Operating in tandem? assessing the linkages between anti-Americanism and Antisemitism in France

This article explores the argument that antisemitism and anti-Americanism in France are linked to each other in a causal manner. Specifically, it addresses the oft-encountered suggestion that the two prejudices move in tandem with each other, and in such a way that the anterior one (antisemitism) effectively “causes” the latter one (anti-Americanism) to emerge—a suggestion made inter alios by Markovits (J Israeli History 25 85 105 2006). We argue that while there certainly appears to be a correlation between antisemitism and anti-Americanism in France, there is no evidence of contemporary antisemitism being a constitutive feature of the former. While antisemitism may arguably have been part of what propelled anti-Americanism during certain periods of the twentieth century, recently it appears as if “causal” vectors have been reversed, with anti-Americanism contributing to the rise of a “new antisemitism” in France motivated by anger toward Israel and America’s support thereof.