Biden’s antisemitism strategy gets a lot right — but has one problem
JVL Introduction
Writing in+972 Magazine, Natasha Roth-Rowland looks at the newly published White House Strategy for combatting antisemitism.
The good news is that it sidesteps the issue of the IHRA definition, refusing to give it the official endorsement the Israel lobby has craved.
As Roth-Rowland explains, the failings of the IHRA definition are not simply that it has a well-known chilling effect because of its conflation of antisemitism and criticism of Israel. Worse is that it is woefully inadequate to tackle antisemitism’s resurgence and entrenchment across the public sphere today.
Biden’s strategy document, unfortunately, offers less than it might here – especially when this renewed antisemitism is forgiven because its exponents, like Prime Minister Orban in Hungary or Elon Musk in the States, are “friends of Israel”.
This article was originally published by +972 Magazine on Sat 27 May 2023. Read the original here.
Biden’s antisemitism strategy gets a lot right — but has one problem
By failing to push back on problematic definitions of antisemitism, the White House is missing a golden opportunity in the fight against hate.
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Interesting article. Demonstrates the pros & cons of analysing politics based on the rhetorical strategies of members of elites. Also even in a globalised world demonstrates the limits of expecting one set of experiences to be everyone’s.
The Musk, Dershowitz, Israel government, statements are interesting illustrations of forces at work. How much does this tell us about supposed increased anti-Semitism on the ground?
If you are an American Jew living in a country with Gun-Culture and an armed far right, the recent history of attack on synagogues might make you fearful – even if these do not equate to BLM deaths etc.
Here in the UK JvL would probably be the first to point out that being Jewish is not the same as the Black experience or having your mosque firebombed or your mum or sister attacked for wearing a Niqab.
Regarding the IHRA definition – it deserves to said that those who fought the Nazis did so demanding that we be ever vigilant against fascisms return. They’ll be spinning in their graves at the prospect of groups giving themselves ‘get-out-of-jail-cards’ or Carte Blanches absolving the repetition of Nazi-type crimes.