Was Igor Shafarevich anti-Semitic?
In my recent article on Russian mathematician Igor Shafarevich’s political views on the subject of the jews. (1) I deliberately avoided the issue of anti-Semitism as I wanted to discuss this separately.
The reason for this is because – like most things related to the charge of being anti-Semitic – it is necessary to define what is and what is not anti-Semitism, because the waters have been consistently and rather thoroughly muddled by pro-Israel hacks and jewish nationalists accusing everyone – including each other – of being ‘anti-Semitic’.
To put it simply: anti-Semitism doesn’t mean ‘critical of jews’ and/or ‘critical of Israel’, but is rather more qualified than colloquial and jewish academic usage would have you believe. To be anti-Semitic is to criticise jews based upon their status as a nationality, ethnic group and/or race. If you criticise Israel then you are anti-Zionist and if you criticise Judaism then you are anti-Judaism.
These positions can be held in any combination. Since, for example, Adolf Eichmann could be said to have been anti-Semitic, anti-Judaism but pro-Zionist, while Martin Luther was anti-Judaism but not anti-Semitic etc.
Thus we can see that these are separate positions that are broadly linked, but if one is anti-Zionist then it does not follow that one is anti-Semitic and vice versa.
With that out of the way; we can begin by pointing out Shafarevich has been charged with being anti-Semitic on many occasions through the 1980s, (2) 1990s (3) till his death in 2017. (4)
This claim is largely based upon the thesis of Shafarevich’s 1989 book ‘Russophobia’, which concludes that a jewish-dominated adversarial elite (i.e., ‘the small people’) is struggling against nations over which it holds sway and disdains (i.e., ‘the large people’).
The key here – as I have already implied – is not to investigate whether Shafarevich was critical towards jews as he indisputably was. But rather whether he was critical towards jews based upon their status as a nationality, ethnic group and/or race.
Since Shafarevich definitely used the term ‘jew’ as a national grouping and criticised jews based on their genetic behavioural predispositions. (5) He could certainly be labelled ‘anti-Semitic’ in the true sense of the term, but it is important that stress that while he was anti-Semitic. He also, in the tradition of many anti-jewish intellectuals like Martin Luther and Hilaire Belloc, stressed that some jews could rise above their ‘national emotions’ and be ‘good jews’. (6)
In addition to this he is known to have treated all of his students equally, based upon merit even when they were jewish. (7)
This is the basis for David Mumford’s argument that Shafarevich was not anti-Semitic, (8) but this misunderstands what anti-Semitism is and incorrectly assumes that if one is an anti-Semite. Then one should discriminate against jews in everything one does. This is certainly not the case since even Adolf Hitler famously said that Otto Weininger was a good jew and protected certain jews who he liked personally – such as his old family doctor – from being deported to concentration camps.
Thus, it does not follow that because one is an anti-Semite then one must actively discriminate against jews.
Therefore we have to conclude that Igor Shafarevich was indeed anti-Semitic.
References
(1) S
(2) Anon., ‘Shafarevich Decries 'Russophobia,' Jewish Nationalism’, Soviet Union: Political Affairs, 22nd March 1990, pp. 26-27
(3) Mikhail Epstein, 1994, ‘From Anti-Socialism to Anti-Semitism: Igor Shafarevich’, 1st Edition, The National Council for Soviet and East European Research: Washington D.C., p. 1
(4) Krista Berglund, 2012, ‘The Vexing Case of Igor Shafarevich, a Russian Political Thinker’, 1st Edition, Birkhauser: Switzerland, p. 246
(5) Epstein, Op. Cit., p. 4
(6) Berglund, Op. Cit., p. 246
(7) Ibid., pp. 200-201; https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/13/world/europe/igor-shafarevich-dead-dissident-mathematician.html?_r=0
(8) http://www.dam.brown.edu/people/mumford/blog/2016/Shaf.html