Jul 30, 2026 · 6 min · 5 segments
Why won’t people call antisemitism what it really is? In this powerful monologue, drawing from personal experience, Jonah shares why the word "antisemitism" is outdated, misunderstood, and often…
Jonah PlattHost
Can we all try something? Can we all please try to stop using the word antisemitism, which is opaque, has historical and political contexts, and obfuscates the true meaning of how the word is understood today? Instead, can we please start saying anti-Jew hate or anti-Jewish racism or anti-Jew bigotry? Let's start calling it like it is and not allowing antiquated, more polite terms to lessen the blow.
I promise it'll be a lot more arresting for someone to be called a Jew-hater or anti-Jew or anti-Jewish racist than an antisemite.
So went the text of an infographic I posted on Instagram back in May of this year.
The idea had been lodged in my mind after too many frustrating interactions with folks online, where instead of having the black-and-white conversation of, "Is this anti-Jew hate or not?" we'd get lost in some pseudo-academic nonsense about the term antisemitism itself.
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Can we all try something? Can we all please try to stop using the word antisemitism, which is opaque, has historical and political contexts, and obfuscates the true meaning of how the word is understood today? Instead, can we please start saying anti-Jew hate or anti-Jewish racism or anti-Jew bigotry? Let's start calling it like it is and not allowing antiquated, more polite terms to lessen the blow.
I promise it'll be a lot more arresting for someone to be called a Jew-hater or anti-Jew or anti-Jewish racist than an antisemite.
So went the text of an infographic I posted on Instagram back in May of this year.
The idea had been lodged in my mind after too many frustrating interactions with folks online, where instead of having the black-and-white conversation of, "Is this anti-Jew hate or not?" we'd get lost in some pseudo-academic nonsense about the term antisemitism itself.
