This note comes off the back of an online discussion I had with someone who believed antisemitism means racism against any “Semitic” people; I would have thought that a grow man would have understood the difference, but you live and learn I suppose.
I spent time explaining that “Semitic”, originally coined in the late 18th century originally refers to a group of languages, including Hebrew and Arabic. It was (and still is) a linguistic label, not a race or a single group of people.
“Antisemitism” came later, in 19th-century Europe. This term was used specifically to describe hostility towards Jewish people. From the start, it was used in that narrow sense, and that meaning has stuck.
So while the words share a similar root, they don’t line up in meaning.
You can criticise countries, governments, or policies without it being antisemitic. The line is crossed when it targets Jewish people as a whole or leans on old stereotypes.
This is one of those cases where knowing the history of a word clears up a lot of confusion.
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