The terms "self-hating Jew", "self-loathing Jew", and "auto-antisemite" (Hebrew:אוטואנטישמי,romanized: oto'antishémi, feminine:אוטואנטישמית,romanized: oto'antishémit) arepejorative terms used to describe Jews that oppose certain characteristics that the claimant considers core toJewish identity.[1]
Early claims of self-hate were used to describe Jews who had internalizedanti-Semitic tropes. Recognition of the concept gained widespread currency after German-Jewish philosopherTheodor Lessing published his 1930 bookDer jüdische Selbsthaß (lit. 'Jewish Self-Hatred'), which sought to explain a perceived inclination among secular Jewish intellectuals towards inciting antisemitism by denouncingJudaism. The term was also used to describeJewish people whose viewpoints, especially favoringJewish assimilation,Jewish secularism,limousine liberalism, oranti-Judaism were perceived to reflectself-hatred.[2][3]
In modern times the term has also been used for political purposes as a form ofweaponization of antisemitism to delegitimizeanti-Zionist Jews or shield againstcriticism of the Israeli government.[4] It is said to have become "something of a key term ofopprobrium in and beyondCold War-era debates aboutZionism" with proponents claiming that some Jews may despise their entire identity due to their perception of theArab–Israeli conflict.[3]
The origins of terms such as "Jewish self-hatred" lie in the mid-19th century feuding between GermanOrthodox Jews of theBreslau seminary andReform Jews.[5] Each side accused the other of betrayingJewish identity,[3] the Orthodox Jews accusing the Reform Jews of identifying more closely with GermanProtestantism andGerman nationalism than with Judaism.[5]
According toAmos Elon, during 19th-century German-Jewish assimilation, conflicting pressures on sensitive and privileged or gifted young Jews produced "a reaction later known as 'Jewish self-hatred.' Its roots were not simply professional or political but emotional."[6] Elon uses the term "Jewish self-hatred" synonymously with Jewish antisemitism when he points out, "One of the most prominent Austrian anti-Semites wasOtto Weininger, a brilliant young Jew who published 'Sex and Character', attacking Jews and women." Elon attributes Jewish antisemitism as a cause in the overall growth of antisemitism when he says, "(Weininger's) book inspired the typical Viennese adage that anti-Semitism did not really get serious until it was taken up by Jews."
According to John P. Jackson Jr., the concept developed in the late 19th century inGerman Jewish discourse as "a response ofGerman Jews to popular anti-Semitism that primarily was directed atEastern European Jews." For German Jews, theEastern European Jew became the "bad Jew".[7] According to Sander Gilman, the concept of the "self-hating Jew" developed from a merger of the image of the "mad Jew" and the "self-critical Jew",[3] and was developed to counter suggestions that an alleged Jewish stereotype of mental illness was due to inbreeding. "Within the logic of the concept, those who accuse others of being self-hating Jews may themselves be self-hating Jews."[2] Gilman says "the ubiquitousness of self-hatred cannot be denied. And it has shaped the self-awareness of those treated as different perhaps more than they themselves have been aware."[2]: 1
The specific terms "self-hating Jew" and "Jewish self-hatred" only came into use later, developing fromTheodor Herzl's polemical use of the term "anti-Semite of Jewish origin", in the context of his project of political Zionism.[3] The underlying concept gained common currency in this context, "since Zionism was an important part of the vigorous debates that were occurring amongst Jews at the time about anti-Semitism, assimilation and Jewish identity."[8] Herzl appears to have introduced the phrase "anti-Semite of Jewish origin" in his 1896 book,Der Judenstaat (The Jews' State), which launched political Zionism.[3]
He was referring to "philanthropic Zionists", assimilated Jews who might wish to remain in their home countries while at the same time encouraging the Jewish proletariat (particularly the poorer Eastern Jews) to emigrate; yet did not support Herzl's political project for a Jewish state.[3] Ironically, Herzl was soon complaining that his "polemical term"[3] was often being applied to him, for example byKarl Kraus.[3] "Assimilationists and anti-Zionists accused Zionists of being self-haters, for promoting the idea of the strong Jew using rhetoric close to that of the Anti-Semites; Zionists accused their opponents of being self-haters, for promoting the image of the Jew that would perpetuate his inferior position in the modern world."[5][9] One example of this was theclaims made against Herzl's article Mauschel.[10]
The Austrian-Jewish journalistAnton Kuh argued in a 1921 bookJuden und Deutsche (Jews and Germans) that the concept of "Jewish antisemitism" was unhelpful, and should be replaced with the term "Jewish self-hatred", but it was not until the 1930 publication of the German-Jewish anti-Nazi philosopherTheodor Lessing's bookDer Jüdische Selbsthass (Jewish Self-hatred) that the term gained widespread currency.[3] Lessing's book "supposedly charts Lessing's journey from Jewish self-hater to Zionist."[5] In it he analyses the writings of Jews such as Otto Weininger andArthur Trebitsch who expressed hatred for their own Judaism. Lessing was assassinated by Nazi agents shortly afterHitler came to power.
In English the first major discussion of the topic was in the 1940s byKurt Lewin, who was Lessing's colleague at the University of Berlin in 1930.[3] Lewin emigrated from Germany to the United States in 1933, and though focused on Jews also argued for a similar phenomenon among Polish, Italian and Greek immigrants to the United States.[8] Lewin's was a theoretical account, declaring that the issue "is well known among Jews themselves" and supporting his argument with anecdotes.[8] According to Lewin, a self-hating Jew "will dislike everything specifically Jewish, for he will see in it that which keeps him away from the majority for which he is longing. He will show dislike for those Jews who are outspokenly so, and will frequently indulge in self-hatred."[11] Following Lewin's lead, the concept gained widespread currency. "The 1940s and 1950s were 'the age of self-hatred'. In effect, a bitter war broke out over questions of Jewish identity. It was a kind of 'Jewish Cold War'..."[5] in which questions of Jewish identity were contentiously debated. The use of the concept in debates over Jewish identity – for example over resistance to the integration of African Americans into Jewish neighbourhoods – died down by the end of the 1970s, having been "steadily emptied of most of its earlier psychological, social, and theoretical content and became largely a slogan."[12]
The term was used in a derogatory way during the 1940s by "'militant' Zionists",[12] but the 1963 publication ofHannah Arendt'sEichmann in Jerusalem opened a new chapter. Her criticism of the trial as a "show trial" provoked heated public debate, including accusations of self-hatred, and over-shadowed her earlier work criticising German Jewishparvenu assimilationism.[12] In the following years, after the 1967Six-Day War and 1973Yom Kippur War, "willingness to give moral and financial 'support' to Israel constituted what one historian called 'the existential definition of American Jewishness'."[12] "This meant that the opposite was also true: criticism of Israel came to constitute the existential definition of 'Jewish self-hatred'."[5] This is dismissed by Rosenfeld saying it "masquerades as victimization" and "can hardly be expected to be taken seriously" since criticism of Israel "proceeds across all the media in this country and within Israel itself."[13]
EvenCommentary, the Jewish journal which had once been "considered the venue of self-hating Jews with questionable commitments to the Zionist project",[12] came under the editorship ofNorman Podhoretz to staunchly support Israel.[12] In his 2006 essay "Progressive Jewish Thought and the New Anti-Semitism",Alvin H. Rosenfeld takes "a hard look at Jewish authors" whose statements go well beyond "legitimate criticism of Israel," and considers rhetoric that calls into question Israel's "right to continued existence" to be antisemitic. The use of the concept of self-hatred in Jewish debates about Israel has grown more frequent and more intense in the US and the UK, with the issue particularly widely debated in 2007, leading to the creation of the BritishIndependent Jewish Voices.[5]The Forward reported that the group was formed by "about 130 generally leftist Jews."[14] It was the Rosenfeld essay, which did not use the term Jewish self-hatred, that led to the 2007 debate. Critics claimed the charge of antisemitism implied Jewish self-hatred to those criticizing Israel. Rosenfeld responded that such claims were "disingenuous" and for some a "dialectical scam validating themselves as intellectual martyrs."[13] The New York Times reported that the essay spotlighted the issue of when "legitimate criticism of Israel ends and antisemitic statements begin."[15]
The issue has periodically been covered in the academicsocial psychology literature onsocial identity. Such studies "frequently cite Lewin as evidence that people may attempt to distance themselves from membership in devalued groups because they accept, to some degree, the negative evaluations of their group held by the majority and because these social identities are an obstacle to the pursuit ofsocial status."[8] Modern social psychology literature uses terms such as "self-stigmatization", "internalized oppression", and "false consciousness" to describe this type of phenomenon. AuthorPhyllis Chesler, a professor of psychology and women's studies, in referring to female Jewish self-hatred, points to progressive Jewish women who "seem obsessed with the Palestinian point of view." She believes their rage against oppression, frustration and patriarchy "is being unconsciously transferred onto Israel."[16]
Kenneth Levin, a Harvard psychiatrist, says that Jewish self-hatred has two causes:Stockholm syndrome, where "population segments under chronic siege commonly embrace the indictments of their besiegers however bigoted and outrageous", as well as "thepsychodynamics of abused children, who almost invariably blame themselves for their predicament, ascribe it to their being bad, and nurture fantasies that by becoming good they can mollify their abusers and end their torment."[17] According toHoward W. Polsky, the social scientist, "feelings about Jewish marginality are often a step away from self-hatred." He then says, "Jewish self-hatred denotes that a person has adopted gentiles' definition of Jew as bad in one way or another and that being Jewish will hinder their success or identity."[18]
It is argued by some academics that the concept of Jewish self-hatred is based on an essentialisation ofJewish identity. Accounts of Jewish self-hatred often suggest that criticizing other Jews, and integrating with Gentile society, reveals hatred of one's own Jewish origins.[8] Yet both in the early twentieth century, where the concept developed, and today, there are groups of Jews who had "important differences in identity based on class, culture, religious outlook, and education", and hostility between these groups can only be considered self-hate "if one assumes that a superordinate Jewish identity should take precedence over other groupings of Jews."[8]
Yet such hostility between groups has at times drawn on some of the rhetoric of antisemitism: "criticism of subgroups of Jews which drew on anti-Semitic rhetoric were common in 19th and 20th century arguments over Jewish identity".[8] In practice, according to one academic, whilst there have been Jewish writers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries who consistently employed virulent antisemitic rhetoric without seeming to value any aspects of being a Jew, too often "those who accuse others of being self-haters search for examples of when they have criticized Jews or Judaism but ignore examples of when those they criticize have shown they value being a Jew."[8] He argues that Jewish antisemitism does not necessarily amount to self-hatred, implying that "antisemitic Jew" may be a more accurate term to use. Other authors have also shown a preference for using "antisemitism" rather than "self-hatred."[13][19]
The term is in use in Jewish publications such asThe Jewish Week (New York) andThe Jerusalem Post (Jerusalem) in a number of contexts, often synonymously with antisemitic Jew. It is used "to criticize a performer or artist who portrays Jews negatively; as a shorthand description of supposed psychological conflict in fictional characters; in articles about the erosion of tradition (e.g. marrying out and circumcision); and to discount Jews who criticize Israeli policies or particular Jewish practices."[8] However the widest usage of the term is currently in relation to debates over Israel. "In these debates the accusation is used by right-wing Zionists to assert that Zionism and/or support for Israel is a core element of Jewish identity. Jewish criticism of Israeli policy is therefore considered a turning away from Jewish identity itself."[8]
Thus some of those who have been accused of being a "self-hating Jew" have characterized the term as a replacement for "a charge of anti-Semitism [that] will not stick,"[20] or as "pathologizing" them.[8][21] Some who use the term have equated it with "anti-Semitism",[22][5] on the part of those thus addressed, or with "so called 'enlightened' Jews who refuse to associate themselves with people who practice a 'backward' religion."[23] One novelist,Philip Roth, who — because of the nature of the Jewish characters in his novels, such as the 1969Portnoy's Complaint[12] — has often been accused of being a "self-hating Jew", argues that all novels deal with human dilemmas and weaknesses (which are present in all communities), and that to self-censor by only writing about positive Jewish characters would represent a submission to antisemitism.[8]
The Israeli-born British Jazz saxophonist, writer and Hebrew speaking antisemite of Jewish descentGilad Atzmon openly used the term to describe himself in a 2010 interview for theCyprus Mail. In that interview, Atzmon calls himself a "proud self-hating Jew" and also described fellow Jewish antisemite, the AustrianOtto Weininger as one as well. At the same time, Atzmon stated that he considers a "self-hating Jew" as very different to a "proud self-hating Jew", considering "proud self-hating Jews" such as himself and Weininger as celebrating the hatred they feel for themselves, the Jewish people, Judaism, Israel and anything else they associate with Jewishness.[24] Atzmon has taken several positions on history and politics associated with antisemitism including but not limited to, endorsing on his blog the conspiracy theory that "the Jewish people" are trying to take over the world[25][26][27] (though he later amended the original blog post[28] to replace "the Jewish people" with "Zionists"[29][30]),blaming the entire Jewish people forkillingJesus (including those not even born at the time),[31][32] accusing Gideon Falter (the chairman of theCampaign Against Antisemitism) of faking antisemitic incidents for profit (Falter then sued Atzmon for libel which Atzmon lost and was left with expensive legal costs[33]) and promoting the conspiracy theory ofHolocaust denial, even publicly advising people to read Holocaust denying books byDavid Irving.[34] TheSouthern Poverty Law Center (SPLC)'s official blogHatewatch written byDavid Neiwert noted that Atzmon was "a self-described 'self-hating ex-Jew' whose writings and pronouncements are rich in conspiracy theories,Holocaust trivialization and distortion, and open support of anti-Israeli terrorist groups."[35]
The expression "self-hating Jew" is often usedrhetorically, meaning towards Jews who differ in their lifestyles, interests or political positions from the speaker.[8]
The legitimacy of the term in modern usage remainscontroversial. According to the transdenominational Jewish platformMy Jewish Learning: "Some scholars have claimed that by labeling another Jew self-hating, the accuser is claiming his or her own Judaism asnormative–and implying that the Judaism of the accused is flawed or incorrect, based on a metric of the accuser's own stances, religious beliefs, or political opinions. By arguing with the label, then, the accused is rejecting what has been defined as normative Judaism. The term 'self-hating' thus places the person or object labeled outside the boundaries of the discourse–and outside the boundaries of the community."[43]Haaretz writes that the term is almost exclusively used today by theJewish right against theJewish left, and that within left-wing and liberal circles it is "usually considered a joke".[44] Richard Forer, writing forThe Huffington Post, rejects the legitimacy of the term as it is commonly used, calling them so divisive that they make tolerance and cooperation impossible, eradicating the possibility for genuine understanding. Forer writes: "The notion that any Jew who is dedicated to justice for all people harbors self-hatred defies common sense. Given the self-esteem it takes to stand for justice amidst fierce denunciation, a more accurate assessment is that these are self-loving Jews."[22]
Jon Stewart, former host ofThe Daily Show, was repeatedly called a "self-hating Jew" by people whom he described as "fascistic".[45] Considering the term to be like equating someone with the Jews who turned their backs on each other duringthe Holocaust, he said, "I have people that I lost in the Holocaust and I just ... go fuck yourself. How dare you?" Stewart commented that the way his critics used the term—to definewho is a Jew and who is not—was formerly always done by people who were not Jewish. He saw this as "more thannationalism". Stewart also criticized right-wing Jews for implying that they are the only ones who can decide what it means to be Jewish. He observed: "And you can't observeJudaism in the way you want to observe. And I never thought that that would be coming from brethren. ... How dare they? That they only know the word ofGod and are the ones who are able to disseminate it. It's not right."[46] ToThe Hollywood Reporter, he said, "Look, there's a lot of reasons why I hate myself—being Jewish isn't one of them."[47]
In 2014,Noam Chomsky said that Zionists divided critics of Israeli policy into two groups: antisemitic non-Jews and neurotic self-hating Jews. He observed:
Actually, thelocus classicus, the best formulation of this, was by an ambassador to the United Nations,Abba Eban, Israel's ambassador to the United Nations.... He advised the American Jewish community that they had two tasks to perform. One task was to show that criticism of the policy, what he called anti-Zionism—that means actually criticisms of the policy of the state of Israel—were anti-Semitism. That's the first task. Second task, if the criticism was made by Jews, their task was to show that it's neurotic self-hatred, needs psychiatric treatment. Then he gave two examples of the latter category. One wasI. F. Stone. The other was me. So, we have to be treated for our psychiatric disorders, and non-Jews have to be condemned for anti-Semitism, if they're critical of the state of Israel. That's understandable why Israeli propaganda would take this position. I don't particularly blame Abba Eban for doing what ambassadors are sometimes supposed to do. But we ought to understand that there is no sensible charge. No sensible charge. There's nothing to respond to. It's not a form of anti-Semitism. It's simply criticism of the criminal actions of a state, period.[48]
"Self-loathing Jew" is synonymously used with "self-hating Jew." "Antisemitic Jew" can be used synonymously as well. "Self-hating Jew" has also been compared to the term "Uncle Tom" which is used in theAfrican-American community.[49][50] The term "auto-antisemitism" (Hebrew:אוטואנטישמיות,autoantishemiut) is also synonymously used inHebrew.[51][52][53] In a column inHaaretz, Uzi Zilber used the term "Jew Flu" as a synonym for Jewish self-hatred.[54]
Social Scientists for Social Justice.