THE NEW ANTISEMITISM

An evenhanded examination of how the “massive instability unleashed by decades of intensifying economic inequality” has exacerbated forces of age-old antisemitism.

In his careful delineation of the causes of the most recent flare-up of antisemitism, Lappin, a professor of natural language processing, first looks at the big-picture forces that are feeding much of global society’s grievances, including widespread anti-immigration sentiment and ethno-nationalism. As the author demonstrates, extremist movements—such as those whose members chant, “Jews will not replace us”—seem to share four elements: loss of control over their lives and social context; diminished faith in existing institutions; the embrace of anti-elitism, or “populism”; and a sense of oppression caused by another ethnic identity. Lappin walks readers through these events since World War II, and he uses charts to show the increased prosperity of the top percentile and the impoverishment of the lower—and how social media feeds “dislocation” and “dispossession.” In addition to an examination of the roots of ancient and modern antisemitism, the author addresses the extremes on both right and left, as well as perspectives both Islamic and Jewish. All groups have exhibited deeply problematic periods of harassment and violence so that diaspora Jews have been forced “to choose between coping with a barrage of public abuse and personal insecurity or the concealment of their Jewish identity (passing quietly under the radar).” In the closing chapter, “Notes for a New Progressive Politics,” Lappin posits that since the state of affairs has broken down, a new approach is necessary, the elements of which should include a relearning of the history of antisemitism, steadfast support for both labor movements and immigration, and strict monitoring of the continued explosion of AI and the disinformation campaigns the technology makes possible.

A well-reasoned, coolheaded argument that could be used fruitfully in current roiling debates.