No. Read up on the history of the word. There's nothing confusing or unfair about it.
bill smith is literally correct as is confirmed, not by the Oxford English Dictionary, which actually does need to be updated just a bit, but by the online free dictionary that is far more comprehensive. That dictionary confirms, with exactitude, the point made in the UN presentation:
"Antisemitism (alternatively spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism, also rarely known as judeophobia) is prejudice and hostility toward Jews as a group. The prejudice is usually characterized by a combination of religious, racial and ethnic biases. While the term's etymology might suggest that antisemitism is directed against all Semitic peoples, since its creation it has been used exclusively to refer to hostility towards Jews.[1][2]"
The creation of the word only dates back to the late 1800s, even though anti-Jewish sentiment is far older, dating to at least the 4th Century CE when Christian ideology mandated anti-Judaism as a part of the Christian creed.
Anyway, the first use of the word in its current meaning is said to date from 1860:
"The term Semite refers broadly to speakers of a language group which includes both Arabs and Jews. However, the term antisemitism is specifically used in reference to attitudes held towards Jews. The word antisemitic (antisemitisch in German) was probably first used in 1860 by the Austrian Jewish scholar Moritz Steinschneider in the phrase "antisemitic prejudices" (German: "antisemitische Vorurteile")."
The idea mentioned in the UN presentation has apparently been written about as referenced in footnotes 1 and 2 of the free online dictionary definition, as follows:
"[1]^ a b "Antisemitism has never anywhere been concerned with anyone but Jews." Lewis, Bernard. "Semites and Antisemites", Islam in History: Ideas, Men and Events in the Middle East, The Library Press, 1973.
[2]^ See, for example:
"Anti-Semitism", Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2006.
Johnson, Paul. A History of the Jews, HarperPerennial 1988, p 133 ff.
Lewis, Bernard. "The New Anti-Semitism", The American Scholar, Volume 75 No. 1, Winter 2006, pp. 25-36. The paper is based on a lecture delivered at Brandeis University on March 24, 2004."
Source:
http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/anti-Semitism
The same online dictionary goes further and ...
...with the following quotation that places the matter into its proper contemporary context in the exact sense referenced by the UN speaker:
"In recent years some scholars have advanced the concept of New antisemitism, coming simultaneously from the left, the far right, and radical Islam, which tends to focus on opposition to the creation of a Jewish homeland in the State of Israel,[4] and argue that the language of Anti-Zionism and criticism of Israel are used to attack the Jews more broadly. In this view, the proponents of the new concept believe that criticisms of Israel and Zionism are often disproportionate in degree and unique in kind, and attribute this to antisemitism.[125]
The concept has been criticized by those who argue it is used to stifle debate and deflect attention from legitimate criticism of the State of Israel, and, by associating anti-Zionism with antisemitism, is intended to taint anyone opposed to Israeli actions and policies.[126]"[/B]
Thank you for suggesting that posters here read up on the history of the word. Doing so confirms the UN speaker was spot-on correct.
