Trials of the Diaspora

Trials of the Diaspora: A History of Anti-Semitism in Englandis a 2010 book by British lawyerAnthony Julius.The book details the role played byantisemitismin thehistory of the United Kingdom.The book argues that Britishanti-Zionismdeveloped out ofantisemitism in the United Kingdomand utilizes many of the sameantisemitic tropesin its arguments.

Trials of the Diaspora

Author	Anthony Julius
Language	English
Genre	History,Jewish studies
Publisher	Oxford University Press
Publication date	2010
Publication place	United Kingdom

Reception

American literary criticHarold Bloomwrote a review forTrials of the DiasporainThe New York Times,praising it as "a strong, somber book on an appalling subject: the long squalor of Jew-hatred in a supposedly enlightened, humane, liberal society". Bloom further described Julius as "a truth-teller, and authentic enough to stand against the English literary and academic establishment, which essentially opposes the right of the state ofIsraelto exist, while indulging in the humbuggery that its anti-Zionism is not anti-Semitism, "lauding the" fierce relevance "of the book in a period of increasing antisemitism.English journalistJonathan Freedlandpraised the book in a review written forThe New Republic,describing it as "magisterial and definitive history of a thousand years of anti-Semitism in England."

By contrast, British historianDominic Sandbrookwrote inThe Daily Telegraphthat "[m]any readers... will part company with Julius in his final chapters, where he effectively suggests thatcriticism of Israelis inextricably bound up with anti-Semitism "and concluded by stating" [t]his strident tub-thumping is unworthy of such a learned author, and makes an unsatisfying conclusion to an otherwise thoughtful and impressive book. "British writerAntony Lerman,a former researcher for theInstitute of Jewish Affairs,wrote in a review ofTrials of the DiasporaforThe Guardianthat he found Julius' project in writing this work "bankrupt", "confused" and "malign" in its conflation ofanti-Zionismand criticism of Israel (including the Israeli treatment ofPalestinians) with antisemitism, the meaning of which in Julius' book is in part "incomprehensible" and in Lerman's view leaves the reader thinking that, for Julius, antisemitism is whatever he says it may be.

HistorianGeoffrey AldermandescribedTrials of the Diasporaas "set[ting] down several markers against which all future discussion of anti-Jewish prejudice – not just in England or the UK – will need to be measured". Alderman described these "markers" as being, respectively, the idea that antisemitism is deeply rooted inChristianity,theblood libelis a largely English creation, anti-Zionism is "nothing more than a fig leaf" forracismand antisemitism, theBritish lefthas a long history of antisemitism and lastly that the "toxic brew" of antisemitic anti-Zionism has become so dominant in British public discourse that even university classrooms are now dominated by "history... rewritten as fiction" serving "to delegitimise the Jewish state and thus to denigrate and defame the Jewish people. And that is what anti-Semitism is all about".