How to fight antisemitism – and win
Published
by
Richard Kuper
JVL Introduction
US authors Shane Burley and Ben Lorber have recently published a book, Safety Through Solidarity: A Radical Guide to Fighting Antisemitism.
Drawing on their arguments there, they present a guide to tackling this form of oppression based on not separating the struggle against antisemitism from that against other forms of oppression.
They offer a helpful 10-point guide:
- fight for a more equal society
- resist the authoritarian right
- build multiracial coalitions
- understand our differences
- combat conspiracism
- avoid hyperbole
- recognise antisemitism in our movements
- stop weaponising antisemitism against Palestinian liberation
- uplift marginalised Jewish voices, and
- mobilise non-Jews in our shared struggle.
Wise words.
RK
This article was originally published by Vashtimedia on Tue 4 Jun 2024. Read the original here.
How to fight antisemitism – and win
Instead of relying on police, provosts and prime ministers, it’s time we mobilised cross-community movements to uproot antisemitism at its foundations.
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It would be nice to have few facts and figures here. For example, where is this ‘rapidly deepening antisemitism’ actually happening. In the Middle East perhaps? In the mind of the Israeli Prime Minister? It would have been nice to see a clear definition of antisemitism. In the absence of one I’ll give you mine: ‘Prejudice against a group of people, Jews, for what they are, Jewish’. Substitute identifiers like ‘black, Muslim, men, women, disabled, old’ for Jews, and it does not privilege one group of people over any other, which is how it should be.
I’m told I ‘must’ join the fight against antisemitism. I’m happy enough to do that, but on my terms not someone else’s . I’m told antisemistism is ‘first and foremost a problem of the gentile world’. I beg to differ. Too often claims of antisemitic behaviour seem to originate with Jewish organisations which simply apply their own definition of it and then make a song and dance of about every example they can dredge up. Just how dangerous is an ‘antisemitic’ octopus? What are we talking about here; hurt feelings or hurt heads? We have laws to deter and punish those who indulge in doling out the latter; hurt feelings, I have them too.
Many good things here.. But feeling a certain personal unease at the slightly folkish representations of Jewishness in this paper. As a ‘jew in name only’, a ‘vaterjudin’, I decided some time ago to demote myself from full voting membership of JVL to solidarity membership. So I express these feelings with caution. But I must admit that when I visited the student camp at UCL to make a solidarity donation, I was mystified to be invited to a Shavuot celebration. A long time ago I felt more at ease in a group called the hackney alternative Jewish alliance, which drew on more central European strands.. Secularity, scepticism, argumentation, etc does not seem to have much place in the vision above. I also note for example widespread irritation expressed at Norman finkelstein just for suggesting a minor word change in a slogan. It makes me uneasy.