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Source: https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/joy-hating-jews
The Joy of Hating Jews
(Tablet) Todd L. Pittinsky - People participating in antisemitism often seem to be really enjoying themselves. The crowds are cheerful. The rhetoric theatrical. There are songs, jokes, slogans, insider references, and the unmistakable atmosphere of people having a good time. The first pleasure is revelation. Few experiences are more satisfying than the feeling that the chaos of the world has suddenly become intelligible. Antisemitism says someone is behind the structural complexity: the Jews. Antisemitism has always marketed itself as insight. The antisemite does not feel confused or powerless. He feels enlightened. He has "connected the dots." The second pleasure is belonging. Antisemitism has always been good at building community. Medieval blood libels produced processions, rituals, and shared outrage. Collective identity is often forged around a common enemy. Nationalist movements discovered that antisemitism was remarkably efficient at turning strangers into comrades, citizens bound by a common cause. The third pleasure is moral. Antisemitism allows its adherents to experience hate as virtue. The antisemite does not feel like a bully. His experience is one of courage. He is exposing hidden power. Defending society. The antisemite gets to feel good. He is a truth teller. A patriot. A freedom fighter. In some of the most disturbing footage from the Nazi period, people appear cheerful. Crowds smiled during boycotts of Jewish stores and later acts of public humiliation and degradation. Book burnings resembled university festivals. Torchlit parades became raucous public celebrations. Looting, gathering, and watching flames together transformed hatred into public theater in which ordinary people could participate. The writer is a professor in the Department of Technology and Society at Stony Brook University.