Why is anti-semitism only considered hate against Jewish people?

Question

Semitic
-noun
1. a subfamily of Afroasiatic languages that includes Akkadian, Arabic, Aramaic, Ethiopic, Hebrew, and Phoenician.
-adjective
2. of or pertaining to the Semites or their languages, esp. of or pertaining to the Jews.
Source: www.dictionary.com

Notice that the first definition would include Palestineans, Iraqis, and North Africans along with Israelis. The second definition says the same thing, but places emphasis on "pertaining to the Jews".

The ADL (Anti-Defamation League) is about fighting anti-semitism.
"For 90 years, ADL has been combating anti-Semitism and bigotry of all kinds."
(History of ADL: http://www.adl.org/main_about_adl.asp)...
However, it's main goal is "To stop the defamation of the Jewish people..."
It seems to me that since it's main purpose is to fight anti-semitism that it would also fight racism against all Semitic people, not just on the Jewish (Israeli/Hebrew).

Does this make sense to anyone else, or am I putting to much into this?

Answer 1

I think you are putting too much into this. It's just the way it is.

Felix -- those quotes from the Bible are NOT evidence of anti-semitism. Rather, the first is more of a theological statement; the second, one Jew castigating others for their behavior by quoting the Prophets (what could possibly be un- or anti-Jewish about that? And, it was right before they killed him, no less!), and the last a behavioral/theological statement about some who claimed to be Jews.

In a way, it's like when a Jewish person believes in Jesus as Messiah, and they are suddenly told -- "You're no longer Jewish..." -- is that anti-semitism? Of course not (but it is something else). It's a person making a judgment on how Jewish someone is by their lifestyle, belief system, whatever.

Answer 2

Your definition answers your question. The first definition refers to a group of languages, not people. The second def. refers to a race of people. The word Semite itself is a derivation of the name Shem, which was one of Noah's sons. It is his lineage that became the Jewish people. Anti-Semitism, anti-Zionist and anti-Jewish all amount to the same thing, it's just that very few people would say they were anti Jew, but more would say anti-Zionist, not knowing or caring about the inference.
And there is no such thing as a Palestinian because there has never in history been a Palestine with an autonomous government. Palestine is a name given the region by the Romans when they ruled the area.

Answer 3

Many "Jews" are not genetically Semitic. Surprisingly, a large percentage of DNA tested "Levites" proved to be of the R haplogroup (which is Indo-European, i.e., "of Japheth"). Even Modern Jewish Hebrew is dominated by non-Semitic (mostly European) vocabulary. Doesn't make any sense to equate Anti-Semitism with Anti-Judaism, but that's the way it is. Oh well.

Answer 4

You are putting too much into this.

You are playing a purely "semantic game". The truth of the matter is that anti semitism only refers to Jew hatred because that's how the word IS DEFINED. That is its dictionary definition.
Yes, a semite includes Arabs as well as Jews. But we are not discussing the definition of a Semite but rather anti semitism. The word was specifically coined in the 19th century to define Jew hatred. Yes, it is not precise. But that is true of a great number of words in which their meaning does "exactly" match what the word is.

Answer 5

I think you are getting caught up in a snobby game of linguistics. To the majority of the people in the world, and especially the United States, anti-semite = jew hater. Yes, technically anti-semite does not mean anti-jew but in the "parlance of our times" that is what it means, so why argue about it. I hope you are enjoying/enjoyed grad school or your freshman year of college.

Answer 6

You are correct, but you are looking too much into it.
Yes, anti-Semitism means the hatred of all Semites. Since that includes most of the Middle East, the Iranians and Syrians really can't be Anti-Semitic (unless they are self-hating).
But it is really an issue of semantics...Look at the term "homophobic" which means one who hates gays. Literally, it means "one is who is afraid of things that are the same." Many people who hate gays aren't afraid of them, yet the term goes on.

Anti-semitism has semantically come to mean specifically the hatred of Jews through its regular usage, as opposed to its dictionary definition.

Answer 7

"Anti-Semitism" was a term invented by the German writer Wilhem Marr to describe hatred of Jews, due to Jews being Semites as opposed to being "real Europeans".

If you're confused by this term you're free to call hatred of Jews "Jew-hate".

Answer 8

Yea this one always got me as well! And how does being anti Israel make one an Anti-semite? I am pro Israel but always wondered this. My understanding was that it was all the peoples of the middle east, not just the Jews. I guess you can put this in with the Latin word for Black "*****" and the Niger river and country turning into ***-ger and then considered a word of hate.

Answer 9

Another red herring by the Zionists... The whole world hates me syndrome. I just don't fall for it because I have real Jewish friends who do not allow themselves to be caught up by that paranoia.

Check this link I found on the BBC website of the very tolerant Israelis, who frankly are no better than the Islamists they complain about.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/6405799.stm

Answer 10

Majority of people are irrational........hatred towards any group is unjustified and is against the laws of human nature.......be it against a religious group or colour of skin.....every human is same shorn of all tags......