Xenophobia I: Antisemitism is the first in a series of works that explores Fear of the Other and the way it distorts our perception of other people whom we regard as strange, unfamiliar, or threatening. Xenophobia I: Anti-Semitism challenges us to scrutinize ourselves in the act of xenophobic rejection, and simultaneously the rationalizations we invoke to defend ourselves against the truth of our actions. The Rosenberg case focused inward the fears of Communist contamination and infiltration generated by the Cold War and the Army-McCarthy hearings. We used the Rosenbergs to transform our fear of an alien other invading us from outside into fear of one another, alienating ourselves from the suspected invader within us: the idea of sharing, trust, and mutual solidarity.
-Adrian Piper, 1988