conflict & communication online, Vol. 14, No. 1, 2015
www.cco.regener-online.de
ISSN 1618-0747

Wilhelm Kempf
Anti-Semitism and criticism of Israel: Methodology and results of the ASCI survey

Building upon psychological conflict theory, on the one hand, and item-response models, on the other, the present paper develops an integrated methodology that aims at differentiating the various ways of criticizing Israel. An application of this methodology to the Anti-Semitism and Criticism of Israel (ASCI) survey found two ways of criticizing Israel resulting from two different and antipodal processes. (1) Anti-Semitic criticism of Israel is generally laden with prejudice and shares not only anti-Semitic, anti-Zionist and anti-Israeli, but also anti-Palestinian resentments as well. (2) Non-anti-Semitic criticism of Israel is motivated by pacifism and human rights commitment and rejects any form of anti-Semitic, anti-Zionist, anti-Israeli or anti-Palestinian resentment. However, even critics of Israel who were not originally motivated by anti-Semitism are also in danger of developing anti-Semitic prejudices.

The author:
Wilhelm Kempf is Professor emeritus of Psychological Methodology and Head of the Peace Research Group (Projektgruppe Friedensforschung) at the University of Konstanz, Germany. Since 2002 he is the editor of conflict & communication online (www.cco.regener-online.de). His fields of research include quantitative and qualitative research methodology, nonviolent conflict resolution, peace journalism and the construction of social reality by the mass media. He currently works on a research project on “Criticizing Israel, coming to terms with German history and differentiating aspects of modern anti-Semitism”.

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