US historian says Jews are currently facing 'high tide' of antisemitism

Pamela Nadell, a professor of Jewish history at American University in Washington, D.C., has chronicled the history of antisemitism in the United States in her new book “Antisemitism, an American Tradition.” 

While Jews have generally flourished in America’s immigrant society, they have nevertheless encountered various forms of anti-Jewish bigotry from colonial times until today. In her book, Nadel states “how powerfully antisemitism has coursed throughout American history and how much it impacted the lives of America’s Jews no matter where they lived.”

Her book also addresses contemporary Jew-hatred emanating from both the right and the left and includes the white power marches in Charlottesville, the shooting terror attack at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh and current anti-Israel rallies. 

Nadell believes that Jews are currently experiencing a “high tide” of the psychological impact from global antisemitism following the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, massacre, which triggered the ongoing Gaza War. The historian argues that the current anti-Israel demonstrations have “erased” any differentiating line between antisemitism and anti-Zionism. She specifically mentions the Israeli embassy employees, Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim, who were murdered by an anti-Israel activist outside a Jewish museum in Washington earlier this year.

Historians have previously said that the 1930s constituted the “high tide” of antisemitism in American society. However, Nadell is challenging this narrative through a contemporary post-Oct. 8 lens. 

“But I’ve been saying for a while now that we may have to rename that period. Because of antisemitism from both left and right, and especially because of social media, I think we are living through a new high tide of American antisemitism right now. That’s because of the violence coming from both the right and the left,” she assessed. However, the historian still believes that current events should be placed in a wider context. 

“I’d like to push back on that somewhat. Despite the violent attacks in Pittsburgh and Poway, California, and the eruption of anti-Zionism on campuses and in the streets, Jews are disproportionately successful,” she noted. 

“Jews have flourished in academia and in their professions. Law firms hire Jews, and most Jews live in prosperous neighborhoods. Does antisemitism really have the power to affect Jewish lives?” she asked, while adding that there is no longer any significant structural antisemitism in American society. 

Nadell is clear when Israel criticism crosses the line into antisemitism. 

“For me, calling for Israel’s destruction is absolutely antisemitism. Criticizing Israeli policies is not; Israelis themselves do that every day. But increasingly, 'Zionist' has become a slur, a new code word, just as 'Jew' was pejorative in the 19th century, so that Jews themselves preferred to call themselves 'Israelites.' NYU’s student conduct code even recognizes that 'Zionist' can be used as a term of hate,” she explained. 

Last November, Prof. Hedy Wald at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, warned that campus antisemitism in the post-Oct. 7 era was reminiscent of “echoes of the Holocaust.” 

"Aspects of anti-Jewish hostile learning environments we have personally observed in medical schools include tearing down posters of Jewish hostages, including children; demonization of Jews, accusing Jewish students of complicity with genocide, wearing banned graduation regalia portraying Israel's destruction, and Holocaust distortion or inversion," Wald warned. 

However, Nadell concludes with cautious optimism about future Jewish life in America despite the current levels of antisemitism. 

“I take solace in history. After the high tide of the 1930s, things improved. My hope is that it will happen again. My concern is the unprecedented role of social media, which amplifies antisemitism in ways we’ve never experienced. Campus encampments declined last year, vandalism declined, but antisemitism online exploded. That’s what worries me most,” she said.