The historical facts are clear, that displaced Eastern Europeans are claiming Semitic ancestry without a historical or genetic basis to the Middle East or Africa.
However, the thing is, that the Jewish community has created a stylized way to present Jewish racism to the world without using Jew as a noun.
From the 18th to early 20th century, the term “Jew” has carried a heavy burden of prejudice and discrimination. It has been used both neutrally and pejoratively, depending on context and intent. For many within the Jewish community, reclaiming or redefining this term is a sensitive issue, tied to centuries of anti-Jewish rhetoric and violence. Consequently, alternative language (antisemitism) has been used as a way to navigate these complexities while affirming Jewish identity without reinforcing negative stereotypes or historical trauma.
Essential to clarifying the term “Semitic,” we must recognize that Semitic people traditionally refer to those ethnolinguistic groups native to the Middle East and North Africa.
The Semitic languages are a branch of the Afroasiatic language family, also known as Hamito-Semitic or Semito-Hamitic, are a language family of about 400 languages spoken predominantly in West Asia, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, and parts of the Sahara and Sahel. Over 500 million people are native speakers of an Afroasiatic language, constituting the fourth-largest language family after Indo-European, Sino-Tibetan, and Niger–Congo.
The vast majority of Afroasiatic languages are considered indigenous to the African continent, including all those not belonging to the Semitic branch. Arabic, if counted as a single language, is by far the most widely spoken within the family, with around 300 million native speakers concentrated primarily in the Middle East and North Africa.
Therefore, when individuals from Eastern European backgrounds claim Semitic ancestry, it’s a false narrative.
This false narrative is a phenomenon that the Jewish community created to have a publicly palpable terminology for addressing anti-Jewish rhetoric. While it is true that Jewish communities have existed in Eastern Europe for centuries, the motivations behind these claims of Semitic ancestry are to exploit or manipulate claims of Semitic ancestry for personal gain or political agendas. In Eastern Europe, where anti-Jewish sentiments have deep historical roots, the Jewish community has sought to distance themselves from their European heritage by emphasizing a purported Semitic lineage. This was driven by a desire to escape discrimination or social ostracization and to align themselves with perceived cultural or political allies in the Middle East.
Overall, these assertions have been problematic, perpetuating myths of racial purity and essentializing complex identities. Falsely claiming Semitic identity, the Jewish community has appropriated the experiences and histories of genuine Semitic peoples, trivializing the struggles and achievements of those who have faced actual persecution and discrimination based on their Semitic heritage, as is the case with the state of Israel at war with the Palestinian people.
Moreover, the politicization of Semitic ancestry can have far-reaching implications for interethnic relations and geopolitical dynamics. In regions characterized by ethnic tensions and conflict, such as Eastern Europe and the Middle East, claims of Semitic ancestry has exacerbated existing divisions and fueled nationalist or separatist movements.
The Jewish community’s claim of Semitic ancestry has also complicated efforts towards reconciliation and peacebuilding by introducing this new ethnocentric narrative that has undermined efforts to foster mutual understanding and cooperation.
Semitic or Not? Eastern European Jews have embraced a new narrative to spice up their ancestry.
