In the new edition of The Jewish Quarterly, The Return of History, writers including Simon Schama and Deborah E. Lipstadt examine this phenomenon and reflect on the experience of living in nations that should be moving beyond the mistakes of their past but are not.
The emergence of the virus, as Schama writes, was followed almost immediately by lies and misinformation about its origins and causes. “Helped by an initial Chinese lack of transparency, Donald Trump’s labelling of the ‘China Virus’ (repeated to the bitter end of his presidency) was always meant to imply that the whole thing was a plot cooked up in a state laboratory,” he writes. “Crazier origin myths swiftly followed.”
The global spread of Covid-19 has fuelled nativism and rising antisemitism. It has been ripe for exploitation by leaders who are willing to gloss over inconvenient realities and to reach for readymade fixes to complex problems. Old hatreds and fears are being stoked.
In an essay titled “White insurrections: Antisemitism in America”, Lipstadt, a leading Holocaust historian, investigates the recent growth of far-right white-power movements and extremist violence in the United States. “With the Confederate flag at many of their gatherings, including on Capitol Hill, they freely proclaim their ‘white nationalist’ agenda,” she writes. “However, there is another definition component shared by these movements. I speak, of course, of antisemitism. Simply put, antisemitism is the foundation stone that allows them to ‘logically’ attack, deride and demean people of colour.”
In the face of these threats, not only in America but also across Europe, there is a need for close, careful analysis. And so, The Jewish Quarterly has relaunched, under a new publisher, Morry Schwartz, with an international focus and for a global audience.
The Jewish Quarterly has been a home for thoughtful enquiry since it began publishing in London in 1953. At the time, Israel was just five years old. The world was changing rapidly in the aftermath of the Second World War. The then editor, Jacob Sonntag, declared: “At no time was there a greater need for clear thinking and searching analysis as to where we stand in the world today – as Jews, as citizens, and as ordinary human beings.”
The challenge outlined by Sonntag remains. The world is changing – fast – and often in ways that don’t favour progress, understanding or justice. There is still a critical need for clear thinking and searching analysis.
Schwartz, an independent publisher, explains his motivation for relaunching the long-standing British publication: “The world right now is in need of a voice; a voice that is open minded, nuanced, critical and engaged. That voice is the voice of a collective – a gathering of the best minds from across the globe, ready and able to dig deep into the heart of community and global issues from a Jewish perspective. There is no journal of Jewish thought and culture that is truly international. It is the ambition of JQ to fill this void.”
Jonathan Pearlman is the editor of The Jewish Quarterly. He previously worked at The Sydney Morning Herald, and as a correspondent in the Middle East. He studied at the University of New South Wales and Oxford University.
The Jewish Quarterly is available to subscribers in print, digital and ebook editions. A print and digital subscription (£42 GBP/$56 USD) includes four print issues delivered to your door, and 12 months of digital access to the JQ subscriber platform. A digital subscription (£25 GBP/$32 USD) includes 12 months of digital access. All subscriptions to JQ include access to the entire online catalogue of The Jewish Quarterly – almost 70 years of necessary and important writing by the leading Jewish writers and thinkers from around the world.
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