Looking for an Enemy: 8 Essays on Antisemitism

Journalist Glanville brings together an impressive set of essays on antisemitism in Europe, Israel, and America. In the title piece, British journalist Daniel Trilling explores how “far-right politics is structurally incapable of cutting its links with antisemitism” and describes how conspiracy theories bind together far-right groups. In “Living with the Holocaust,” historian Tom Segev tracks the legacy of the Holocaust in Israel, homing in specifically on how “manipulative statements” about it are often used for political ends, as in instances of Israeli politicians “comparing each other to Hitler.” “A License to Hate” by Rabbi Jill Jacobs, meanwhile, traces the rise of anti-Jewish prejudice in America during Donald Trump’s presidency, and photographer Mikołaj Grynberg’s “Family Stories,” translated from the Polish by Sean Gasper Bye, is a look at the cultural and political landscape in Poland: “The Polish version of ‘Make America Great Again’ is ‘Poland Rising From its Knees.’ In reality, it was Polish antisemitism that rose from its knees.” The contributors bring a healthy diversity of experiences, and while Glanville acknowledges in her introduction that “the far right remains a bigger threat to Jews,” the pieces, taken as a whole, transcend partisan positions for a larger look at “antisemitism’s resurgence.” The result is eye-opening. (Aug.)