Racism in today’s Britain: What it is and How to Fight it
JVL Introduction
David Rosenberg of the Jewish Socialists’ Group contributed to an online event organised by Durham North West CLP on 7th July on Racism in today’s Britain: What it is and How to Fight it
He talked about over his involvement from the seventies in the real struggles against racism, fascism and antisemitism in Britain; the chequered history of the Jewish communal leadership in that struggle; and the resurgence of a real threat of antisemitism in recent years. And of course the institutional racism that Black and migrant communities suffer daily.
And he concludes that “In uniting with Black, Asian and other migrant communities against the racism they suffer, the Jewish community must also tackle racism within. And the time to do that is now!”
This article was originally published by Rebel Notes on Tue 7 Jul 2020. Read the original here.
Circles of solidarity and resistance
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Is David saying we shouldn’t use the word Israel when we mean the Israeli government or state apparatus? For any other country, whenever we use the name (e.g. France thinks ..) we mean the government (it doesn’t mean everybody in France thinks that). I’m not totally comfortable treating Israel different (some might say that’s antisemitic!).
“There are around 1,500 reported antisemitic incidents a year in Britain, far fewer than Muslim communities endure, but growing. They are mainly carried out in London and Manchester.”
I think that proportionality is indeed important (and not to be confused with complacency).
Being sensitized in my teenage years, I reckon I might have noticed over the past 50 years if anti-semitism had emerged in the (fairly typical) local Labour Party of which I was an active member. Or, indeed in the community of which it was a part. I can honestly say that it didn’t – although lots of prejudices of varying degrees of seriousness did.
Which raises the question of how much the weaponisation of ant-semitism by the right has actually brought about a wider increase (not, in my experience, again, in the Labour Party) of what it pretends to villify.
As an addendum to my earlier comment, the recent suspension of Yvonne Davies raises another key issue about the abusive use of the ‘antisemitism’ charge for sectarian ends. In addition to raising the undead, it trivializes the notion in an incredibly insulting way for those who are actually serious about combatting prejudice.
Essentially, the trivialization says ‘It’s just a bit of sweary quasi-political game-play – don’t take it too seriously.’
we need to put these 1500 antisemitic incidents into perspective. The CST which is largely Home Office funded intensively scours for such incidents and has a clear incentive to maximise them as part of a narrative that Britain is more anti-Semitic than ever.
Israel, as Tony Lerman described in Smoke Without Fire how Mossad had taken over responsibility for Monitoring Antisemitic Incidents world wide driving out the Institute of Jewish Affairs project. Why would an intelligence agency do this if it was part of a genuine attempt to monitor antisemitism?
I dont accept t he 1500 figure. In the case of Black and Asian communities the incident of physical attacks to overall incidents is about 1 in 3. It is less than 10% in the case of Jews and serious physical attacks are minute. In many years there are none whereas with all other groups they form about one-third overall physical attacks.
I suspect that there is a deliberate conflation of actual antisemitic incidents with utterly trivial matters such as social media antisemitism which cannot be measured, yet the CST do measure it.
“Perpetrators, where identified, tend to be white and far right, but a significant minority of attacks are by individuals from groups that experience racism themselves. We need to combat that through education and learn more about each other’s oppressions.” Agree, education is the key. I also think the use of Israel can be unhelpful. I prefer ” the current Israeli administration’.
After the witch hunt on Jeremy Corbyn and the left by the tory media is anyone surprised that there is an increase in attacks on the jewish community, they have brought it on themselves its has simple as that and will increase due to the Israeli policies against the Palestinians.
I think you are on a sticky wicket here Dave. We can not condone attacks on the Jewish community in the UK because of Israeli government treatment of Palestinians. It is wrong to make it collectively responsible for the actions of that government. Also the witch hunt on the left of the party was carried out by organisations only representing part of the Jewish community along with non Jewish actors on the right of British politics
With reference to David Bradley’s comments: Attacks on the Jewish community are 100% wrong as are attacks on any other ethnic minority. Full stop. Racism is always wrong. It has no justification.
I presume no one on here would justify Islamophobic attacks on Muslims here because of policies or actions by states that describe themselves as Islamic States.
Unless I am reading it wrong, he also seems to conflate the Jewish community with the Tory media in his remarks.
Re comments further above re figures for attacks: you don’t have to agree with the CST’s framing and analysis of antisemitic attacks in Britain to recognise that their basic data incidents is quite sound. They don’t scour for incidents but include in their reports only incidents that are reported to them, and usually leave out hundreds of reported incidents in each annual report, where after investigation they have concluded that they do not believe an antisemiitic intention was present. Certainly the point is correct that attacks on Black/Asian communities involve a far higher proportion of physical attacks, but that lessens considerably if you compare attacks on outwardly very distinctive ultra-orthodox Jewish communities, whose experience of antisemitism is very similar to physical harassment especially of hijab-wearing girls/women. One recent attack on an ultra-orthodox Jew in Hackney is being investigated as attempted murder.
‘It is bizarre that some 25 Jewish LP members, including longstanding anti-racist activists, have been suspended or investigated, accused of antisemitism’They were targeted precisely because they are Jewish critics of Israeli policy and stand on the left. The witch hunt against them suited the interests of an unholy alliance between the right of the LP and the Israeli Lobby.. The Israeli Lobby is particularly hostile to these comrades claiming they are not proper Jews or that they are bad Jews. They do this because they are either incapable or unwilling to accept it is possible to have a Jewish identity which is not intrinsically linked to the State of Israel. This why they conflate any form of opposition to Israel as anti-semitic.
My message to the 25 and the countless others who have left the party out of disgust or for fear of being branded as an anti semite not give up the fight and to support this site.