussion throughout its existence, particularly regarding its ideological foundations. This study aims to situate the Blue and Black Movement within its broader context and examine the antisemitic rhetoric present in the communications of SML and its representatives. The analysis was grounded in Ruth Wodak’s approach of defining and identifying antisemitic content through a discourse–historical approach (DHA). The material examined includes public speeches and online textual content—such as social media posts—produced by the Movement and its candidates for the 2023 Finnish parliamentary election and those who were considered as candidates at the 2024 European Parliament elections. The results of the analysis indicate that through a combination of ethnic exclusion, Holocaust distortion, conspiratorial narratives, the Blue and Black Movement articulates a contemporary form of antisemitism that draws on ideological continuities with historical fascist traditions.
Of the people and the elite? The strategic framing of Jews, antisemitism, and Israel by the AfD and the FPÖ
Author(s): Burchett, Claire
Date: 2025
Topics: Antisemitism: Far right, Attitudes to Jews, Main Topic: Antisemitism, Political Parties, Politics
Abstract: Research has examined the co-existence of pro-Jewish discourse and antisemitic incidents within the populist radical right parties (PRR), Alternative for Germany (AfD) and the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ). This paper analyses this phenomenon through the lens of populist discourse, and finds that Jews are accepted into “the people” when they agree with the parties’ (mostly anti-Islam and anti-elitist) message. However, Jews are excluded, aligned with “the elite”, when they do not. This paper also finds that only the FPÖ demonstrates this same approach towards Israel. The parties thus pursue a dual strategy with regards to Jews and Israel: they use populist discourse as a way to “normalise” their framing of Jews and legitimise exclusion, but the overlap between antisemitic and anti-elitist ideas can make this appear as antisemitic dog-whistling.
Die radikale Rechte in Deutschland nach dem 7. Oktober: Ein Beispiel des politischen Antisemitismus im postfaktischen Zeitalter
Translated Title: The radical right in Germany after October 7th: An example of political antisemitism in the post-factual age
Author(s): Schreiter, Nikolai; Rensmann, Lars
Date: 2025
Topics: Antisemitism: Far right, October 7 2023 attacks + aftermath, Politics, Main Topic: Antisemitism, Attitudes to Israel, Antisemitism: Israel-Related, Political Parties
Abstract: In der Öffentlichkeit ist die Wahrnehmung weit verbreitet, die deutsche radikale Rechte und insbesondere die Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) habe ihren Antisemitismus durch andere Ressentiments ersetzt und sich zu einer „israelfreund- lichen“ oder gar „anti-antisemitischen“ politischen Kraft entwickelt. Der Artikel analysiert vor diesem Hintergrund rechtsradikale Reaktionen auf die Massaker vom 7. Oktober 2023 und fragt nach der Bedeutung von (israelbezogenem) Antisemitismus in der radikalen Rechten. Dabei kristallisiert sich ein komplexes Bild postfaktischer Positionen heraus, bei denen oberflächlich pro-israelische Positionen existieren, diese aber weitgehend von israelfeindlichen und antisemitischen Ideologemen überlagert werden. Auch die pro-israelischen Positionen erscheinen von einer projektiven Sicht auf Israel und den Nahen Osten bestimmt, die den jüdischen Staat für eigene ethnozentrische Politikvorstellungen, Ideologien und Ressentiments instrumentalisieren.
La main du diable: Comment l'extrême droite a voulu séduire les Juifs de France
Translated Title: The Devil's Hand: How the Far Right Has Wanted to Seduce France's Jews
Author(s): Cohen-Solal, Judith; Hayoun, Jonathan
Date: 2019
Topics: Antisemitism: Far right, Islamophobia, Attitudes to Israel, Main Topic: Other, Political Parties, Politics
Abstract: Durant quarante ans, l’extrême droite a été l’ennemie officielle des Juifs de France. Or, certains leaders extrémistes ont pu voir dans l’irruption de l’islamisme radical l’opportunité de séduire un électorat jusque-là hostile: l’islamisme n’était-il pas un ennemi commun?
Marine Le Pen a ainsi voulu surfer sur l'inquiétude des Juifs de France face à la montée d’un antisémitisme dont elle prétendait, de surcroît, pouvoir les protéger. D’où ses tentatives, nombreuses et variées, pour les rallier à sa cause.
Le FN, devenu Rassemblement National, serait-il devenu un partenaire respectable? Ou, tout au moins un opposant fréquentable ?

Les auteurs de cette enquête ont sillonné la France à l’écoute des communautés juives présentes dans les villes d'extrême droite, de Fréjus à Hayange, de Béziers aux quartiers-nord de Marseille. Ils ont remonté le fil de l’histoire du Front National et de ses tentatives de séduction, ainsi que celle des réactions des juifs face à cette main tendue. Pour mieux comprendre, ils ont recueilli des confidences d’élus frontistes, de témoins et d'intellectuels.

Et ils racontent les coulisses de cette tentative de hold-up idéologique.
À l’extrême droite, l’antisémitisme est-il « résiduel » ?
Translated Title: On the far right, is anti-Semitism “residual”?
Author(s): Lebourg, Nicolas
Date: 2025
Topics: Antisemitism: Far right, Politics, Political Parties, Main Topic: Antisemitism
Abstract: L’adjectif « résiduel » a été récemment utilisé par le ministre de l’Intérieur Bruno Retailleau pour qualifier l’antisémitisme d’extrême droite, en considérant que désormais la haine des Juifs était l’affaire de l’islamisme et de l’extrême gauche. Il reprenait ainsi le qualificatif de Jean-Luc Mélenchon, qui avait écrit quelques mois auparavant que « Contrairement à ce que dit la propagande de l’officialité, l’antisémitisme reste résiduel en France. » Durant les campagnes électorales de 2024 en France, le Rassemblement national (RN) s’est présenté comme le bouclier des Français juifs. L’actualité paraît ainsi renfoncer le storytelling entretenu depuis une quinzaine d’années, selon lequel l’extrême droite ne serait plus antisémite, voire deviendrait solidaire des Français juifs. Autour de ce sujet sont souvent mis en avant des déclarations philosémites de ténors nationaux-populistes. D’autre part, les révélations publiques de prétendus « dérapages » antisémites de candidats malheureux du RN sont monnaie courante. Pour circonscrire le phénomène, il faut distinguer les modes d’expression de cet antisémitisme. Les questions des violences, de la place accordée aux marqueurs antisémites dans la communication des partis, et de l’expression culturelle sont trois dimensions qui se recoupent pour distinguer la place de l’objet au sein de ce champ politique.
Antisemitism in the British Labour Party: The Corbyn years and beyond
Author(s): Caizhou, Cui
Date: 2025
Topics: Antisemitism: Left-Wing, Political Parties, Politics, Main Topic: Antisemitism
Abstract: Under Jeremy Corbin’s leadership (2015–20), antisemitism within the Labour Party shot to new heights. Known, inter alia, for his harsh criticism of Israel, indeed rejection of its very existence; association with terrorist organisations bent on Israel’s destruction and questioning British Jewry’s true ‘Britishness’, Corbyn repeatedly failed to address antisemitism within his party, attracting widespread public criticism, intensifying divisions within Labour and creating an unbridgeable rift with the Jewish community. And while antisemitism within the party has diminished following Corbyn’s resignation, and subsequent suspension from Labour, underlying antisemitic sentiments have not been wholly eradicated and continue to represent a significant concern in British political discourse.
Antisemitism, Holocaust Denial, and Germany’s Far Right: How the AfD Tiptoes around Nazism
Author(s): Kahn, Michelle Lynn
Date: 2022
Topics: Antisemitism: Far right, Holocaust Denial, Political Parties, Politics, Main Topic: Antisemitism, Islamophobia
Abstract: This article examines antisemitism and Holocaust denial in contemporary Far-Right German politics with a focus on the party Alternative for Germany (Alternative für Deutschland, AfD). The article argues that the AfD has attempted to ‘tiptoe around Nazism’—a phrase coined by the author, which describes how the party has strategically and haphazardly reacted to scandals as they arise in order to avoid being associated with Nazism and losing moderate voters. The first section investigates how the AfD has reacted to various internal scandals that have damaged its reputation. This analysis encompasses the party’s fraught relationship to the Islamophobic, anti-refugee organization PEGIDA (Patriotic Europeans against the Islamicization of the Occident) as well as the ‘Höcke Affair,’ in which prominent AfD leader Björn Höcke denigrated the Berlin Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe as a ‘monument of shame.’ The second section examines the AfD’s proactive attempts to tiptoe around Nazism by portraying itself as philosemitic and pro-Israel and courting Jewish voters as part of its controversial subgroup Jews in the AfD (Juden in der AfD, JAfD). Here it explains how JAfD members, particularly Jews who immigrated to Germany from the former Soviet Union, have rationalized their paradoxical support for this outwardly antisemitic and denialist party. The conclusion situates the AfD in the broader transatlantic context of Far-Right extremism, highlighting trends that may signal—yet, more likely, will fail to bring about—the party’s demise.
Choosing who to hate? The Extreme and Radical Right's Foreign Policy between Anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, and Russophilia
Author(s): Wondreys, Jakub; Zulianello, Mattia
Date: 2024
Topics: Antisemitism: Far right, Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, Islamophobia, Main Topic: Antisemitism, Political Parties, Politics, Racism, Ukraine-Russia war (since 2014)
Abstract: Although extensive research has been conducted on the extreme right (ER) and radical right (RR), their foreign policy remains understudied. Hence, we provide a comparative analysis of 42 ER and RR parties in Europe to identify their stances on two key issues of contemporary international politics: the Israeli-Palestinian and the Russia-Ukraine conflicts. The results suggest that ER and RR parties do not choose who to like but who to hate more: either Israel (Jews) or Palestine (Muslims); either Russia or the West (and Ukraine as its proxy). However, ER and RR parties are substantially different in their positions towards both conflicts, and a stance in one conflict corresponds to a specific position in the other: the ER tends to be supportive of Palestine and Russia, while the RR supportive of Israel and Ukraine. We argue that these profound differences are due to a combination of ideological and competitive incentives.
Jewish voting intentions on the eve of the 2024 UK General Election
Author(s): Lessof, Carli; Boyd, Jonathan
Date: 2024
Topics: Elections, Political Parties, Surveys, Main Topic: Other
Abstract: On the eve of the 2024 UK General Election, national polls show the Labour Party ahead of the
Conservative Party by 20 percentage points. An average of polls at the time of publication has Labour
at 41.9% and Conservatives at 22.2%, with Reform UK at 15.0%, well ahead of the Liberal Democrats,
Greens, Scottish National Party (SNP), Plaid Cymru and other parties. These polls do not, however,
show the voting intention of Jewish people in the UK. The JPR Research Panel provides the research
infrastructure to gather nationally representative data about Jewish people’s behaviours and attitudes
on a wide range of social and political issues. This paper presents initial data on voting intentions for
4 July 2024, based on 2,717 UK-based Jewish adults who responded to a survey between 14-20 June
Representations of Holocaust protagonists in history education in Polish primary schools under the rule of the Law and Justice party
Author(s): Stec, Katarzyna; Sadlik, Sylwia; Kucia, Marek
Date: 2024
Topics: Holocaust Education, Curriculum, Schools: Non-Jewish, Political Parties, Main Topic: Holocaust and Memorial
Abstract: This article examines how the ‘historical policy’ of the Law and Justice party influenced Holocaust education in Poland at the mandatory primary school level (7–14-year-olds). It analyzes the party’s programs vis-à-vis the Holocaust and the representations of Holocaust protagonists – perpetrators, victims, and others – in the history core curriculum, history textbooks, and teaching practice as presented by teachers in interviews. The analysis shows that the representations of Holocaust protagonists in Polish primary school history education are considerably influenced by the nationalist approach originating from the ruling party's ‘historical policy’ and stressing the salvation of Jews from the Holocaust by Poles.
“Everyone I know Isn't Antisemitic” Antisemitism in Facebook Pages Supportive of the UK Labour Party 1
Author(s): Guhl, Jakob
Editor(s): Hübscher, Monika; Von Mering, Sabine
Date: 2022
Topics: Social Media, Main Topic: Antisemitism, Antisemitism: Online, Antisemitism: Left-Wing, Political Parties
Abstract: Since Jeremy Corbyn was elected as the leader of the Labour Party in September 2015, there have been major public debates relating to concerns about antisemitism in the UK Labour Party. Social media dynamics were often at the center of these discussions, but there has been little systematic, large-scale analysis of the phenomenon. This article analyzes left-wing antisemitism within public Facebook pages supportive of the Labour Party in the United Kingdom between 2015 and 2019. It finds that while none of the posts with the sample analyzed by the party pages themselves were clearly antisemitic, 56% of all comment sections contained at least one, and in the majority of cases more than one antisemitic comment, and that in 59% of the cases these comments went unchallenged. This does show that while online antisemitism within pro-Labour communities is relatively small in volume, it remains easily accessible and is not always called out.
‘This Really has the Potential to Destroy us’: Jeremy Corbyn's Management of the Problem of Anti-semitism in the Labour Party
Author(s): Shaw, Eric
Date: 2021
Topics: Antisemitism, Attitudes to Israel, Israel Criticism, Political Parties, Politics, Main Topic: Antisemitism
Abstract: During Jeremy Corbyn's period as leader, Labour was convulsed by a row over claims of widespread anti-semitism in the party, with Corbyn under sustained attack for his alleged complacency—and even connivance. The main purpose of this article is to help explain how the Corbyn leadership managed the ‘anti-semitism crisis’. The first section reviews the sequence of events, the key aspects of the crisis and the various steps taken by the Corbyn leadership. The article then analyses the two sets of factors which drove Corbyn's response. The second section utilises the concept of ‘schemas’, cognitive shortcuts to shed light on how the leadership framed the problem of alleged endemic anti-semitism. It argues that the Corbyn leadership's schemas of Israel were integrally linked to those it held on anti-semitism and played a major role in determining the course of action it took. The third section contends that the Corbyn leadership's decisions and choices were also governed by its approach to party management, in particular by its two central precepts, ‘the adversarial frame of reference’ and the ‘ethic of ultimate ends’. The overall conclusion is that the inadequacy of the Corbyn leadership's schematic understanding of anti-semitism and of its managerial precepts help explain its failure to resolve the anti-semitism crisis.