The Rhetoric of Antisemitism

The Rhetoric of Antisemitism explores the roots of antisemitism that are based in the religious tension between Judaism and Christianity from antiquity and onward. The primary argument is that the religious foundations of Christianity and later, in Islam, were advanced by depressing Judaism and that negative attitudes toward Judaism became generic.

The Rhetoric of Antisemitism was prompted by studying the decision of Vatican II (1965) to repudiate antisemitism. A close analysis revealed that the Catholic Church focused on the foundational issue in antisemitism—the charge of eternal guilt whereby Jews are forever guilty of killing Christ. This repudiation of antisemitism came with a rhetorical explanation of this hatred, a perspective rarely explored. In advancing the rhetorical perspective, this book focuses on the initial struggle Christianity experienced with Judaism, intensifying a hatred thereof, and settling on a religious dogma of eternal guilt meant to perpetuate antisemitism for eternity. Kiewe tackles the similar approach Islam has taken in its tension with Judaism and how it was turned centuries later into the Arab-Israeli conflict, significantly with the help of Nazi-antisemitism and propaganda. This volume also discusses the significant rise of antisemitism in the 19th and 20th centuries, including the forgery pamphlet The Protocols of the Elders of Zion that promoted the charge of Jewish world domination, and the more recent Durban Conference (2001) as a major turning point in conflating antisemitism and anti-Zionism, including the linguistic games used to merge antisemitism with anti-Israelism. Finally, in the decision by Vatican II to accept the guilt over antisemitism and seeking its end, both the foundation and a solution to this hatred are evident.

Introduction: Anti-Semitism: A Rhetorical Perspective

Chapter 1: From Guilt to Scapegoating: The Rhetorical Grounding of Antisemitism

Chapter 2: The Messianic Conception in Judaism: The Foundation of a Fatal Misunderstanding

Chapter 3: The Rejection of Judaism and Guilt as Foundational to Antisemitism

Chapter 4: Saint John Chrysostom: Rhetorical Invectives and the Grounding of Antisemitism

Chapter 5: From the Dreyfuss Affair to the Holocaust: Blaming Jews for Antisemitism

Chapter 6: The Protocols of the Wise Elders of Zion: Beyond the Lie

Chapter 7: The Durban Conference and the Reinvention the Past

Chapter 8: The Diabolic Jew and the Visualization of Antisemitism

Chapter 9: The “Jew” as an Identity of Name and Place

Chapter 10: Nostra Aetate and the End to the Charge of “Eternal Guilt”

Chapter 11: From Denying to Boycotting: The big lie that is antisemitism

Chapter 12: The Prospects for an End to Antisemitism