Law and the construction of Jewish difference

Despite the significance of the figure of ‘the Jew’ as Other in the Western imagination and the persistence of prejudice against Jews, there have been few studies of contemporary Jews as subjects of prejudice in liberal secular law and legal discourse. This article draws attention to continuing Jewish vulnerability and argues that a focus on colonial encounters and phenotype in understanding processes of legal exclusion based on religion and race cannot fully account for the persistence of anti-Jewish prejudice and its resonance in law and legal discourse. Through an analysis of contemporary case law from three different countries, I show how narratives of Christian superiority, veiled behind commitments to secular neutrality, and racializing discourse resonate in legal encounters with Jewishness. I highlight parallels with other minority groups, in particular Muslims, and consider the usefulness of antisemitism as an analytical lens to capture the ambivalent dynamics of Jewish inclusion and exclusion.