The Mask Has Come Off on Antisemitism
Trisha Posner and I have published a new essay in Skeptic examining what has changed about antisemitism since October 7.
It has not simply increased in volume—it has shed its inhibitions. The stigma has collapsed.
We write:
“Expressions that would have ended careers a decade ago now generate applause, clicks, and campaign donations. Language that would trigger immediate condemnation if directed at other minorities is routinely excused, contextualized, or ignored when directed at Jews. Hostility that once hid at the margins has migrated inward—into campuses, political platforms, cultural institutions, and digital ecosystems. The result is an old hatred on steroids—newly unmoored from consequence.”
The normalization has taken shape through two distinct but mutually reinforcing channels.
On the left: Israel is framed as inherently illegitimate — hostility becomes an ethical obligation. The line between Jews and Israelis keeps disappearing.
On the right: Jews reemerge as omnipotent puppet masters — orchest…
