(Jewish Group) Anti-antisemitism? A Battle Rages Over the Jewish Hyphen

[Behind the Aegis]

William Shakespeare famously asked “What’s in a name?” But when it comes to the conversation about anti-Semitism, the question is far more specific: What’s in a hyphen?

For Prof. Deborah Lipstadt, the hyphen means a great deal – and she argues that it’s time to get rid of it.

In January 2019, the acclaimed historian published the book “Antisemitism: Here and Now.” Together with explanations of its history, background, resurgence and a playbook on how to battle the phenomenon, the book included a clarion call to change the way the word is written. Lipstadt wrote emphatically that it should no longer be written “anti-Semitism.” Instead, the hyphen and uppercase S should be banished and it should be one word: antisemitism.

But even as the issue has dominated headlines in recent years – following the Pittsburgh and Poway shootings, incidents in Europe and disturbing conspiracy theories – the hyphen has proved hard to dislodge.

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[Mike 03]

1. Wow, what a wakeup call.

I had no clue there was a controversy over this. I'll try to remember and just use "antisemitism", and not capitalized. I actually always thought it was disrespectful not to capitalize "Semitism" (and "Anti" too, come to think of it).

Kick and rec!

[The Magistrate]

2. Probably a Good Idea, Sir

It would make the 'arabs are semites too, ya know' wheeze a little more difficult.

[Mosby]

3. I stopped using the hyphen a while back.

[EllieBC]

4. K&R

Thank you for the article, BTA! I had never thought about it this way. I’ll make sure to keep the hyphen out now!