In the shadow of the war in Gaza and recent surge in antisemitism, the Star of David looms large on the cover of Time magazine, the best-selling weekly magazine in the US. On the cover page there is a reference to Professor Noah Feldman's article dealing with the "new antisemitism" that is rearing its head.
Professor Feldman is a law professor at the prestigious Harvard University. In an article published by the magazine, the professor sheds light on the new and dangerous antisemitism. Feldman explains how modern Jew-hatred is formed: "People everywhere who believe that all men are created equal know that the presence of antisemitism in society was often a combative and irrational hatred like any other hatred, from racism to homophobia to Islamophobia," writes Feldman.
Feldman goes on to present the alarming data indicating a surge in antisemitism since the October 7 massacre: "In the months following Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, antisemitic incidents increased substantially. The Anti-Defamation League, which keeps track, says they tripled in the US over the previous year, although its criteria also changed to include anti-Zionism," he states.
The professor adds that antisemitism is alive and kicking regardless of the "anti-Zionist" movements that arose in the wake of the war, and gives a brief overview of the alarming antisemitic events that took place even before this development. "No one can say definitively why the pre–Gaza War surge happened when it did."
Feldman goes on to explain how certain network figures and phenomena take part in the dangerous process: "The salience of groups like the neo-Nazis who marched in Charlottesville, Va., in 2017 probably played a role, as did the influence of figures like the troubled rapper turned designer Kanye West.
Social media allows antisemitic influencers to recruit and communicate directly to followers, getting around the filtering bottleneck of the legacy media. The murder of 11 worshipers at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh in 2018, by a shooter enraged at Jewish groups providing aid to immigrants, was the painful lowlight of this era," points out the professor.
