I see so there was an evolution based on language and the "zeitgeist" of Jewish interaction. Interesting. So in your view, as one member here has put it, do you think some overuse "anti-semite" too much when Judaism is criticized?
It's hard to say. It might be easier to say that it's possible the word is over-used when it comes to people criticizing Israel's politics, although the word is not always misapplied even there. In theory, there is nothing wrong with disagreeing with the political or military choices of the State of Israel. I do so myself, and frequently. What is problematic is the denial of Israel's right to exist, or the knee-jerk reaction many on the Euro-American political left have developed of presuming that any and every political/military move that Israel makes is morally wrong. But at least in theory, it is wrong for people to call someone an anti-Semite just for not giving unquestioning support to every little action taken by the Israeli government-- no entity should be entirely unquestioned, and it is hardly anti-Semitic to say so.
As for criticizing Judaism, that poses a harder question. Quite often the line is very finely drawn. For example, it is not anti-Semitic to say "I don't get the theology of Judaism. Their depiction of God, as I understand it, seems very unappealing to me." But it would be anti-Semitic to say, "Judaism is awful! Look at their god-- he's just evil." In other words, it often comes down to the speaker understanding, and reflecting in their word choices, that they are speaking about their feelings about Judaism as they understand Judaism. That it does not become a statement of objective judgment of the entirety of the Jewish People and their tradition, which is something that probably no one is qualified to make.
My view tends to be that criticizing Judaism is fair, so long as it is done respectfully, from a position of knowledge, and with cognizance of what is the criticizer's own personal opinions or impressions versus what is an objectively criticizable fact.
Very often, though, what is anti-Semitic is not necessarily the expressed criticism per se-- whether of the religion or of Israel-- but the application of it: either holding Judaism or Israel to standards not used for anyone or anyplace else, or attempting to impose values that belong to entirely different systems of understanding without context or compromise, or similar kinds of singling out Judaism or Israel in ways that non-Jewish religions or political entities are not generally singled out. And these things can all be extremely subtle, and difficult to define. Much of it, unfortunately, falls into that category that Justice Stewart used in reference to defining pornography as opposed to erotica: "I know it when I see it." And I will be the first to admit that this is not without problems.
But I confess that, while I certainly admit that the term does sometimes suffer from over-use, I am extremely uncomfortable with the degree to which non-Jews are ready and willing to write off calls of anti-Semitism to "political correctness" or "Jewish oversensitivity" or even propaganda of one sort or another. Anti-Semitism is still very much around. And though it dipped greatly after WWII, it is slowly on the rise again. I have seen it, even in the incredibly Jewish and tolerant city I live in, as well as other places-- and yes, occasionally even here on this forum. It is not a thing of the past, and it is not just "Jewish oversensitivity." Or, as a friend of mine who is an African-American minister put it, "Racism isn't over just because there's no more slaves and everyone has the right to vote; and racism isn't just defined by the times they call you "n****r. And it's sure not over because white folks say it is, any more than white people get to define what is and isn't racism."
The same principle kind of holds true.
opcorn: