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How to Fight Anti-Semitism
How to Fight Anti-Semitism
Oct 7, 2024 10:18 AM

Author:Bari Weiss

How to Fight Anti-Semitism

'This acutely argued book will engender a thousand conversations' Cynthia Ozick

The prescient New York Times writer delivers an urgent wake-up call exposing the alarming rise of anti-semitism -- and explains what we can do to defeat it

On 27 October 2018 Bari Weiss's childhood synagogue in Pittsburgh became the site of the deadliest attack on Jews in American history. For most of us, the massacre came as a total shock. But to those who have been paying attention, it was only a more violent, extreme expression of the broader trend that has been sweeping Europe and the United States for the past two decades.

No longer the exclusive province of the far right and far left, anti-Semitism finds a home in identity politics, in the renewal of 'America first' isolationism and in the rise of one-world socialism. An ancient hatred increasingly allowed into modern political discussion, anti-Semitism has been migrating toward the mainstream in dangerous ways, amplified by social media and a culture of conspiracy that threatens us all.

In this urgent book, New York Times writer Bari Weiss makes a powerful case for renewing Jewish and liberal values to guide us through this uncertain moment.

Reviews

Her childhood synagogue in Pittsburgh was the site of last year's Shabbat morning massacre. This passionate, vividly written, regularly insightful book is her pained, fighting

—— Guardian

A brave book. . . . a praiseworthy and concise brief against modern-day anti-Semitism

—— The New York Times

This acutely argued book will engender a thousand conversations

—— Cynthia Ozick

They said 'Never Again', yet here we are again. Bari Weiss' neat exposition of modern anti-Semitism traces this hate to what I call 'the triple threat': the far-left, the far-right, and Islamist theocrats. Jews are the canary in the coal mine. And if our Jewish friends are raising the alarm, we'd all better hear them, before it's too late

—— Maajid Nawaz

This is the most important book you will read this year. Concise, morally certain, it's a bullet train from the first sentence to the last. There needs to be a copy in every classroom in the country. If you think something dark is rising, you're right. What can you do? This is what you do

—— Caitlin Flanagan, author of To Hell With All That

While European anti-Semitism has put Jews in mortal danger for too long, the 'shining city upon a hill' -- America -- has descended into this same toxic darkness. Bari Weiss's book is a powerful wake-up call against complacency and should push all free-thinkers on both sides of the Atlantic to take a stand against new guises of the oldest form of hate in the world

—— Bernard-Henri Lévy, author of The Empire and the Five Kings

How to Fight Anti-Semitism is violently stunning. It broke my heart-and then made me want to repair someone else's. In these pages and everywhere else, Bari Weiss is heroic, fearless, brilliant and great-hearted. Most importantly, she is right

—— Lisa Taddeo, author of Three Women

Urgent, frank and fearless. There is something here to offend everyone - because there is something here to awaken everyone

—— Rabbi David Wolpe, author of David: The Divided Heart

A liberal humanist whose guiding principle is free expression in art, love, and discourse. . . Weiss's work is heterodox, defying easy us/them, left/right categorization

—— Vanity Fair

Weiss's book feels like one long, soul-wrenching letter, written in a charmingly accessible style by a proud American reeling from the realization that the haters are on the rise

—— Jewish Chronicle

Compelling

—— Irish Examiner

Excellent and timely

—— Sunday Times

An approach that enables her to touch on many aspects of this complex time … Above all, it is the women who interest Fletcher, whether painters, poets, politicians or prostitutes … an absorbing read

—— Mary Hollingsworth , Literary Review

A finely-written, engaging and clear essay… The force of Fletcher’s narrative is not so much in offering a radical new evaluation of Italian Renaissance civilisation as in insisting that we see it as a cluster of cultural strategies and techniques within an exceptionally turbulent political milieu

—— Rowan Williams , New Statesman

A pulsating history of sorcery and superstition ... an academic feat but reads like a Stephen King thriller - and it's just right for our conspiracy-laden times.

—— Robert Epstein , The i

A riveting micro-history, brilliantly set within the broader social and cultural history of witchcraft. Drawing on previously neglected source material, this book is elegantly written and full of intelligent analysis.

—— Wolfson History Prize 2022

Bowler's affecting narrative offers fresh insight on life and chronic illness. Readers will be engrossed by this heartfelt memoir.

—— Library Journal

Higgins’ darting, spooling path connects myth with faith, art with literature, landscape with architecture, anecdote with interpretation… its images and schematic diagrams of labyrinths adding a visual dimension to a book already rich in thought and observation.

—— Ariane Bankes , The Tablet

Richly erudite and compellingly personal.

—— Louisa Buck , Art Newspaper

A rich cultural history of mazes and labyrinths… Beautifully designed and precisely structured, it’s also a personal book about childhood memories, dreams and feeling at times lost in life.

—— Guardian, *Summer Reads of 2019*

[An] immersive, unusual love tale

—— Claire Allfree , Metro

Stokes-Chapman can write fascinating, three-dimensional characters... Meanwhile, extensive research brings the period so much to life you can taste it... full of buried family histories and fantastical archaeological theories, Pandora is a readable, solid debut

—— Natasha Pulley , Guardian

Whether the discussion is about artificial intelligence, the future capacities of knowledge, politics, philosophy, intuition, history (philosopher Thomas Metzinger shares experiences from post–World War II Germany that are hard to look away from), religion, reason, or the nature of consciousness, Harris grounds lofty discussions with concrete examples and his gift for analogy . . . free and open debate, in the best sense of the word . . . the book’s advantage over the podcast is that readers can linger as they need to and cherry-pick interviews at will. Recommended for anyone who wants to spend time with intelligent minds wrestling not with each other but with understanding.

—— Kirkus Reviews

One of the most eloquent and inspiring memoirs of recent years... A Dutiful Boy is real-life storytelling at its finest

—— Mr Porter, *Summer Reads of 2021*

Mohsin Zaidi...in a compassionate, compelling and humorous way, tells his story of seeking acceptance within the gay community, and within the Muslim community in which he grew up

—— Gilllian Carty , Scottish Legal News

A powerful portrayal of being able to live authentically despite all the odds

—— Mike Findlay , Scotsman

Zaidi's affecting memoir recounts his journey growing up in east London in a devout Muslim household. He has a secret, one he cannot share with anyone - he is gay. When he moves away to study at Oxford he finds, for the first time, the possibility of living his life authentically. The dissonance this causes in him - of finding a way to accept himself while knowing his family will not do the same - is so sensitively depicted. One of the most moving chapters includes him coming home to a witch doctor, who his family has summoned to "cure" him. This is an incredibly important read, full of hope.

—— Jyoti Patel, The Guardian

A beautifully written book, a lovely story, life-affirming

—— Jeremy Vine

Zaidi's account is raw, honest and at times quite painful to read. It's so vivid that it feels almost tangible, as though you're living the experiences of the author himself.

—— Vogue

This heartfelt and honest book is beautifully written and full of hope

—— The New Arab
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