The New Antisemitism: The Resurgence of an Ancient Hatred in the Modern World

Generations raised after the Second World War took for granted a world of stability and prosperity, and with it the waning of ancient hatreds. Recent decades have been more sobering. Instability and extremism have returned in force, and as Shalom Lappin explains in this worrying book, an upsurge of antisemitism across the political spectrum.

Lappin explores in particular the disturbing correlation between the expansion of economic globalization and the return of anti-Jewish ideas we thought had been consigned to the past. He examines this relationship within the context of the assault on democracy and social cohesion that anti-globalist reactions have launched in different parts of the world. To understand contemporary antisemitism, Lappin argues, it is essential to recognize the way in which its antecedents have become deeply embedded in Western and Middle Eastern cultures over millennia. This allows hostility to Jews to easily cross political boundaries, left and right, in a way that other forms of racism do not. Combatting antisemitism effectively requires a new progressive politics that addresses its root causes.

The New Antisemitism is crucial reading for anyone concerned by the social pathologies unleashed by our current economic and political discontents.