L'uso e abuso del termine antisemitismo
sintesi personale
Campaigns to silence criticism of Israel don’t protect Jews — they endanger them.
jacobinmag.com
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Non sorprende che le segnalazioni di attacchi antisemitici sono aumentati bruscamente dopo l'elezione di Trump.
La nuova legislazione a livello statale e nazionale si propone di
combattere l'antisemitismo, ma in realtà punta a criticare solo i critici
di Israele.
Le organizzazioni sioniste hanno cominciato a discutere del "nuovo
antisemitismo", che confonde l'antisemitismo con le critiche di Israele.
È il momento perfetto per il rilascio di On Antisemitism: Solidarity and the Struggle for Justice, una raccolta di saggi dell'organizzazione Voice Jewish for Peace dove si evidenzia come l'antisemitismo sia pericoloso e reale, ma si contestano le false accuse di antisemitismo utilizzate per sopprimere l'attivismo per la solidarietà e per la libertà di espressione in Palestina.
Jacobson Jason Farbman ha parlato con Rebecca Vilkomerson e Rabbi Brant Rosen di JVP su antisemitismo, false accuse di antisemitismo e tentativi antidemocratici di sopprimere la critica di Israele.
È fondamentale per JVP: lottare contro la fanatismo in tutte le sue forme, incluso l'antisemitismo. Vogliamo aprire una discussione e aiutare la gente a distinguere tra il vero antisemitismo e la legittima critica a Israele.
. . È necessario disporre di strumenti per affrontare questo problema e avere una discussione molto più ricca.
È il momento perfetto per il rilascio di On Antisemitism: Solidarity and the Struggle for Justice, una raccolta di saggi dell'organizzazione Voice Jewish for Peace dove si evidenzia come l'antisemitismo sia pericoloso e reale, ma si contestano le false accuse di antisemitismo utilizzate per sopprimere l'attivismo per la solidarietà e per la libertà di espressione in Palestina.
Jacobson Jason Farbman ha parlato con Rebecca Vilkomerson e Rabbi Brant Rosen di JVP su antisemitismo, false accuse di antisemitismo e tentativi antidemocratici di sopprimere la critica di Israele.
Rebecca Vilkomerson
È fondamentale per JVP: lottare contro la fanatismo in tutte le sue forme, incluso l'antisemitismo. Vogliamo aprire una discussione e aiutare la gente a distinguere tra il vero antisemitismo e la legittima critica a Israele.
. . È necessario disporre di strumenti per affrontare questo problema e avere una discussione molto più ricca.
Con le elezioni di Trump le espressioni e le azioni antisemitiche si sono attualmente avvicinate alla struttura
di potere statunitense in un modo che certamente non ho mai sperimentato
nella mia vita. In un'atmosfera come questa è importante sottolineare che l'antisemitismo non è accettabile.
C'è disonestà intorno alla parola "antisemitismo" che ha
reso molto difficile avere discussioni oneste circa Israele o i diritti dei
palestinesi. È stato facile lanciare accuse che sono estremamente dannose.
Come Ebrei JVP può svolgere un ruolo molto significativo nel chiarire ciò che è vero antisemitismo e ciò che è un'accusa politica contro lo stato di Israele. La gente ha bisogno di poter articolare quelle critiche e di sapere che si tratta di discussioni sui diritti umani e quindi non sono contro il popolo ebraico.
Come Ebrei JVP può svolgere un ruolo molto significativo nel chiarire ciò che è vero antisemitismo e ciò che è un'accusa politica contro lo stato di Israele. La gente ha bisogno di poter articolare quelle critiche e di sapere che si tratta di discussioni sui diritti umani e quindi non sono contro il popolo ebraico.
Rabbi Rosen,
Il governo israeliano è stato pronto a utilizzare ogni attacco
antisemitico in Europa per promuovere l'immigrazione ebraica in Israele,
ma non abbiamo sentito la stessa reazione per gli atti di odio antisemitico negli Stati Uniti dopo l'elezione di
Trump.
La ragione è evidente: Israele è ansioso di promuovere la narrazione
che "l'Islam radicale" costituisce la più grave minaccia antisemita nel mondo.. E' meno propenso a protestare contro l'ascesa della destra in Europa e ora negli Stati Uniti, perché la cultura
politica di Israele è sempre più dominata dall'estrema destra.
È affascinante vedere come l'alt-destra negli Stati Uniti ha abbracciato pubblicamente il nazionalismo israeliano come esempio di separatismo etnico che vorrebbero emulare. Richard Spencer ammira Israele come casa per gli ebrei e promuove la separazione bianca ispirandosi a Israele . In Europa Israele fa causa comune con la destra per promuovere l'islamofobia e dipingere i musulmani come il nemico comune dell'Occidente.
È affascinante vedere come l'alt-destra negli Stati Uniti ha abbracciato pubblicamente il nazionalismo israeliano come esempio di separatismo etnico che vorrebbero emulare. Richard Spencer ammira Israele come casa per gli ebrei e promuove la separazione bianca ispirandosi a Israele . In Europa Israele fa causa comune con la destra per promuovere l'islamofobia e dipingere i musulmani come il nemico comune dell'Occidente.
Coloro che sono veramente preoccupati per la sicurezza ebraica devono rifiutare questa narrazione continua La nostra sicurezza può solo venire attraverso la solidarietà con gli oppressi e non con gli oppressori
Rebecca Vilkomerson
C'è uno schema molto preciso nella definizione di nuovo antisemitismo considerato come "aggiornamento" dell'usuale definizione e nell' includere in questo termine le critiche ad Israele . Alcune organizzazioni
ebraiche hanno definito Israele come "l'ebreo del mondo". Il messaggio è questo: Israele è discriminato
da paesi non ebraici in tutto il mondo,esattamente come lo è un ebreo . Quindi, ogni critica a Israele è un riflesso dell'antisemitismo.
Questo è pericoloso, ma anche efficace,perché de-legittimizza qualsiasi critica di Israele. Paesi come la Francia o gli Stati Uniti o il Ghana possono essere criticati legittimamente in base alle loro azioni politiche in tutto il mondo .Il "nuovo antisemitismo" ridefinisce quali critiche sono valide "personalizzando"Israele.
Il governo israeliano ha espresso esplicitamente che è la nazione di tutti gli ebrei, non una nazione dei suoi cittadini. Se sei un ebreo, sei nato con la potenziale nazionalità israeliana. Ecco perché ogni ebreo può diventare automaticamente cittadino dello Stato di Israele. Quindi gli ebrei di tutto il mondo fanno parte di questo progetto israeliano.
Naturalmente, l'equazione di "Israele" con gli "ebrei" cancella il 25 per cento dei cittadini israeliani che non sono ebrei e ignora interamente la Cisgiordania, Gerusalemme Est e Gaza dove solo gli israeliani ebrei hanno i diritti dei cittadini.
E 'stato anche determinante, all'interno della comunità ebraica , convincere la gente a vedere Israele come espressione della loro ebraismo, quindi un attacco a Israele viene avvertito come un attacco contro di loro.
La frase "anti-Israele" è diventata un' anatema e corrisponde al termine antisemita. Ma essere anti-Israele è totalmente legittimo. Se sei un palestinese che ha perso la casa, ha perso la vita, vive un'oppressione quotidiana o, se sei un rifugiato, non puoi tornare indietro, ovviamente sei anti-Israele. Israele è il paese che ha fatto questo
La frase "anti-israeliano è antisemitico" trasforma la discussione in qualche cosa di psicologico ,alimenta un odio irrazionale in quanto non basato su dati . Noi ebrei abbiamo la responsabilità di dire puoi odiare lo stato di Israele e questo non significa che tu sia antisemita.
Questo è pericoloso, ma anche efficace,perché de-legittimizza qualsiasi critica di Israele. Paesi come la Francia o gli Stati Uniti o il Ghana possono essere criticati legittimamente in base alle loro azioni politiche in tutto il mondo .Il "nuovo antisemitismo" ridefinisce quali critiche sono valide "personalizzando"Israele.
Il governo israeliano ha espresso esplicitamente che è la nazione di tutti gli ebrei, non una nazione dei suoi cittadini. Se sei un ebreo, sei nato con la potenziale nazionalità israeliana. Ecco perché ogni ebreo può diventare automaticamente cittadino dello Stato di Israele. Quindi gli ebrei di tutto il mondo fanno parte di questo progetto israeliano.
Naturalmente, l'equazione di "Israele" con gli "ebrei" cancella il 25 per cento dei cittadini israeliani che non sono ebrei e ignora interamente la Cisgiordania, Gerusalemme Est e Gaza dove solo gli israeliani ebrei hanno i diritti dei cittadini.
E 'stato anche determinante, all'interno della comunità ebraica , convincere la gente a vedere Israele come espressione della loro ebraismo, quindi un attacco a Israele viene avvertito come un attacco contro di loro.
La frase "anti-Israele" è diventata un' anatema e corrisponde al termine antisemita. Ma essere anti-Israele è totalmente legittimo. Se sei un palestinese che ha perso la casa, ha perso la vita, vive un'oppressione quotidiana o, se sei un rifugiato, non puoi tornare indietro, ovviamente sei anti-Israele. Israele è il paese che ha fatto questo
La frase "anti-israeliano è antisemitico" trasforma la discussione in qualche cosa di psicologico ,alimenta un odio irrazionale in quanto non basato su dati . Noi ebrei abbiamo la responsabilità di dire puoi odiare lo stato di Israele e questo non significa che tu sia antisemita.
Analizzare l'ebraismo in tutta la sua diversità vuol dire combattere l'antisemitismo.Israele continua ad affermare che essere ebreo vuol dire essere israeliano . Il risultato è una perdita della molteplicità della cultura ebraica . C'è qualcosa di profondamente triste a questo proposito.
The first issue of Catalyst: A Journal of Theory and Strategy is out now.
A national conversation on what antisemitism is — and what it isn’t — is long overdue.
Recent reshuffling among the Trump administration may have Steve Bannon on the outs, but we are only weeks removed from a white supremacist as “the shadow president.”
Unsurprisingly, reports of antisemitic attacks have risen sharply since Trump’s election. New legislation at the state and national levels are supposedly aimed at fighting antisemitism, but actually only target critics of Israel. Zionist organizations have begun to discuss the “new antisemitism,” which conflates antisemitism with criticism of Israel.
It’s perfect timing then, for the release of On Antisemitism: Solidarity and the Struggle for Justice, a collection of essays from the activist organization Jewish Voice for Peace that explores the ways that antisemitism is harmful and real, while also challenging the false charges of antisemitism used to suppress Palestine solidarity activism and free speech.
Jacobin’s Jason Farbman spoke with JVP’s Rebecca Vilkomerson and Rabbi Brant Rosen about antisemitism, false accusations of antisemitism, and antidemocratic attempts to suppress criticism of Israel.
Recent reshuffling among the Trump administration may have Steve Bannon on the outs, but we are only weeks removed from a white supremacist as “the shadow president.”
Unsurprisingly, reports of antisemitic attacks have risen sharply since Trump’s election. New legislation at the state and national levels are supposedly aimed at fighting antisemitism, but actually only target critics of Israel. Zionist organizations have begun to discuss the “new antisemitism,” which conflates antisemitism with criticism of Israel.
It’s perfect timing then, for the release of On Antisemitism: Solidarity and the Struggle for Justice, a collection of essays from the activist organization Jewish Voice for Peace that explores the ways that antisemitism is harmful and real, while also challenging the false charges of antisemitism used to suppress Palestine solidarity activism and free speech.
Jacobin’s Jason Farbman spoke with JVP’s Rebecca Vilkomerson and Rabbi Brant Rosen about antisemitism, false accusations of antisemitism, and antidemocratic attempts to suppress criticism of Israel.
Jason Farbman
It seems On Semitism is intended to be used as a tool — there are study questions, suggested readings. What is your hope for this book?
Rebecca Vilkomerson
The more the conversation
about Israel changes, the more it stays the same — there are some
fundamental questions that come up over and over again that we need to
untangle in order to have a breakthrough. Antisemitism is one of those
questions.
It’s fundamental to JVP’s mission: fighting against bigotry in all its forms, including antisemitism. We want to open up a conversation, one in which the ways that antisemitism affects both Jewish lives and other communities gets proper weight, but also that will help people to distinguish between actual antisemitism and legitimate critique of Israel.
My own Jewish education was very much Holocaust-Israel, Holocaust-Israel. Jewishness as an identity was drilled into us as a legacy of oppression and discrimination, with statehood as the answer. With the establishment of Israel seen as the endpoint of that legacy, it created a reality where criticism of the state was assumed to be a criticism of Jewish people. You need to have tools with how to grapple with that, and unlearn that stuff, and have a much richer conversation.
It’s fundamental to JVP’s mission: fighting against bigotry in all its forms, including antisemitism. We want to open up a conversation, one in which the ways that antisemitism affects both Jewish lives and other communities gets proper weight, but also that will help people to distinguish between actual antisemitism and legitimate critique of Israel.
My own Jewish education was very much Holocaust-Israel, Holocaust-Israel. Jewishness as an identity was drilled into us as a legacy of oppression and discrimination, with statehood as the answer. With the establishment of Israel seen as the endpoint of that legacy, it created a reality where criticism of the state was assumed to be a criticism of Jewish people. You need to have tools with how to grapple with that, and unlearn that stuff, and have a much richer conversation.
What Antisemitism Is
Jason Farbman
The charge of
antisemitism can be uniquely powerful, relative to other words like
“racist” or “sexist” or “homophobe.” There’s particularity about what
that charge can do to a person when made publicly. Why is that?
Rebecca Vilkomerson
In an ideal world, acts
of Islamophobia or a charge of racism would be just as terrifying as
acts of antisemitism. But the term has become so broad, and so
associated with Israel instead of with actual acts of prejudice against
Jewish people, that it’s also ripe for abuse.
Since Trump’s election, expressions of antisemitism and antisemitic actions have actually come closer to the US power structure in a way that I certainly haven’t experienced in my lifetime. In an atmosphere like this one, we do want to hold on to the idea that antisemitism is not acceptable.
But there is now a dishonesty around the word “antisemitism” that has made it very hard to have honest conversations about Israel or Palestinian rights. It’s made it easy to throw around accusations that are extremely damaging.
As Jews, JVP can play a very particular role in breaking down what is real antisemitism and what is a political accusation against the state of Israel. People need permission to be able to articulate those critiques, and to know that it’s about speaking up for human rights — not about being against the Jewish people.
Since Trump’s election, expressions of antisemitism and antisemitic actions have actually come closer to the US power structure in a way that I certainly haven’t experienced in my lifetime. In an atmosphere like this one, we do want to hold on to the idea that antisemitism is not acceptable.
But there is now a dishonesty around the word “antisemitism” that has made it very hard to have honest conversations about Israel or Palestinian rights. It’s made it easy to throw around accusations that are extremely damaging.
As Jews, JVP can play a very particular role in breaking down what is real antisemitism and what is a political accusation against the state of Israel. People need permission to be able to articulate those critiques, and to know that it’s about speaking up for human rights — not about being against the Jewish people.
Jason Farbman
Rabbi Rosen, your chapter
takes up the rising number of antisemitic attacks across Europe.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu rarely fails to use these
attacks as opportunities to urge Jews emigrate to the safety of Israel.
He’s essentially suggesting the only solution to antisemitism is ethnic
separatism.
There’s a memorable anecdote related in the book, of a Netanyahu visit to France following the Jewish market attack January 2015. After he delivered his message in a Paris synagogue, the congregation rose to their feet and burst into the French national anthem. Not knowing what to do, he just stood there.
There’s a memorable anecdote related in the book, of a Netanyahu visit to France following the Jewish market attack January 2015. After he delivered his message in a Paris synagogue, the congregation rose to their feet and burst into the French national anthem. Not knowing what to do, he just stood there.
Rabbi Brant Rosen
The Israeli government
has been quick to pounce on every antisemitic attack in Europe to
promote Jewish immigration to Israel, but we’ve heard nothing but
crickets in response to the uptick of antisemitic hate acts in the
United States since Trump’s election. The reason is obvious: Israel is
eager to promote the narrative that “radical Islam” is the most serious
antisemitic threat in the world. They’ve been far less eager to protest
the rise of the radical right in Europe, and now in the United States,
because Israel’s own political culture is increasingly dominated by the
far right.
It’s fascinating to see how the newly emboldened alt-right in the United States has publicly embraced Israeli nationalism as an example of ethnic separatism that they would like to emulate. Alt-right leader Richard Spencer speaks admiringly of Israel as a home for Jews, and promotes white separation here along the same lines. (Of course, this “kindler, gentler” form of white supremacy is only a fig leaf for a more insidious vision of a “Judenrein” United States.)
It’s fascinating to see how the newly emboldened alt-right in the United States has publicly embraced Israeli nationalism as an example of ethnic separatism that they would like to emulate. Alt-right leader Richard Spencer speaks admiringly of Israel as a home for Jews, and promotes white separation here along the same lines. (Of course, this “kindler, gentler” form of white supremacy is only a fig leaf for a more insidious vision of a “Judenrein” United States.)
Jason Farbman
For the section of the
European far right looking to go mainstream, the targeting of Jews has
almost disappeared. A generation ago, National Front leader Jean-Marie
Le Pen was not shy about anti-Jewish rhetoric. His daughter, Marine Le
Pen, has totally eliminated that rhetoric in her bid for president and
replaced it with attacks on Arabs and Muslims. With an influx of Arab
and Muslim immigrants since 2015, and in the absence of any principled
opposition from the French left, this shift has had some resonance.
Rabbi Rosen, you write, “as the refugees started coming in by the tens of thousands per day starting about a year ago, Europe became a safer place to be Jewish.” The same tools and tropes have been turned from Jewish scapegoating towards Arabs and Muslims. But despite this, there is clearly fertile ground to pit Jews against Arabs and Muslims and vice versa. How is this playing out?
Rabbi Rosen, you write, “as the refugees started coming in by the tens of thousands per day starting about a year ago, Europe became a safer place to be Jewish.” The same tools and tropes have been turned from Jewish scapegoating towards Arabs and Muslims. But despite this, there is clearly fertile ground to pit Jews against Arabs and Muslims and vice versa. How is this playing out?
Rabbi Brant Rosen
The European right would
love nothing better than to set European Jews and Muslims against one
another. Not coincidentally, Israel is using the same playbook: they are
finding common cause with European rightists by fomenting Islamophobia
and painting Muslims as the common enemy of the West.
Those who are truly concerned with Jewish safety and security have to reject this narrative unabashedly. Our safety and security will not come by throwing in with the oppressors; it can only come through solidarity with the oppressed.
Those who are truly concerned with Jewish safety and security have to reject this narrative unabashedly. Our safety and security will not come by throwing in with the oppressors; it can only come through solidarity with the oppressed.
What Antisemitism Isn't
Jason Farbman
The “new antisemitism” is
a term Zionists are using more frequently, as an update of
“antisemitism” to include criticism of Israel. How do they draw that
direct line from antisemitism to criticism of Israel?
Rebecca Vilkomerson
There was a very
deliberate schema set out by certain Jewish organizations to define
Israel as “the Jew of the world.” The idea is that Israel is a person,
and in the same way that Jews are discriminated against by non-Jews,
Israel as the Jewish state is discriminated against by non-Jewish
countries around the world. Therefore, every criticism of Israel is a
reflection of antisemitism.
This is dangerous, but also effective, because it de-legitimizes any criticism of Israel. Countries like France or the United States or Ghana can be criticized based on their political actions, both to their own citizenry and around the world. That’s a completely legitimate thing for people to talk about. Rather than Israel being a country like any other, the “new antisemitism” redefines what kind of criticisms are valid by putting this personhood on Israel.
It also does the reverse: it implicates all Jews into the Israeli project.
The Israeli government has made explicit claims that it is the nation of all the Jews, not a nation of its citizens. If you’re a Jew, you’re born with potential Israeli nationality. That’s why any Jew from around the world can come in and automatically become a citizen of the state of Israel, even as Palestinian citizens of Israel have less rights and state resources than Jewish Israelis. So all Jews around the world are de facto made a part of this Israeli project.
Of course, equating “Israel” with “Jews” erases the 25 percent of Israeli citizens who are not Jewish and ignores the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza entirely, where only Jewish Israelis have the rights of citizens.
It’s been also very successful within the Jewish community in getting people to see Israel as the expression of their Jewishness. They see Israel as their Jewishness, so an attack on Israel is made to feel like an attack on them. So something like the Gaza war happens, and Jewish communities have huge rallies in defense of Israel.
The phrase “anti-Israel” has become anathema. You can’t say that you’re anti-Israel, and being called anti-Israel is seen as the equivalent of being called antisemitic. But being anti-Israel is totally legitimate. If you’re a Palestinian who’s lost their home, lost their livelihood, is facing daily oppression, or you’re a refugee and you can’t go back, of course you’re anti-Israel. Israel is the country that has done these things to you!
The “anti-Israel is antisemitic” component discounts these facts and makes the conversation into a psychological thing, an irrational hatred of Jews, instead of one that is structural and fact-based. For those of us who are Jewish, we have a responsibility to say, you can hate the state of Israel, and that doesn’t mean you’re antisemitic.
This is dangerous, but also effective, because it de-legitimizes any criticism of Israel. Countries like France or the United States or Ghana can be criticized based on their political actions, both to their own citizenry and around the world. That’s a completely legitimate thing for people to talk about. Rather than Israel being a country like any other, the “new antisemitism” redefines what kind of criticisms are valid by putting this personhood on Israel.
It also does the reverse: it implicates all Jews into the Israeli project.
The Israeli government has made explicit claims that it is the nation of all the Jews, not a nation of its citizens. If you’re a Jew, you’re born with potential Israeli nationality. That’s why any Jew from around the world can come in and automatically become a citizen of the state of Israel, even as Palestinian citizens of Israel have less rights and state resources than Jewish Israelis. So all Jews around the world are de facto made a part of this Israeli project.
Of course, equating “Israel” with “Jews” erases the 25 percent of Israeli citizens who are not Jewish and ignores the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza entirely, where only Jewish Israelis have the rights of citizens.
It’s been also very successful within the Jewish community in getting people to see Israel as the expression of their Jewishness. They see Israel as their Jewishness, so an attack on Israel is made to feel like an attack on them. So something like the Gaza war happens, and Jewish communities have huge rallies in defense of Israel.
The phrase “anti-Israel” has become anathema. You can’t say that you’re anti-Israel, and being called anti-Israel is seen as the equivalent of being called antisemitic. But being anti-Israel is totally legitimate. If you’re a Palestinian who’s lost their home, lost their livelihood, is facing daily oppression, or you’re a refugee and you can’t go back, of course you’re anti-Israel. Israel is the country that has done these things to you!
The “anti-Israel is antisemitic” component discounts these facts and makes the conversation into a psychological thing, an irrational hatred of Jews, instead of one that is structural and fact-based. For those of us who are Jewish, we have a responsibility to say, you can hate the state of Israel, and that doesn’t mean you’re antisemitic.
Jason Farbman
Omar Barghouti argues in his chapter that the claim “criticism of Israel is antisemitic” is itself antisemitic.
Rebecca Vilkomerson
It flattens the Jewish
experience. It discounts the historically constant Jewish strains of
anti-Zionism — or non-Zionism, or post-Zionism, whatever you want to
call it — that have always existed since Zionism was created. It ignores
the vastly different experiences depending if you are an Ashkenazi
(from Europe) Jew or a Mizrachi/Sephardi Jew, or Ethiopian Jew. When
you’re talking about any sort of bigotry, part of the definition is the
idea that you can make one overarching generalization about that people.
Jason Farbman
In Judith Butler’s
introduction, she writes, “Distinguishing among the very different
historical trajectories of Ashkenazi, Sephardic, and Mizrahi Jews breaks
up a monolithic understanding of what it is to be a Jew, and so
deprives antisemitism of its noxious habit of vulgar generalization.”
She’s saying that actually to draw out Judaism, in all its diversity, is
to combat antisemitism. Isn’t it then true that by collapsing all Jews
into one thing, support for Israel, Zionists create more fertile ground
for antisemitism?
Rebecca Vilkomerson
Yeah. There’s also a deep
sadness to it. A lot of rhetoric that comes out of Israel is that the
only way that you can be Jewish — in a real way — is to be Israeli. The
result is a loss of a very diverse and beautiful set of Jewish cultures.
There’s something deeply sad about that.
Israel, the US, and Attacks on Democracy
Jason Farbman
Over the past couple of
years, Israel passed a number of laws attempting to ban some form of the
boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement in Israel. First,
small-business owners could sue Israeli BDS activists for damages if
their business had been impacted. Now, known BDS activists from anywhere
in the world are banned from Israel.
Rebecca Vilkomerson
The ban on BDS activists
going in, for me personally, is a particularly sad moment. I have
in-laws that are about to turn eighty there, I have family there and
friends there.
Jason Farbman
Are you not able to travel to Israel?
Rebecca Vilkomerson
I assume not. We’ll see how the law gets implemented.
Jason Farbman
You’re a fairly prominent activist.
Rebecca Vilkomerson
The bill makes overt a
policy that was already happening beneath the surface. Palestinians,
Arabs, Muslims, people who look Muslim according to the customs agents
at the Israeli border, people of color — it’s basically a
racial-profiling system, of which Israelis seem very proud. They’re
trying to sell it, actually, in these police exchanges that they do with
the United States — selling this racial-profiling system for how they
let people in and out.
This bill brings all that to the surface, by Israel saying that whole categories of people are being targeted for their political beliefs, so people like me are being added in to the people who have already been targeted historically. As the BDS movement becomes stronger and stronger, the Israeli state is going to try to clamp down harder and harder. It’s evidence of how scared they are of BDS, and what an impact it’s having on them. There’s no way to legislate away BDS. Not letting me into Israel is not going to keep me from supporting BDS. I think It’s actually going to make more liberal Zionists say, “Well, if they’re not going to let me in, then I may as well support the full call for BDS.” And it may make a lot more people who may not know much about Israel or Palestinians at all question how much of a democracy Israel really is.
With this increasing repression, the Israeli state is overreaching in a way that is helpful for understanding the degree to which the Israeli government is engaged in extreme forms of antidemocratic governance.
This bill brings all that to the surface, by Israel saying that whole categories of people are being targeted for their political beliefs, so people like me are being added in to the people who have already been targeted historically. As the BDS movement becomes stronger and stronger, the Israeli state is going to try to clamp down harder and harder. It’s evidence of how scared they are of BDS, and what an impact it’s having on them. There’s no way to legislate away BDS. Not letting me into Israel is not going to keep me from supporting BDS. I think It’s actually going to make more liberal Zionists say, “Well, if they’re not going to let me in, then I may as well support the full call for BDS.” And it may make a lot more people who may not know much about Israel or Palestinians at all question how much of a democracy Israel really is.
With this increasing repression, the Israeli state is overreaching in a way that is helpful for understanding the degree to which the Israeli government is engaged in extreme forms of antidemocratic governance.
Jason Farbman
US law has begun to use
definitions of antisemitism that include criticism of Israel, making it
some form of hate speech to criticize Israel.
Rebecca Vilkomerson
Some of the bigger Jewish
organizations, that have a lot of resources, have specifically used
recent acts of antisemitism as a way to suppress conversation on this
issue. Most recently was the Anti-Semitism Awareness Act
— a federal bill intended to codify criticism of Israel as antisemitic,
which was fast-tracked through the Senate. The depth of the hypocrisy
behind that bill was so clear when it was brought out right as Steve
Bannon became a key adviser to Trump, and all of a sudden we were seeing
a rise of antisemitic incidents and no response from the Trump
administration.
The bill was a joint effort of American Israel Public Affairs Committee and the Anti-Defamation League, and is based on years of work in advancing a definition of antisemitism that is extremely dangerous. It could potentially make dissent about Israel illegal.
The Anti-Semitism Awareness Act did not go forward in the House (so far, at least) thanks to good organizing that JVP was a part of.
The bill was a joint effort of American Israel Public Affairs Committee and the Anti-Defamation League, and is based on years of work in advancing a definition of antisemitism that is extremely dangerous. It could potentially make dissent about Israel illegal.
The Anti-Semitism Awareness Act did not go forward in the House (so far, at least) thanks to good organizing that JVP was a part of.
Jason Farbman
As you mentioned,
following Trump’s election, there was a sharp rise in reports of
antisemitic attacks. Given how little it takes for Trump to go on the
attack against something — SNL parodies of his administration, for
example — you’d think he would have more to say about antisemitic
attacks.
He’s called them reprehensible, but more often suggested that these attacks were “false flags” committed by political enemies to smear him. When actual antisemitism happens, it gets downplayed or ignored.
Meanwhile, anti-BDS legislation is moving forward in a variety of ways, at national and state legislatures. Is the “new antisemitism” pushing actual antisemitism off the table, and keeping only criticism of Israel?
He’s called them reprehensible, but more often suggested that these attacks were “false flags” committed by political enemies to smear him. When actual antisemitism happens, it gets downplayed or ignored.
Meanwhile, anti-BDS legislation is moving forward in a variety of ways, at national and state legislatures. Is the “new antisemitism” pushing actual antisemitism off the table, and keeping only criticism of Israel?
Rebecca Vilkomerson
Since Trump’s election,
support for Israel is overtly being offered as a defense against
antisemitism. Public figures are essentially saying, “I can’t be
antisemitic, I support Israel.” Then right-wing Jewish organizations,
which spend a lot of time accusing BDS activists of being antisemitic,
don’t make a peep when those kinds of excuses for these acts are thrown
out there. Actual acts against Jews in the United States become
de-prioritized; the only measure of antisemitism is how much you support
the state of Israel.
Jason Farbman
And the United States has
been importing this strategy over the last five years. “The world’s
greatest democracy” is now curtailing free speech and attacking speech
as hate speech, in order to defend their relationship with “the only
democracy in the Middle East,” which is busy rolling out all sorts of
antidemocratic measures.
Rebecca Vilkomerson
The United States already
gives Israel more foreign aid than any country in the entire world. We
already use all of our diplomatic, economic, military force to allow
Israel to keep doing what it’s doing. Of course, the United States is
not new to repression of its own people and its own forms of the
security state. But the way that they are allying with one another is
actually clarifying.
We have all these people who are newly activated and so upset about Trump. This is the moment when those people need to be brought into these fights.
We have an opportunity to say to them, “If you’re against the Muslim ban here in the United States, you should be concerned about the fact that Israel has had a de facto Muslim ban and a Christian ban for many decades. If you want to be consistent about your politics, you’re going to have to speak out about both of these things, and start to reconcile the fact that you have one set of criteria for the United States and another for Israel.”
There’s a lot of room right now to have those conversations with people, especially because it’s this elevated, activating moment where people have their minds open to really be able to talk about those parallels and what it means. If you as a political person identify with the values of equality, and freedom, and free access to countries, and refugee rights, and immigrant rights, you need to take a critical look at Israel.
We have all these people who are newly activated and so upset about Trump. This is the moment when those people need to be brought into these fights.
We have an opportunity to say to them, “If you’re against the Muslim ban here in the United States, you should be concerned about the fact that Israel has had a de facto Muslim ban and a Christian ban for many decades. If you want to be consistent about your politics, you’re going to have to speak out about both of these things, and start to reconcile the fact that you have one set of criteria for the United States and another for Israel.”
There’s a lot of room right now to have those conversations with people, especially because it’s this elevated, activating moment where people have their minds open to really be able to talk about those parallels and what it means. If you as a political person identify with the values of equality, and freedom, and free access to countries, and refugee rights, and immigrant rights, you need to take a critical look at Israel.
Jason Farbman
JVP is really growing — you now have over twelve thousand dues-paying members. Why are so many people finding and joining JVP?
Rebecca Vilkomerson
Peter Beinart wrote a piece
recently that I found extremely strange. I often appreciate his writing
and how he’s openly wrestling with lots of issues. But in this article,
in reaction to Israel’s ban on BDS activists, he wrote that he just
wants his kids to love Israel. When they’re older they can wrestle with
it, but for now he just wants them to have the space of love for it. So
he tries to protect them from the realities of Israel.
To me, that’s the exact recipe for what we see with people coming into JVP who have been fed this Disney-fied picture of Israel. They feel completely betrayed when they find out it’s not the land of milk and honey that was empty and made for them, and start to understand the realities and look at the global context. The realities of life in Israel can’t be brushed aside. People are smarter than that.
Especially in this politically charged moment, people are looking for a place where they can be their authentic whole selves — where they can be Jewish and also fight strongly against Israel’s treatment of Palestinians. People come to JVP because they find that here, and also they find a place where we are doing it powerfully and in deep partnership with Palestinian allies and other communities.
To me, that’s the exact recipe for what we see with people coming into JVP who have been fed this Disney-fied picture of Israel. They feel completely betrayed when they find out it’s not the land of milk and honey that was empty and made for them, and start to understand the realities and look at the global context. The realities of life in Israel can’t be brushed aside. People are smarter than that.
Especially in this politically charged moment, people are looking for a place where they can be their authentic whole selves — where they can be Jewish and also fight strongly against Israel’s treatment of Palestinians. People come to JVP because they find that here, and also they find a place where we are doing it powerfully and in deep partnership with Palestinian allies and other communities.
About the Author
Rebecca Vilkomerson is the executive
director of Jewish Voice for Peace, where she has been a member since
2001. In 2010 she was named one of the “Forward 50,” a list of the most
influential Jewish-American leaders released by the Forward, which also named her one of “14 Women to Watch” in 2014.
Rabbi Brant Rosen is the Midwestern
regional director of the American Friends Service Committee and the
rabbi of the congregation Tzedek Chicago. He is the cofounder of the
Jewish Voice for Peace Rabbinical Council and the author of the book Wrestling in the Daylight: A Rabbi’s Path to Palestinian Solidarity.
Jason Farbman is Jacobin's Outreach & Development coordinator.
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