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The New Anti-Semitism
Bernard Lewis, The American Scholar, 1 December 2005
What it is cited for
On Schlözer names the “Semitic” languages
Bernard Lewis writes that “Semitic” was coined by philologists for a group of related languages (Syriac, Arabic, Hebrew and Ethiopic) and only later given a racial meaning.
“Semitic” was first used as a linguistic, not as an ethnic or racial, term.Added on 12 Nov 2026Debunk this
On A Nazi race official tells Rashid Ali the word is aimed at Jews alone
QuotesLewis writes that Rashid Ali asked whether anti-Semitism was also directed against Arabs, and that Walter Gross answered in a letter dated 17 October 1942 that it was concerned wholly and exclusively with Jews.
Professor Walter Gross, director of the Race Policy Office of the Nazi Party, explained with great emphasis, in a letter dated October 17, 1942, that this was not the caseAdded on 12 Nov 2026Debunk this
On A Nazi race official tells Rashid Ali the word is aimed at Jews alone
QuotesLewis quotes Gross saying the expression was incorrect because the movement was directed only against Jews, not against other speakers of Semitic languages.
was incorrect since this movement was directed exclusively against Jewry, and not against other peoples who speak a Semitic language.Added on 12 Nov 2026Debunk this
On A Nazi race official tells Rashid Ali the word is aimed at Jews alone
Lewis writes that a committee later suggested revising Hitler's speeches and Mein Kampf to say “anti-Jewish” instead of “anti-Semitic” so as not to offend “our Arab friends”, and that Hitler did not agree.
The Führer did not agree, and this proposal was not accepted.Added on 12 Nov 2026Debunk this
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