Cordon Sanitaires and Purity Spirals

What the rise in antisemitism teaches us about radicalisation

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We’re a father and son team. Lawrence is emeritus Professor of War Studies at King’s College, London, and author of numerous books including Strategy: A History and Command: The Politics of Military Operations from Korea to Ukraine. Most recently he published On Strategists and Strategy: Collected Essays, 2014-2024. He writes about conflicts going on around the world, with a focus on the Middle East and Ukraine, as well as broader geopolitical questions.

Sam is a Senior Fellow at the Institute for Government and author of a book called Failed State. He writes about policy and politics with a focus on the UK, but also covering the US, Europe and global trends (like today’s post).

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For anyone Jewish with a social media profile, antisemitism has been a low-level part of life for a long time. If, like me, you don’t wear any visible Jewish dress in public it’s largely an online phenomenon, though there’s sometimes a stray comment from an acquaintance that raises an eyebrow. I’m also roped into synagogue security duty from time to time, despite looking about as threatening as a sedated hamster, which is always a reminder of the physical danger.

None of this is new. But something has changed in the last year or so. First the incidence of frightening real world attacks has increased. Last year we had the shootings in Manchester and vandalism of Jewish nurseries in north London, then last week four ambulances owned by Hatzola, a Jewish charity that serves its local area regardless of religion, were torched (pictured above). Similar incidents have happened around the world, from the horrific shooting at Bondi Beach to a series of attacks on American synagogues.

Secondly, and just as alarmingly, online antisemitism seems to have escaped containment. After the recent attack on a Michigan synagogue, and the ambulance arson here, lines that would have once been confined to a relatively small and shunned fringe have gone mainstream. Suggestions that they were “false flag” operations by the Israeli government to garner sympathy have been widely shared and promoted. Comments “just asking” why Jews get their own ambulances have gone viral. These sit alongside a rising day-to-day cacophony of age-old tropes about Jewish media ownership and Rothschilds.

Of course this spike in antisemitism is related to events in Israel and Gaza since 7^th October 2023. A lot of physical and online violence is perpetrated by those who project their anger against Israel onto Jews, however often the difference between the two is pointed out. For seasoned antisemites, conspiracies about Israel just add to the mix, but it also brings new adherents.

The bloodshed in the Middle East doesn’t, though, fully explain what’s going on. After all this isn’t the first time Israel has occupied Gaza, or that we have heard demands for a global intifada. It’s perhaps more visible in the age of YouTube and TikTok, but Israel has been deeply unpopular for a long time.

What we’re seeing is a demonstration of how changes in politics and the media are driving radicalisation. The goes well beyond antisemitism: all forms of prejudice and hatred are increasing at an alarming rate. Antisemitism, though, is distinctive because it’s prevalent on both right and left, which allows us to look at the differences in radicalisation mechanisms on both sides of the spectrum. And so tells us a lot about the wider problems we’re facing.