Antisemitism is often absent from workplace diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts. Despite rising antisemitic violence and rhetoric around the world, many Jewish employees still go overlooked and unsupported at work. Inclusion means more than broad commitments—it requires specific, noticeable action.
Our Jewish friends, family, and colleagues need to know that we will show up for them—not just in words but through meaningful, everyday practices. That includes challenging antisemitism wherever it shows up and supporting Jewish people in their full, multifaceted identities.
Yet in many organizations, antisemitism is disregarded. Jewish cultural awareness and inclusion are often missing from DEI efforts.
Over the years, we’ve spoken with leaders from start-ups to Fortune 500s, DEI professionals, HR teams, and people managers. We’ve asked why antisemitism is so rarely addressed alongside other forms of oppression—and why there’s so little advocacy, education, or programming designed to support Jewish employees.
The reasons vary. For some, it’s a lack of awareness. For others, the topic feels too complex, politically charged, or painful to approach. And many simply feel unequipped to talk about it without saying the wrong thing.
Whatever the reason, the result is the same: Jewish team members are too often left without recognition, support, or safety.
Note: This resource is a call to action. It’s designed to help leaders understand antisemitism in all its forms and to take real, informed actions toward supporting Jewish inclusion in the workplace. It is not intended to make geopolitical statements or offer religious interpretations. It also does not represent the views of all Jewish people, all DEI professionals or all organizations — and that’s precisely the point. Diversity includes complexity. This is one tool among many to help navigate that complexity with care. As always, we welcome your feedback and will continue to update this resource accordingly. Email us at hello@feminuity.org with suggestions.
The History of Antisemitism
Antisemitism refers to prejudice, hostility, or discrimination toward Jewish people based on religion, ethnicity, culture, or perceived identity. At its core, it is hatred.
Although many people cite the Holocaust as the origin of widespread antisemitism, anti-Jewish beliefs and laws have existed for millennia. Sometimes called the “longest hatred,” many current stereotypes can be traced back to the Middle Ages.
Long before the Holocaust, Jewish people in Europe were segregated from broader society through legislation that restricted where they could live, what jobs they could hold, and how they could participate in public life. One of the earliest widely documented pogroms occurred in Russia in 1821.
Canada has its troubling history of antisemitism, including events like the Christie Pits Riot in 1933 and the government’s refusal to accept over 900 Jewish refugees aboard the MS St Louis during their attempt to flee Nazi Germany.
Ultimately, antisemitism is a persistent and evolving form of hate that continues today in overt and subtle forms. Alongside the rise of fascist and neo-Nazi groups, antisemitic vandalism, and hate rallies, this bias also shows up in quieter, coded, and often overlooked ways.
One example is the spelling of the word antisemitism. Some people—often out of habit or outdated grammar conventions—use a hyphen, writing it as “anti-Semitism.” However, leading institutions like the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) recommend spelling it without the hyphen: “antisemitism.”
Why does this matter? The hyphenated version can unintentionally suggest the existence of something called “Semitism”—a term rooted in pseudo-scientific racial theory used to justify Nazi ideology. Removing the hyphen centres the term on what it truly describes: prejudice and hatred toward Jewish people. It’s a small but meaningful change that reflects a deeper awareness of language, history, and harm.
A Missing “Ism” in DEI
The DEI field has evolved and grown significantly in recent years. At times, this progress has been reactively fuelled by painful events, such as the murder of George Floyd in May 2020 in the United States and the global rise in racist and xenophobic violence and discrimination during the COVID-19 pandemic. While we are having more conversations about anti-Black racism, anti-Asian racism, and many essential topics outside these two salient issues across cultures, the lack of attention to anti-Jewish violence is concerning.
When antisemitic concerns are not acknowledged in the workplace, it can deepen feelings of erasure, exclusion, and unsafety for Jewish team members. This silence may also give team members the false impression that antisemitism is less pressing or less harmful than other forms of discrimination. Such omissions invalidate real experiences of bias and weaken the integrity and consistency of DEI efforts. When one form of oppression is left unnamed, it can obscure the reality that all forms of hate are interconnected and must be addressed to challenge systemic discrimination and build lasting equity effectively.
Antisemitism is not isolated; it is interconnected with other systems of hate and oppression. It often shares roots with racism, xenophobia, and conspiracy thinking and has continually been used to divide communities experiencing marginalization. Ignoring it diminishes our ability to build truly inclusive and equitable workplaces.
Before sharing actionable tools, we want to explore a few of the reasons leaders indicated to have hesitated to address antisemitism.
Stereotypes, Conspiracies, and Misinformation
Stereotypes about Jewish people are deeply embedded in media, social groups, political rhetoric, and broader culture. These stereotypes are often inaccurate, reductive, and dehumanizing. They encourage us to view individuals as caricatures rather than recognizing their full complexity and humanity.
One of the most persistent and damaging stereotypes is the idea that all Jewish people are wealthy, consequential, or connected to global influence. This belief has led to the harmful exclusion of Jewish voices from equity conversations in workplaces. When people falsely assume that Jewish individuals don’t face marginalization, it erases the real experiences of discrimination, bias, and violence that many continue to face—especially those from working-class or otherwise underrepresented Jewish communities.
These stereotypes are not isolated but part of a broader web of misinformation and dangerous conspiracy theories. Antisemitism has been described as a “conspiracy theory about how the world operates,” often suggesting that Jewish people secretly control governments, financial systems, or social change movements. These narratives are often disguised using coded language like “New World Order,” “Illuminati,” or “Freemasonry.”
While they may sound outlandish, these beliefs have real-world consequences. They fuel hate, justify violence, and have historically contributed to catastrophic harm on a mass scale. Understanding and interrupting these narratives is essential to meaningful DEI efforts. These stereotypes often influence who is believed, who is promoted, and who is included in equity strategies—and who is not.
Identity, Religion and Spirituality
When planning Jewish inclusion initiatives, leaders often mistakenly frame Jewish identity only through the lens of religion or spirituality. However, Jewish identity is multifaceted and can encompass religion, culture, ethnicity, ancestry, language, and shared history.
Moreover, many Jewish people do not practice Judaism as a religion yet still identify strongly as Jewish. This includes secular, atheist, and culturally Jewish individuals who may not observe religious customs or attend synagogue but participate in Jewish life through holidays, food, family traditions, or cultural connections.
Jewish identity is also shaped by diverse migration stories, national and regional histories, and ethnic backgrounds. Communities such as Ashkenazi, Sephardic, Mizrahi, Ethiopian, and Abayudaya Jews all reflect different languages, geographies, and traditions. Indeed, there’s no single way to be Jewish.
Roughly 47% of the global Jewish population resides in Israel, and many Jewish people worldwide report a strong cultural or familial connection to the country, although this connection varies widely across individuals and communities.
For some, Jewishness is a religious identity. For others, it’s ethnic, ancestral, or cultural. Many experience it as all three. Understanding these layers matters—because inclusion efforts focusing only on faith can exclude large portions of the Jewish community.
When designing strategies to support Jewish inclusion in the workplace, it’s essential to recognize the full spectrum of Jewish identity—not just its religious expression.
Race and Jewish Identity
Many leaders feel uncertain about how to include Jewish people in DEI efforts due to the complexity and nuance around Jewish identity. One common misconception is that all Jewish people are white. This belief ignores the racial and ethnic diversity within global Jewish communities. It erases the lived experiences of Black Jews, Asian Jews, Hispanic and Latine Jews, Middle Eastern/North African (MENA) Jews, Indigenous Jews, and others.
This misunderstanding is further complicated by ongoing debates in North America about whether Jewish people—especially white-presenting Jews—should be considered racialized. While some argue that white-presenting Jews benefit from certain privileges, others caution that this framing can erase the specific, racialized forms of antisemitism Jewish people have historically faced and continue to face—particularly from white supremacist groups.
In North America, race is often narrowly defined regarding skin tone and physical appearance. But Jewish identity—encompassing ancestry, culture, religion, and history—doesn’t fit neatly into this framework. The result is that many leaders feel ill-equipped to navigate conversations about how Jewish people experience marginalization and how to reflect that complexity in inclusion strategies.
Understanding the nuances of Jewish identity—particularly regarding race—is essential to building equitable and inclusive programs. It requires moving beyond “either/or” thinking and engaging with the layered realities of identity, privilege, and oppression.
Antisemitism and White Supremacy
Antisemitism is often treated as a side issue in equity work—but in reality, it is a foundational part of white supremacist ideology. To build effective and inclusive strategies, leaders must understand the deep connection between antisemitism and other forms of hate.
White nationalist groups across the world frequently claim that progress in civil rights, feminism, and LGBTQIA2+ inclusion is being orchestrated by a secretive, powerful “elite” they label as Jewish. In these narratives, Jewish people are not framed through religion but as a racialized and existential threat, an “other” whose Jewishness cannot be shed, even through assimilation or conversion.
In the imagined “white-only” state these groups promote, Jewish people are excluded alongside Black, Indigenous, and other racialized communities. White supremacist propaganda often claims that Jewish visibility or perceived whiteness in North America is a manipulation—a so-called “deception” meant to destabilize “true” whiteness.
Neo-Nazi symbols and slogans are common at white supremacist rallies, where antisemitic hatred is expressed in tandem with anti-Black, anti-Asian, anti-Muslim, and anti-immigrant violence. These ideologies do not exist in isolation—they reinforce and embolden one another.
To truly challenge white supremacy, DEI leaders must also confront antisemitism. Ignoring one while addressing the other weakens the foundation of any equity strategy. These systems of oppression are deeply intertwined—and must be dismantled together.
Jewish Identity in a Global Context
Conversations about global issues can surface strong emotions and deeply held beliefs. In some workplaces, discussions about the region may lead to confusion between Jewish identity, Judaism and the actions of the Israeli government. Some Jewish people have a deep and personal connection to the State of Israel shaped by history, belief or family ties. Others may feel differently. These perspectives can vary widely, even within Jewish communities, and all deserve to be approached with care and understanding.
At the same time, it is essential to distinguish between political discourse and assumptions about identity. When that line is crossed, Jewish individuals may feel unfairly held responsible for global events, regardless of their personal views or connection to the region. This can lead to a sense of isolation or silence in the workplace.
It is also important to acknowledge that some colleagues may have strong feelings or personal ties to these global events. Making space for those experiences matters, too, especially for individuals directly impacted or engaged in advocacy for peace.
Inclusive leadership means holding this complexity with thoughtfulness and care. It requires creating space for respectful conversations, honouring diverse lived experiences and ensuring that no one is made to feel targeted, excluded or burdened because of their identity.
Putting the Missing “Ism” into Practice
These are just a few of the reasons leaders may struggle to address antisemitism in the workplace. It takes intentional, ongoing effort to challenge the growing presence of antisemitism and even more effort to ensure Jewish team members feel fully acknowledged, supported, and safe at work.
Recognize Diversity
Acknowledging the complexity of each Jewish person’s identity and experiences is essential. An intersectional lens can help guide this understanding. Jewish people are racially, culturally, economically, and religiously diverse. Some are white, others are Black, Latine, Asian, MENA, or Indigenous. Some follow religious customs, while others connect to Judaism culturally or ethnically. Some are disabled or experience homelessness. Jewish identity intersects with many other aspects of identity, just like any other community.
When we recognize this diversity, it becomes clear that antisemitism doesn’t exist in a vacuum. These systems often reinforce one another, and the impact is compounded for those whose identities sit at multiple margins. Understanding how antisemitism connects with broader patterns of hate and exclusion helps us better support all people whose identities are targeted. When we address these oppressions together, rather than in silos, we build stronger, more inclusive environments for everyone.
Collect Better Data
Too often, Jewish people are excluded from workplace surveys or lumped into categories that fail to reflect the full scope of their identity. Jewish identity goes beyond religion; it encompasses ethnicity, ancestry, culture, and shared history. Organizations should consider collecting data under “Religion and Beliefs” and “Race and Ethnicity” to capture this complexity when appropriate.
In addition to demographics, it’s essential to understand Jewish employees’ day-to-day experiences. Insights into how antisemitism, bias, exclusion, or microaggressions show up at work can help shape more targeted, meaningful interventions.
At the same time, it’s essential to recognize the historical trauma around data collection in Jewish communities. Throughout history, governments have used identity data to surveil, exclude, and persecute Jewish people. As a result, many Jewish employees may feel hesitant or unsafe disclosing their identity in surveys.
Data can be a powerful tool for inclusion—but it must be collected transparently, stored securely, and used with care. No employee should ever be required to disclose their identity. Trust and consent must come first.
Dismantle Stereotypes
Stereotypes about Jewish people—whether negative or seemingly positive—are harmful, even when they’re framed as jokes or compliments. These ideas often go unchallenged in workplace conversations, making them seem acceptable or harmless. But every time they’re repeated, they reinforce bias.
When we recognize these moments, we must reflect on our language and behaviour and interrupt when we witness others repeating stereotypes. One helpful tactic is a micro-interruption: a respectful pause to ask, “Can you tell me what you meant by that?” This creates space for reflection without shame.
Even so-called “positive” stereotypes can be damaging. For example, saying, “Give David the account; he’s good with money,” may sound complimentary, but it reinforces longstanding myths about Jewish financial control, wealth, and power. These tropes have fuelled centuries of discrimination and violence.
Positive stereotypes also strengthen negative ones by reinforcing a binary of the “good” or “bad” Jew. The idea that Jewish people are especially smart with money may feel benign, but it connects directly to conspiracy theories that claim Jewish people control financial systems or global institutions.
This is known as philosemitic antisemitism—a form of bias that appears flattering on the surface but ultimately reduces Jewish people to stereotypes and paves the way for more explicit forms of hate.
A better approach? Practice shifting your perception to consider people as unique individuals. Speak with care and compassion. Interrupt bias when you witness it. And remember: admiration rooted in stereotypes is not inclusion—it’s just another form of erasure.
Focus on Systems (not People)
Governments worldwide can cause harm, yet too often, the blame is wrongly placed on communities who are not responsible for those actions. Like many other groups, Jewish people navigate complex political and social realities, but they are not collectively accountable for the actions of any government, including the State of Israel.
Being critical of a government’s policies is different from targeting an entire people. When critique turns into broad generalizations or stereotypes, especially those rooted in antisemitism, it shifts from a discussion about power to something personal, harmful, and discriminatory.
Inclusion-driven leadership requires nuance. We can and should examine systems of power while refusing to perpetuate bias against individuals or communities. This means being intentional in how we speak, write, and create space for essential conversations without putting Jewish employees in the position of having to explain, defend, or distance themselves from a government because of their identity.
Build Bridges in Dialogue
As a leader, it is essential to approach conversations with care, humility, and a willingness to engage beyond polarized or antisemitic narratives. For many, these discussions are emotionally charged and deeply personal. Avoiding them altogether can create silence at a time when understanding and support are most needed.
Rather than entering these conversations as the expert or the one holding all the answers, aim to act as a bridge-builder. This means showing up as someone who facilitates rather than dominates, listens rather than lectures, and makes space for multiple truths. As writer Frances Lee notes, bridge-building means creating the conditions for dialogue, not control.
One of the most powerful tools in bridge-building is letting go of binary thinking, which is the tendency to view complex issues in either/or terms, such as for or against, pro or anti, right or wrong. This thinking limits dialogue and creates pressure to take a single side, even when the situation demands nuance. It often shows up in conversations about injustice, where communities are positioned in opposition as if only one experience or truth can be valid at a time. Leaders will do well to actively counter this mindset by making space for “both/and” conversations.
In the workplace, bridge-building also means designing inclusive policies, processes, and programmes that reflect the full range of identities and experiences—not just the most visible or familiar ones. This requires an intersectional, systems-level approach, and a commitment to engaging with complexity rather than avoiding it.
Honour Observances
Supporting Jewish inclusion means recognizing Jewish holidays as moments of deep reflection, connection, and community. One of the most impactful ways workplaces can show respect is by accommodating Jewish holidays with care and flexibility.
Jewish team members may observe some or all of the holidays, depending on their religious, cultural, or personal connection level. Observance includes time off, prayer, or refraining from work for some. For others, it may mean celebrating with family or community or not marking the holidays. Inclusion means respecting the full range of these expressions without assumptions or judgment.
It’s also helpful to know that many Jewish holidays begin and end at sunset, not midnight. This means team members may need to leave early or be fully offline for a period that doesn’t align with a standard 9-to-5 workday.
Lastly, Jewish holidays follow a lunar calendar, so their dates shift yearly relative to the Gregorian calendar. Being proactive with flexible scheduling, coverage planning, and clear communication goes a long way in helping Jewish employees feel supported and respected. Learn more in our Global Holidays, Observances, & Celebrations Calendar.
A Final Note
Becoming more aware of the long and ongoing history of antisemitism is essential for anyone committed to building an inclusive workplace. A lack of understanding around the diversity and intersectionality of Jewish identities, the normalization of harmful stereotypes, and media narratives that hold all Jewish people responsible for the actions of the Israeli government all contribute to harm in professional settings.
This kind of discrimination doesn’t go away on its own. It will persist unless leaders take meaningful, proactive actions to recognize and address antisemitism as part of their broader equity and inclusion efforts. Supporting Jewish team members means moving beyond silence or discomfort; it means showing up, continually learning, and creating workplaces where all people can feel safer, respected, and valued.
Give Credit Where Credit's Due
If you wish to reference this work, please use the following citation: Feminuity. "A Missing ‘Ism’ in DEI: A Guide to Supporting Jewish Team Members at Work"
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