Antisemitism is not a momentary lapse in the moral compass of society, nor merely one prejudice among others. It is a recurring phenomenon that reappears with distinct intensity and irrationality across times and cultures, adapting itself to the emotional needs and ideological frameworks of those who harbor it.

In recent months, the eruption of anti-Israel protests – particularly on university campuses and in public demonstrations across the Western world – has starkly revealed how antisemitic symbols, slogans, and ideologies are again moving from the periphery to the center of societal discourse. While these movements present themselves as political protests, they often carry unmistakable echoes of ancient hatreds: Jews as bloodthirsty, cunning, global manipulators; and Israel as a proxy for the eternal Jewish malevolence. The veneer of “anti-Zionism” has, in many places, peeled away, revealing the older and deeper animus beneath.

To understand this phenomenon with the seriousness and nuance it demands, we must adopt a multifaceted framework that examines antisemitism across historical, psychological, societal, and theological dimensions. We must also investigate how these dimensions interlock, forming a dynamic system in which individuals, subcultures, and societies collaborate, consciously or unconsciously, in the perpetuation of hatred.