: loyalty to two separate interests that potentially conflict
with each other, leading to a conflict of interest
WHEN IT’S ANTISEMITIC:
Dual loyalty is a bigoted trope used to cast Jews as the
“other.” For example, it becomes antisemitic when an
American Jew’s connection to Israel is scrutinized to the
point of questioning his or her trustworthiness or loyalty to
the United States. Dual loyalty accusations
also occur on U.S. college campuses when Jewish students
are asked to denounce the actions of the Israeli government
in order to participate in progressive activities.
Antisemitic flyer posted in Long
Branch, New Jersey, June 2018.
By accusing Jews of being disloyal citizens whose true allegiance
is to Israel or a hidden Jewish agenda (see Globalist), antisemites
sow distrust and spread harmful ideas — like the belief that Jews
are a traitorous “fifth column,” meaning they are undermining
their country from within. The Soviet Union also peddled propaganda accusing Zionists of being disloyal to the state. The allegation of dual loyalty can
also be aimed at non-Jews for what antisemites see as being
“excessively loyal to Israel,” a criticism rarely leveled against
friends and supporters of other countries.
For centuries, these antisemitic accusations of disloyalty
have led to the harassment, marginalization, oppression, and
murder of Jewish people.
Stab-in-the-back myth
The stab-in-the-back myth is an antisemitic conspiracy theory rooted in the idea that Jews are disloyal to their fellow citizens and self-serving (see clannish). It was popularized after Germany’s defeat in World War I, claiming the war was lost not on the frontlines but because of German Jewish betrayal.
In political posters and other propaganda, grotesquely-portrayed Jews were shown stabbing German soldiers in the back (see Jewish figures).
Austrian postcard showing a caricatured Jew stabbing a German soldier in the back with a dagger. Arbeiter Zeitung, Vienna, March 1919.
For centuries, these antisemitic accusations of disloyalty have led to the harassment, marginalization, oppression, and murder of Jewish people.