This open access book is the first comprehensive guide to identifying antisemitism online today, in both its explicit and implicit (or coded) forms. Developed through years of on-the-ground analysis of over 100,000 authentic comments posted by social media users in the UK, France, Germany and beyond, the book introduces and explains the central historical, conceptual and linguistic-semiotic elements of 46 antisemitic concepts, stereotypes and speech acts. The guide was assembled by researchers working on the Decoding Antisemitism project at the Centre for Research on Antisemitism at Technische Universität Berlin, building on existing basic definitions of antisemitism, and drawing on expertise in various fields. Using authentic examples taken from social media over the past four years, it sets out a pioneering step-by-step approach to identifying and categorising antisemitic content, providing guidance on how to recognise a statement as antisemitic or not. This book will be an invaluable tool through which researchers, students, practitioners and social media moderators can learn to recognise contemporary antisemitism online and the structural aspects of hate speech more generally in all its breadth and diversity.
EDITORS' INTRODUCTION.- TAXONOMY OF KEY LINGUISTIC TERMS.-
1. Tropes
(classic/canonical).- 1.1. Jews as foreign/the other (Laura Ascone).- 1.2.
Evil/Devil (Matthew Bolton).- 1.3. Child murder/Blood libel (Karolina
Placzynta).- 1.4. Racist tropes/Dehumanisation.- 1.5. Immorality/Amorality
(Jan Krasni).- 1.6. Lie (Hypocrisy/Mendacity) / Deceit (Matthias J Becker).-
1.7. Vengefulness (Jan Krasni).- 1.8. Disloyalty/Dual Loyalty (Hagen
Troschke).-
2. Tropes of (political or financial) power.- 2.1
Greed/Exploitation/Identification with capitalism (Matthew Bolton, Chloe
Vincent, Alexis Chapelan).- 2.2 Influence on public opinion, politics,
economy (& servility) (Matthias J Becker).- 2.3 Conspiracy (Alexis
Chapelan).- 2.4 Disintegration (Marcus Scheiber).- 2.5 Self-victimisation
(Alexis Chapelan).-
3. Secondary Antisemitism.- 3.1 Clean break (Hagen
Troschke).- 3.2 Rejection of guilt (Hagen Troschke).- 3.3
Relativisation/Distortion/ Denial of the Holocaust (Hagen Troschke).- 3.4
Relativisation & Denial of Antisemitism (Marcus Scheiber).- 3.5
Instrumentalisation of the Holocaust (Matthias J Becker).- 3.6
Instrumentalisation of Antisemitism (Matthias J Becker).- 3.7 Nazi-Jewish
collaboration (Jan Krasni).- 3.8 Admonisher (Marcus Scheiber).- 3.9 Taboo of
Criticism (Alexis Chapelan).- 3.10 Victim-Perpetrator reversal (Hagen
Troschke).- 3.11 Jews have not learned from the past (Karolina Placzynta).-
4. Further Post-Holocaust concepts.- 4.1 Blame for Antisemitism (Marcus
Scheiber).- 4.2 Holding Jews collectively responsible for ILs actions
(Karolina Placzynta).- 4.3 Privilege & Free Pass (Karolina Placzynta).- 4.4
Affirmation of Hitler/Nazis/Holocaust (Jan Krasni).-
5. Attacks on Israels
legitimacy/statehood.- 5.1 Nazi Analogy (Matthias J Becker).- 5.2 Apartheid
Analogy/ Racist state (Matthew Bolton).- 5.3 Colonialism Analogies (Laura
Ascone).- 5.4 Terrorist state (Matthew Bolton).- 5.5 Genocide (Matthew
Bolton).- 5.6 Double Standards (Chloe Vincent).- 5.7 Denial of ILs right to
exist (Chloe Vincent).- 5.8 BDS/Boycott (Matthew Bolton/Hagen Troschke).- 5.9
Israels sole guilt in the conflict (Chloe Vincent).-
6. Self-positioning in
speech acts.- 6.1 Insults (Laura Ascone).- 6.2 Threats (Laura Ascone).- 6.3
Curses (Marcus Scheiber).- 6.4 Death wishes (Karolina Placzynta).- 6.5
Affirming, calling for, desiring violence (Laura Ascone).
Matthias J. Becker, a cognitive linguist, is the inventor and Lead of the Decoding Antisemitism research project.
Hagen Troschke is an interdisciplinary researcher focusing on current developments of antisemitism.
Matthew Bolton is Co-Lead on the UK team of the Decoding Antisemitism project. He is the co-author of Corbynism: A Critical Approach (2018).
Alexis Chapelan is a PhD candidate at the EHESS in Paris and the University of Bucharest with a focus on the history of political ideologies, extremism and conspiracy theories.
