What is Antisemitism?

This startling exploration of the past and present of antisemitism starts with the surprisingly complex basics: what is a Jew? what is antisemitism? why does it happen?

Author Philip Slayton looks at the very different experiences of Jews in Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, and America, and the longstanding tensions between Jews and Muslims, and Jews and Christians. He examines the Holocaust, which brought the fight against antisemitism to new heights, and Zionism, which has set the fight back immeasurably. The role of media and particularly social media in spreading antisemitism is scrutinized. Identity Politics is found to have sidelined Jews in favor of other historically oppressed populations.

All of which leads to a provocative conclusion: we need to quit worrying so much about antisemitism in the form of incivility, conspiracy theories, and Holocaust denial, and concentrate on expressions that are organized, institutionalized, and violent.

Born in England and raised in Manitoba, PHILIP SLAYTON is a Canadian lawyer and writer. He is the best-selling author of Lawyers Gone Bad: Money, Sex and Madness in Canada's Legal Profession, and Mighty Judgment: How the Supreme Court of Canada Runs Your Life, among other books. A Rhodes Scholar, he has been a Woodrow Wilson Fellow and President of PEN Canada. Married to writer Cynthia Wine, he lives in Toronto and Nova Scotia.