Antisemitism on the march!

About this episode

Nick Cohen and Howard Jacobson discuss the rise of antisemitism following the October 2023 Hamas attacks and the themes explored in Jacobson's novel 'hoWL'.

Novelist Howard Jacobson discusses his new comic novel exploring post-October 7th anti-Semitism In this weeks The Lowdown podcast, Nick Cohen and Howard Jacobson, discuss Howard's latest novel "hoWL" which explores antisemitism and Jewish fear in the world following the October 2023 Hamas attacks on Israel. Howard and Nick discuss whether the recent rise in anti-Jewish sentiment in Britain represents a new wave of anti-Semitism or a reemergence of historical hatred that had been suppressed since the Holocaust. Howard Jacobson argues that the attacks provided "permission" for anti-Semitic views to surface openly, particularly among university students and left-wing activists who - he claims - were celebrating Jewish deaths. The discussion also touched on the complex political situation in Israel and Palestine, with Howard defending his decision to use comedy in his novel rather than taking a more polemical approach, while acknowledging the difficult position many Jewish people now find themselves in when discussing Israeli policy. Howard explains a novel is not a protest march, but more of a song or a poem, and describes how comedy can be a brilliant tool for writers plumbing the…

People in this episode

Host: Nick Cohen

Guest: Howard Jacobson

Topics covered

• antisemitism
• comedy
• Jewish identity
• politics
• Israel-Palestine conflict

Keywords

• antisemitism
• Howard Jacobson
• Nick Cohen
• hoWL
• October 2023
• Jewish fear
• political commentary

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Substack

Books & works: hoWL

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