Antisemitism as a political weapon : A discourse analysis of claims of antisemitism in relation to Palestine/Israel

Abstract: This study was conducted in order to interpret claims of antisemitism in Malmö, Sweden, depicted as an effect of political events in Palestine/Israel. It is argued that contemporary antisemitism is a new phenomenon, where hostility towards Jewish people is argued to be motivated by hostility towards Israel by perpetrators identified as ”Muslims” and/or people with roots in the Middle East and North Africa. Using previous literature, this view is contrasted with arguments that antisemitism as a phenomenon should not be delimited to such group formations and rather that different arguments are often projected on Palestine/Israel, in relation to antisemitism for political agendas. This paper investigates the meaning making processes of two news reports depicting claims of antisemitism in Malmö, Sweden as an effect of events in Palestine/Israel in May 2021 by using the Discourse Theory of Ernesto Laclau & Chantal Mouffe. The analysis investigates the ideas and underlying assumptions found in the material and posits the depictions made, with alternative possible ascriptions of meaning, excluded from the discursive formations made in the material. The conclusion reached is that reproducing many arguments of “new antisemitism” and of Malmö as “antisemitic” may misdirect the “combat” of antisemitism at the disadvantage for pro-Palestinian movements and further strengthen arguments many of which are taken for granted within the empiric material, for the salience of the existence of Israel and Zionism, due to the prevalence of antisemitism. Due to the limited nature of this paper, the author hopes that it can inspire future research within the field, as more extensive research, according to the author, is highly needed.