Antisemitism in American Politics

Session Submission Type: Full Paper Panel

Session Description

This panel explores the politics of antisemitism in the United States. There is evidence to suggest that antisemitism – understood as hostility towards Jewish people – has risen dramatically in recent years in the United States. The papers in this panel take different perspectives to understand the politics surrounding rising antisemitism. They also consider the complex relationship between antisemitism in the U.S. and the politics of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. There is ample speculation about how antisemitism and views of Israel are related, but little empirical evidence. Several of the papers on the panel provide such evidence by leveraging data collected during the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas.

The first paper uses a novel survey of college students fielded during the Israel-Hamas war to understand how views of Israel correlate with hostility towards Jews and Muslims. The second paper uses a different novel survey of college students fielded during the Israel-Hamas war to understand how views about Israel and the conflict vary by ideology, race, and LGBT status. The third paper takes a historical perspective to understand how decisions by U.S. presidents in both domestic and foreign policy have contributed to antisemitism. Finally, the fourth paper applies a political theory lens to understand the relationship between Jews and Whiteness in the United States, and consider how we think about antisemitism in conversation with other forms of oppression.

Sub Unit

• Division 33: Religion and Politics

Individual Presentations

• Empathy or Hostility?: Attitudes toward Jews on Campuses before and after 10/7 - Jeffrey Kopstein, University of California, Irvine; Ana Schugurensky, University of California, Irvine; Rachel Shenhav-Goldberg

• How Ideology and Identity Shape Student Views towards Israel and Jews - Eitan D. Hersh, Tufts University; Laura Royden, Harvard University

• Antisemitism and the American Presidency - William D. Adler, Northeastern Illinois University

• What Does Whiteness Do to Jewishness? - David Schraub, Lewis & Clark Law School

Chair

• Adam Thal Loyola Marymount University

Discussants

• Adam Thal Loyola Marymount University

• Evan Gerstmann Loyola Marymount University