1. Background information for Grade 9 literary essay

2. What is Zionism?
Its general definition means the national movement for the return of the Jewish people to their homeland and the resumption of Jewish sovereignty* in the Land of Israel. 
Since the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, Zionism has come to include the movement for the development of the State of Israel and the protection of the Jewish nation in Israel through support for the Israel Defense Forces.
Visit for more information on the aims and history of Zionism.
*This means independence – i.e. no foreign rule. It does not mean that only Jews are allowed in the land of Israel (this is part of the ‘Israel is an Apartheid state’ rhetoric).

3. What is anti-Zionism?
A person or group opposed to Zionism.

4. What is prejudice? http://www.theholocaustexplained.org/ks3/
The word prejudice means to pre-judge, to make up your mind about someone before you know anything about them. When you first meet someone, what is the first thing you notice? Their hair, the colour of their skin, their clothes and the way they speak? We often make instant judgments about each other, which later prove to be untrue.
Most people feel more comfortable in their own group, gang or tribe. People are often frightened of difference because it feels unfamiliar and can seem threatening. It is easy for us to blame someone else when things go wrong.
Sometimes the anger of the majority group is taken out on another group. Practically every society throughout history has blamed one group or another for what goes wrong in that society. This is known as scapegoating.

5. What is a stereotype? http://www.theholocaustexplained.org/ks3
A widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing (Google dictionary)
 What is Antisemitism?
Antisemitism is the term used when people are prejudiced against Jews just because they are Jewish. Antisemitism is a modern racial term that was invented in 1879 by a German journalist called Wilhelm Marr. However, anti-Jewish feelings are much older than that.
About 2,000 years ago, Jesus, according to the story in the Gospels, was executed for treason. He was crucified, which was the Roman method of execution. Christian teaching did not blame the Romans; it blamed the Jews. As his followers later regarded Jesus as God, so killing him became known as the crime of ‘deicide’ (killing of God). This was the basis of Jew hatred.
Visit for more information on anti-Semitism and the Church, Medieval anti-Semitism, Nazi racial theory and modern anti-Semitism

6. FIND OUT MORE
Visit for more information on anti-Semitism and the Church, Medieval anti-Semitism, Nazi racial theory and modern anti-Semitism

7. Why are there Palestinian refugees?
Watch this video from Jerusalem University to discover why there are Palestinian refugees.
Visit this site for more information

8. What is Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks saying in his article
What is Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks saying in his article? (Carefully read the article in your Perspectives Pack)
According to Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks, Anti-Zionism is the new type of anti-Semitism.
Summary of article
Paragraph 1: Senior leaders in England are worried about people questioning Israel’s right to exist.
Paragraph 2-3: Anti-semitic incidents in Europe and on campuses in America are becoming more common.

9. Paragraph 4:
People who are against the policies of Israel say they are being falsely accused of being anti-Semitic.
Rabbi Sacks says criticism of the state of Israel is not anti-Semitic, nor is the BDS – Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Group (note: criticising a government’s policies is not necessarily seen as being against that government, however it depends on the criticism. References to the Jewish religion within that criticism create a grey area. Rabbi Sacks’ point is up for debate however, as the majority of Israelis are Jewish, and because Israel is central to the Jewish religion, it can be argued that there really is not much of a line between the two…something to ponder?)

10. Paragraph 6 Paragraph 4 continued
Rabbi Sacks maintains the BDS is a front (mask) for the new anti-Semitism (i.e. they are accusing Israel of human rights abuses and encouraging boycotts, but their true motivation is anti-Semitic)
Paragraph 6
Jews are not liked regardless of what they have or do. Anti-Semitism does not make sense.

11. Paragraph 7: the reasons for anti-Semitism change with time:
Middle Ages (5th – 15th century AC): religion (Jews accused of killing Jesus, using blood of Christian children in religious practice, etc)
1800s-1900s (18th and 19th century):race (Jews seen as inferior, Nazi ideology)
Post 1948 : nation-state Israel (Israel – and by extension, Jews – is seen to be oppressing the human rights of Palestinians)

12. Paragraph 8: Paragraph 9:
When a society seeks to blame others for its misfortunes, it has historically blamed the Jews, instead of looking at itself.
Paragraph 9:
Anti-Semitism is simplistic; putting all the fault on one side and all the victimhood on the other
Paragraph 10: ‘Jews have been hated because they were different. ’ Any group capable of hatred towards a minority, such as Jews, is capable of hatred towards any other minority or group. Therefore anti-Semitism is everyone’s problem – it begins with the Jews but does not end there.

13. What must you do in your project?
Investigate if what Rabbi Sacks is saying is correct by:
Discussing how Jews are portrayed in your prescribed and choice novels and poems
(look at the time period of the novel/poem’s publication and discuss the stereotypes of Jews that were prevalent at that time, and see if they feature in your novel/poem. Also notice if the author is Jewish or not and if that has any influence on the portrayal.)
Discussing whether or not you feel if there is a need for the portrayal of Jews in literature to be changed. If not, provide reasons why. If you feel that there is a need, provide concrete solutions on how this can be accomplished (for example, education, more Jewish texts from Jewish writers, etc).