ADL publishes new guide of anti-Semitism for Congress

The guide explains the roots of anti-Semitism that have led to violence against the Jews throughout the centuries.

By World Israel News Staff

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) published a guide this week titled “Antisemitism Uncovered: A Guide to Old Myths in a New Era,” to help U.S. Congress members and candidates running for office better understand the seven anti-Semitic tropes commonly levied against the Jews.

“As violence against Jews is already at historic levels, we call on all public leaders, particularly during this heated political season, to avoid invoking antisemitic tropes,” ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said in a statement.

According to Greenblatt, the guide explains the roots of anti-Semitism that have led to violence against the Jews throughout the centuries.

Here is the description of the seven ant-Semitic tropes as defined by the ADL:

Jews Have too Much Power

Jews account for approximately 0.2 percent of the global population. And yet anti-Semites believe that this tiny minority is not only on a quest for total world domination, but is already in control of banks, the media, industry, government — even the weather.

Jews are disloyal

Anti-Semites frequently suspect Jews of holding allegiance only to fellow Jews and to a uniquely Jewish agenda. Jews are accordingly seen as untrustworthy neighbors and citizens, as if they are inherently disloyal — or have inherently dual loyalties.

Jews are greedy

One of the most prominent and persistent stereotypes about Jews is that they are greedy and avaricious, hoping to make themselves rich by any means. They are seen both as relentless in the pursuit of wealth and also as stingy misers determined not to let any money slip from their grasp. They are imagined to exert control over the world’s financial systems, but are also accused of regularly cheating friends and neighbors out of a buck.

Jews killed Jesus

The myth that Jews collectively murdered Jesus, also referred to as “deicide,” has been used to justify violence against Jews for centuries. Historians as well as Christian leaders have agreed that the claim is baseless.

Jews use Christian blood for religious rituals

A major theme in anti-Semitic thought and propaganda is the blood libel, the myth that Jews murder non-Jews, especially non-Jewish children, in order to use their blood to perform religious rituals. Most prevalent in the medieval and early modern period, this peculiar accusation has plagued Jews and incited violence against them for centuries.

The Holocaust didn’t happen

The Holocaust was a genocide perpetrated by the German Nazi regime between 1941-1945, in which European Jews were targeted for wholesale annihilation, with six million Jewish civilians murdered in death camps, concentration camps, ghettos, killing fields and elsewhere.

Anti-Zionism or criticism of Israel is never anti-Semitic

Criticism of Israel is not in and of itself anti-Semitic. But much of contemporary anti-Zionism, or the delegitimization of Israel and its supporters, draws on and perpetuates anti-Semitic tropes.