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’.
Abstract: Drawing on data from JPR's 2010 Israel Survey, this report explores which media sources are being accessed by Jews, and assesses their attitudes towards reporting about Israel. Despite the BBC being the most popular news source, its reporting about Israel is widely considered to be biased.
The Israel Survey was carried out by JPR in early 2010 and was the first national study dedicated to an examination of the attitudes of Jews in Britain towards Israel. Supported by Pears Foundation, the survey generated a total of 4,081 responses, the largest sample so far assembled of Jewish public opinion in Britain.
The key findings report showed that for a majority of respondents, Israel forms a very important aspect of their Jewish identities, with almost three-quarters describing themselves as ‘Zionist’. Nine out of ten felt that Israel is the ‘ancestral homeland’ of the Jewish people and an even greater proportion had visited the country. The survey also explored territorial issues, the peace process, defence policy and Israeli society.
This second report explores data from that survey that has not been previously analysed or published
