In many parts of the world, the term “anti-Semitic” is bandied about as
exclusively meaning anti-Jew without much thought as to its correct
meaning and application. The term is a misnomer, because in its correct
application it should apply to all Semitic people, more specifically,
Semitic language speaking people including Arabs, Assyrians, Chaldeans,
Jews, etc. The correct term should be “anti-Judaism”, but
“anti-Semitic” is overwhelmingly and incorrectly used.
Thalass Mikra explains the term ‘Semitic’ with a crash course in Assyrian history.
Comments
2 comments. Leave your comment »
editindia
Jul 30th, 2006 at 2:39 am | #
Good observation. Yes anti-Judaism would be appropriate.
Gaurav
Jul 30th, 2006 at 11:58 pm | #
Err,
Except for the fact there semitic and anti semitic are not antonyms.
From [Wiki]
“Despite the use of the prefix “anti,” the terms Semitic and Anti-Semitic are not antonyms. To avoid the confusion of the misnomer, many scholars on the subject (such as Emil Fackenheim of the Hebrew University) now favor the unhyphenated term antisemitism. Yehuda Bauer articulated this view in his writings and lectures: (the term) “Antisemitism, especially in its hyphenated spelling, is inane nonsense, because there is no Semitism that you can be anti to.”[6][7]
The term anti-Semitism has historically referred to prejudice towards Jews alone, and this was the only use of this word for more than a century. It does not traditionally refer to prejudice toward other people who speak Semitic languages (e.g. Arabs or Assyrians). Bernard Lewis, Professor of Near Eastern Studies Emeritus at Princeton University, says that “Anti-Semitism has never anywhere been concerned with anyone but Jews.”[8]“