Self-hating Jew

Self-hating Jew or self-loathing Jew is a pejorative term used for a Jewish person that holds antisemitic views. The concept gained widespread currency after Theodor Lessing's 1930 book Der Jüdische Selbsthass ("Jewish Self-hatred"), which tries to explain the prevalence of Jewish intellectuals inciting antisemitism with their views toward Judaism. Jewish self-hate has been described as a neurotic reaction to the impact of antisemitism by Jews accepting, expressing, and even exaggerating the basic assumptions of the anti-Semite. The term became "something of a key term of opprobrium in and beyond Cold War-era debates about Zionism". Similar accusations of being uncomfortable with one's Jewishness were already being made by groups of Jews against each other before Zionism existed as a movement.

According to academic author W. M. L. Finlay, the expression "self-hating Jew" "is often used rhetorically to discount Jews who differ in their lifestyles, interests or political positions from their accusers". Finlay, a member of the Psychology Department at University of Surrey, distinguishes between "Jewish antisemitism" and "Jewish self-hatred," arguing that while the literature is full of examples of Jews who espoused antisemitism with statements dangerous and damning to all Jews, "whether this amounts to self-hatred is not easy to assess." Usage of self-hatred can also designate dislike or hatred of a group to which one belongs. The term has a long history in debates over the role of Israel in Jewish identity, where it is used against Jewish critics of Israeli government policy.Alvin H. Rosenfeld, an academic author who does not use the term self-hatred, dismisses such arguments as disingenuous, referring to them as "the ubiquitous rubric 'criticism of Israel,'" stating that "vigorous discussion of Israeli policy and actions is not in question."Alan Dershowitz limits the term self-hatred to extreme Jewish anti-Zionists who "despise anything Jewish, ranging from their religion to the Jewish state," saying it does not apply to all "Israel-bashers." The academic historian Jerald Auerbach uses the term Jewish self-loathing to characterize "Jews who perversely seek to bolster their Jewish credentials by defaming Israel."

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