3D test

type: Article

The set of criteria known as the 3D test helps to determine whether a statement merely constitutes criticism of Israeli policy or whether it crosses the line into antisemitism. The three “D”s are demonisation of Israel, delegitimisation of it, and holding it to double standards: if a statement meets any of these criteria, it is antisemitic. The quick test was developed in 2004 by the Israeli politician and political scientist Natan Sharanskyi to systematically check whether a given text or statement is antisemitic. The test has since proven useful in research, and especially in political life and civil society.ii However, Monika Schwarz-Friesel and Jehuda Reinharz, who research present-day antisemitism, have criticised the three criteria as not being defined concretely enough.iii They find the five criteria that were set forth in 2004 by the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia to be more specific. These criteria can also be found in the examples contained in the IHRA definition. They are:

  1. Denying Israel’s right to existence and self-determination
  2. Comparing or equating Israel with National Socialism
  3. Applying double standards to Israel
  4. Holding Jews around the world accountable for the actions of the Israeli government
  5. Using antisemitic images, symbols or phrases to characterise Israel or Israelis

Schwarz-Friesel and Reinharz have also introduced “derealisation” as a fourth criterion (“D”) for detecting Israel-related antisemitism. This term is used in cases where Israel is represented in an extremely distorted way that is at odds with factual reality. The first three “D”s ultimately flow out of this distorted image. In this context, patterns of language use and strategies of defamation correspond exactly to traditional anti-Jewish stereotypes.iv For this reason, anti-Israeli antisemitism must be regarded as a modern version of traditional anti-Jewish resentments.

Footnotes

i Natan Sharansky (2004): 3D Test of Anti-Semitism: Demonization, double standards, delegitimization. In: Jewish Political Studies Review 16, pp. 3–4.
ii Heiko Beyer (2015): Theorien des Antisemitismus: Eine Systematisierung. In: Kölner Zeitschrift für Soziologie und Sozialpsychologie. 67, pp. 573–589, here: p. 584.
iii Monika Schwarz-Friesel and Jehuda Reinharz (2013): Die Sprache der Judenfeindschaft im 21. Jahrhundert, Berlin, p. 203 et seq.
iv Monika Schwarz-Friesel and Jehuda Reinharz (2013): Die Sprache der Judenfeindschaft im 21. Jahrhundert, Berlin, p. 249 et seq.