Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
The Schmooze

Author Uses Online Anti-Semitism Survey as Research for Book

Anti-Semitism: Hot or Not?

The questions don’t exactly read that way, but a new online survey about anti-Jewish attitudes will provide the raw material for a forthcoming book by a fiery young Jewish journalist.

According to Canada’s Jewish Tribune, 24-year-old, New York-based Daniel Vahab is hoping at least 500 people complete his survey. Vahab spent a year as an “accredited news correspondent at the United Nations. In fact, it was his experiences at the UN that helped motivate him to write his book,” Jewish Tribune reports.

“It disgusted me,” Vahab told the newsweekly. “I came in young and idealistic and I left disillusioned because of the double standard I saw in terms of Israel.” He heard speeches and resolutions against Israel while “nations guilty of gross human rights abuses would get away with things and it just didn’t seem right to me…. It was unfair and disproportionate,” The Tribune writes.

Vahab’s yet-unnamed book will explore “the thin line between a negative Jewish stereotype and an anti-Semitic one,” different ideas about what makes a person Jewish, and trends in anti-Semitism around the world, including the Middle East. It will include chapters on “the psychology of anti-Semitism” and strategies for fighting it, the Tribune wrote.

An upcoming survey, Vahab told the Tribune, will address “anti-Zionism,” which he described as “the modern anti-Semitism, dealing specifically with Israel as the collective Jew (and) as the politically correct way of attacking Jews.”

A message from our editor-in-chief Jodi Rudoren

We're building on 127 years of independent journalism to help you develop deeper connections to what it means to be Jewish today.

With so much at stake for the Jewish people right now — war, rising antisemitism, a high-stakes U.S. presidential election — American Jews depend on the Forward's perspective, integrity and courage.

—  Jodi Rudoren, Editor-in-Chief 

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.