Around the world, we see Jews increas­ingly under attack – syn­agogues van­dal­ised, Jewish students ostra­cised, Jews beaten up in the streets or murdered in their homes, calls for Israel to be destroyed. It has become so pervasive and over­whelm­ing.

What can we do, where to begin? It is good to have a panoramic view of what is occurring across the world. However, to counter antisemitism, we need to break it up into its various com­pon­ents, and develop specific strategies with which to tackle each component.

Every person who so desires can play their role. Everyone has areas of interest, skills and knowledge they can utilise in this campaign. People just need to find where they are best suited and then use their own abilities and skills in that area.

Firstly, let’s look at the three main com­pon­ents of the antisemitism machine.

Sources: The Engine

Today’s antisemitism derives from four main sources, each ideo­lo­gic­ally driven: extremist elements within the political right and political left, and amongst Muslims and Chris­ti­ans. Each of these four sources is composed of various strands of belief, activity and influence.

Left-wing antisemitism tends to dress itself in a cloak of social justice, under an anti-racism mantra; whereas right-wing antisemitism tends to lay itself bare, without any cloak to hide its inherent racism. Within both the Muslim and Christian worlds there are indi­vidu­als and organ­isa­tions seeking to harm Jews and/or Israel, often from a super­ses­sion­ist and suprem­acist base. For them, at the very least, Jews must be ‘put back in their place’.

Methods Used: The Wheels

The delivery methods used to express antisemitism can be quite diverse, but are roughly divided between discourse and incidents, ie what is said and what is done.

Discourse covers bias and mis­in­form­a­tion in main­stream society, and vili­fic­a­tion and incite­ment on the extreme margins of society. It is found in politics, the media, uni­ver­sit­ies, social clubs and elsewhere. It pro­lif­er­ates on the internet and social media – com­mu­nic­a­tion channels used by gov­ern­ments and cor­por­a­tions, media and academics, groups and indi­vidu­als. With the tap of fingers on a keyboard, hate is spread instant­an­eously across the globe.

Much more serious are antisemitic incidents – Jews being verbally abused and phys­ic­ally assaulted, vandalism of Jewish community property, and threats of mass murder. To thwart physical attacks, Jewish organ­isa­tions in many countries have security measures in place around Jewish sites, without which there would be many more cas­u­al­ties.

Attacks against Jews do not come out of nowhere. They are built upon found­a­tions of hate, often centuries in the making, and inspired by antisemitic discourse; from libels and teachings of contempt, creating an atmo­sphere that poisons how Jews are perceived, through to overt pro­pa­ganda that demonises Jews. This leads to attacks on Jews, ranging from verbal abuse on the streets to mass shootings. The methods used to attack Jews, whether through discourse or incidents, are as much a legal and police issue as a political or social issue.

Power Struc­tures: The Fuel

In any given society or nation, the power struc­tures and those with influence have the ability to increase or decrease the levels and intensity of antisemitism. There are also inter­na­tion­al power struc­tures such as the United Nations, the European Union, the Organ­isa­tion of Islamic Cooper­a­tion, that act as a major source of anti-Zionism, by targeting Israel for unfair and dis­crim­in­at­ory treatment, with a hugely unbal­anced focus on the Jewish state. In addition, dozens of NGOs such as the BDS movement, operate inter­na­tion­ally; their anti-Zionism intens­i­fies the demon­isa­tion of Jews.

It is these insti­tu­tions, through the authority they hold, that draw the line between what is accept­able or unac­cept­able behaviour towards the Jewish people and the Jewish state.

How Can We Counter Antisemitism?

The following are some ideas where you may like to focus your attention:

• Joining a political party or engaging in inter­faith dialogue and working from within.
• Mon­it­or­ing social media, to report the haters and to campaign for more account­ab­il­ity from platform providers, and to initiate and engage in social media campaigns to coun­ter­act the haters.
• Holding main­stream media to standards of honesty, accuracy and balanced reporting.
• Cam­paign­ing for law reform to outlaw vili­fic­a­tion and incite­ment to violence.
• Ensuring that uni­ver­sit­ies are places of robust learning but not dis­crim­in­a­tion against Jewish students.

If we each choose one par­tic­u­lar area and focus on coun­ter­ing antisemitism there, then it all con­trib­utes to the campaign.

Wherever you are, in your country and in your life, and whatever your par­tic­u­lar interests and expertise (eg law, media, social media, your local envir­on­ment­al or women’s group), choose where you are most suited and feel most com­fort­able, and work from there. Seek comrades and allies, and do what you can, whenever you can.

We are not alone. We are not incapable. There are many people who provide excellent role models in coun­ter­ing antisemitism. There is plenty of scope to find where one can con­trib­ute to coun­ter­ing antisemitism, and defending Jews against hatred.

In summary – get involved, educate others, demand account­ab­il­ity, expose hate, report incidents, and let’s fight this plague together!

Julie Nathan is the Chair of the Antisemitism and Racism Committee of the Inter­na­tion­al Council of Jewish Women (ICJW). She is the Research Director at the Executive Council of Aus­trali­an Jewry (ECAJ) and author of the annual ECAJ Report on Antisemitism in Australia.