Moving forward

Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, Imam Sheikh Dr. Usama Hasan, Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Dr. Einat Wilf, Prof. Michael Walzer

Hatred of a specific social or ethnic group has a clear utilitarian function – it allows an opposing group or individual to self-define itself in relation to another. It is a negative self-definition that is based on an imagined perception of the so-called “other,” rather than one that is based in reality. We saw this again and again when examining each and every ideology or group from which antisemitism has emerged – and continues to emerge. Yet, though antisemitism, or any other form of hatred, may be entrenched in much of our societal dynamic, hate is not something we are born with, but rather something we are taught.