Theos-Talk Archives (May 2000 Message tt00229)

Teos9@aol.com wrote:

> In a message dated 05/21/00 12:01:20 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
> bartl@sprynet.com writes:
>
> <<    I would state that anti-semitism was originally coined as a euphenism
> for
>  "anti-Jew". The key on whether or not its pathological is whether the reasons
>  are based on facts or lies. >>
> ---
> As a point of curiosity, I remember reading somewhere that both the Arabs and
> the Jews were Semites. Through Abraham I think. How is it that the phrase
> anti-Semite has come to mean only anti-Jewish and not anti Arab also? Do you
> know who coined this term and when? Is it of Arabic, Jewish or non Semitic
> origins. I appreciate any light you can shed on this matter.

    Anti-Semite sounds fancier than "Jew Hater". In the Old Testament, Noah had
three sons, Shem, Ham, and Yapheth (which translate, more or less, to "good
reputation", "good mind", and "good looks"). The Middle Eastern people, Biblically
speaking, were descendents of Shem, hence, "Semitic". I can look up the exact
names and dates,. but essentially a German newspaper devoted to the anti-Jewish
cause in the 19th Century called itself the "Anti-Semite", and the term took. The
newspaper had nothing to do with Arabs, so that even though Arabs are technically
Semites, the term "anti-semitism" refers only to Jews, although it has been used
as a layer of confusion by Jew-hating Arab leaders (saying "I'm not anti-Semitic;
I'm a Semite myself!" begs the real question, "Do you hate Jews?").

    Bart Lidofsky


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