Volume 4 No 2 - Journal for the Study of Antisemitism

738 JOURNAL FOR THE STUDY OF ANTISEMITISM [ VOL. 4:735antisemitism. Still, the more I see it and the more I think about it, it’s adistinction without a difference. The bottom line is that the so-called newantisemitism has many of the characteristics of the old—alleged evil Jewishpower; blaming all the problems on the Jews; and stereotypes like the bloodlibel, poisoning the wells, corrupting the minds of the young. In otherwords, classic stuff, but now it isn’t coming mostly from Christians butfrom Muslims and left-wing intellectuals who should know better.The fourth factor underlying this resurgence is, of course, the Internet.We’ve talked about this a lot, seeing the Internet as a force for good butalso a gift for the haters of the world. It is a remarkable vehicle for disseminatingantisemitism to those who are eager to consume it, and sometimesfor those who unwittingly meet it. Conspiracy theories about Jewish control,about Holocaust denial, about Israel as Nazis have a new andexpanding market around the globe because of the Internet. What has beennoted so often—extreme hate, no longer wrapped in an anonymous brownpaper envelope—is now sitting there on an equal footing in people’s homeswith other media, such as mainstream newspapers.All of this creates a fairly bleak picture. But there is the other side: ourability to do something about it—an ability that didn’t exist decades ago.First, there has been the commitment to “Never Again” of the AmericanJewish community and for ADL. Because we are the freest Jewish communityin the history of the Diaspora and because we live in the countrythat is the global superpower and has committed to standing up to protectJews in danger, we accepted our special responsibility and have been ableto accomplish great things: the freeing of Soviet Syrian and EthiopianJewry; the forums in Europe, urged by the United States and us, to confrontantisemitism in Europe; the establishment of a unit in the state departmentto monitor antisemitism around the world.Our work starts with our partnership with US administrations of eitherparty and with Congress. We testify before congressional committees andwe are constantly challenging our government to speak up and act wheneverantisemitism rears its ugly head. In addition, of course, we use one ofour precious assets that have meant so much over these 100 years: the voiceof ADL, calling on the carpet those who tolerate antisemitism and praisingthose who stand up.We have other assets as well. The fact that we stand up for otherminority groups here and abroad enables us to call on others to be alliesagainst antisemitism. Our commitment to education about the Holocaust,which, as you know, is very serious at ADL, becomes even more importantas time marches on—not only to those who want to deny history, but for themillions who don’t know the true story unless they are educated.