Hate Crimes and Discrimination Against Jews: the Anti-Semitism Phenomenon in the 21St Century
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Nova Southeastern University NSUWorks Theses and Dissertations Abraham S. Fischler College of Education 2019 Hate Crimes and Discrimination against Jews: The Anti-Semitism Phenomenon in the 21st Century Jon Zemke Nova Southeastern University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://nsuworks.nova.edu/fse_etd Part of the Criminology and Criminal Justice Commons, and the Education Commons Share Feedback About This Item NSUWorks Citation Jon Zemke. 2019. Hate Crimes and Discrimination against Jews: The Anti-Semitism Phenomenon in the 21st Century. Doctoral dissertation. Nova Southeastern University. Retrieved from NSUWorks, Abraham S. Fischler College of Education. (180) https://nsuworks.nova.edu/fse_etd/180. This Dissertation is brought to you by the Abraham S. Fischler College of Education at NSUWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of NSUWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Hate Crimes and Discrimination against Jews: The Anti-Semitism Phenomenon in the 21st Century by Jonathon E. Zemke A Dissertation Presented to the School of Criminal Justice in the Abraham S. Fischler College of Education of Nova Southeastern University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Nova Southeastern University 2018 ii Statement of Original Work I declare the following: Statement of Original Work I have read the Code of Student Conduct and Academic Responsibility as described in the Student Handbook of Nova Southeastern University. This applied dissertation represents my original work, except where I have acknowledged the ideas, words, or material of other authors. Where another author’s ideas have been presented in this applied dissertation, I have acknowledged the author’s ideas by citing them in the required style. Where another author’s words have been presented in this applied dissertation, I have acknowledged the author’s words by using appropriate quotation devices and citations in the required style. I have obtained permission from the author or publisher—in accordance with the required guidelines—to include any copyrighted material (e.g., tables, figures, survey instruments, large portions of text) in this applied dissertation manuscript. Jon Zemke 1/7/2019 iii Abstract Hate Crimes and Discrimination against Jews: The Anti-Semitism Phenomenon in the 21st Century. Jonathon Zemke, 2018: Applied Dissertation, Nova Southeastern University, Abraham S. Fischler College of Education. The purpose of this study is to compare the perceptions and opinions of Jewish and non-Jewish adult in Virginia Beach, Virginia regarding Jewish hate crimes, discrimination, the safety of the Jewish population, and general beliefs about the Jewish faith. The study set out to provide an evaluation of opinions regarding hate crimes, discrimination, personal safety, and anti-Semitic propensities among the Jewish population (n=77, 45.29%) compared to the non-Jewish respondents (n=93, 54.71%) examined in the sample. A cross-sectional independent sample t-test revealed that of the non-Jewish groups agreed that discrimination (5.89%), hate crimes (8.23%), and threats to Jewish safety (6.47%) exist. The measures ranged from strongly disagree to strongly agree. The results showed that there is a significant difference in perception and opinion between the Jewish population and the non-Jewish population regarding hate crimes, discrimination, and personal safety. These findings are in line with a larger body of research on anti-Semitism used by the ADL and with FBI crime statistics. More studies are recommended to increase awareness of this sensitive topic and expand to other regions of the United States while increasing sample population in order to gain an even more in-depth understanding of the problem. iv Acknowledgments I would like to thank my wife Molly for her patience during this journey. I would like to thank Jennifer Green for all her input over the years assisting me in my writing. Then, I want to make it clear how honored I was to have Dr. Bucker as my chair and Dr. Castro and Dr. Deans on my committee during this process. I am a lifelong learner and look forward to helping others. v Table of Contents Page Chapter 1: Introduction ....................................................................................................... 1 Anti-Semitism ......................................................................................................... 1 Actual Problem ....................................................................................................... 4 Impact of Problem................................................................................................... 5 Problem Statement .................................................................................................. 6 Purpose Statement ................................................................................................... 7 Dissertation Goal .................................................................................................... 7 Justification for the Study ....................................................................................... 8 Significance of the Problem .................................................................................... 8 Impact of Related Problems .................................................................................... 9 Contribution to the Field ......................................................................................... 9 Feasibility Statement ............................................................................................. 10 Barriers and Issues ................................................................................................ 10 Definitions of Terms ............................................................................................. 10 Summary ............................................................................................................... 13 Chapter 2: Literature Review ............................................................................................ 14 The Origins of Hate for Jews ................................................................................ 14 Historical Evidence of Anti-Semitism .................................................................. 15 Anti-Zionist becomes Anti-Semitic ...................................................................... 46 The Chronicles of Jewish Living .......................................................................... 48 Theological Theory ............................................................................................... 56 Islamic Anti-Semitism .......................................................................................... 58 Socio-Psychological Theory ................................................................................. 59 Socio-Structural Theory ........................................................................................ 61 Modern Theories of Anti-Semitism ...................................................................... 63 Psychological Theory............................................................................................ 64 Sociological Theory .............................................................................................. 65 Hate Crimes against Jews ..................................................................................... 70 Research Questions ............................................................................................... 72 Summary of Literature Review ............................................................................. 73 Chapter 3: Methodology ................................................................................................... 74 Quantitative Research Method .............................................................................. 74 Conceptual Model ................................................................................................. 80 Chapter 4: Results ............................................................................................................. 81 Analysis................................................................................................................. 81 Demographics of the Participants ......................................................................... 89 Summary ............................................................................................................... 95 Chapter 5: Findings ........................................................................................................... 96 Discussion of Findings .......................................................................................... 96 vi Hate, Discrimination, and Threats ........................................................................ 98 Comparison Study ................................................................................................. 99 Future Research Directions ................................................................................. 100 Limitations .......................................................................................................... 100 Final Recommendations...................................................................................... 101 References ......................................................................................................................