Why is antisemite the preferred spelling now, rather than anti-Semite?
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By Hyphen Parent | FāVS News Columnist
Daniel King explains (in his excellent article on the intricacies of the spelling of the term):
“At the heart of this choice is a debate not about clarity, but about how to reduce harm…All words are contrivances. When one is so misclassifying, weaponized, and misconstrued, it is worth trying to turn it around and hit reset.”
The word is believed to have been first used by Wilhelm Marr, a German who campaigned on and wrote extensively about his hatred of Jews. In his pamphlet “Der Sieg des Judenthums über das Germanenthum. Vom nicht confessionellen Standpunkt aus betrachtet” (The Victory of the Jewish Spirit over the Germanic Spirit. Observed from a non-religious perspective), Marr used the words “Semitismus and “Judentum” interchangeably to indicate Jews and Jewishness (the culture and ethnicity of Jews even those not actively practicing).
This lead to the use of the word “Antisemitismus” to refer to hatred of Jews and Jewish culture. In 1879, Marr created the “Antisemiten-Liga” (League of Antisemites). The term “anti-Semitism” (and its variations) referred exclusively to hatred of the Jews and Jewish culture.
In 2015, The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) addressed the issue of spelling of the word. They suggest the common spelling discontinue the hyphen and capital S and instead become the single lowercase word “antisemitism” because it best expresses the definition and long-held use of the word. They state,
The philological term ‘Semitic’ referred to a family of languages originating in the Middle East whose descendant languages today are spoken by millions of people mostly across Western Asia and North Africa. Following this semantic logic, the conjunction of the prefix “anti” with “Semitism” indicates antisemitism as referring to all people who speak Semitic languages or to all those classified as “Semites.” The term has, however, since its inception referred to prejudice against Jews alone.
(https://holocaustremembrance.com/resources/spelling-antisemitism)
The IHRA points out that other languages never hyphenated the phrase and they explain:
The unhyphenated spelling is favored by many scholars and institutions in order to dispel the idea that there is an entity “Semitism” which “anti-Semitism” opposes. Antisemitism should be read as a unified term so that the meaning of the generic term for modern Jew-hatred is clear. At a time of increased violence and rhetoric aimed towards Jews, it is urgent that there is clarity and no room for confusion or obfuscation when dealing with antisemitism.
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The views expressed in this opinion column are those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect the views of FāVS News. FāVS News values diverse perspectives and thoughtful analysis on matters of faith and spirituality.
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