Yes, Palestinians have the right to speak about antisemitism – Forward
Posted By admin on December 5, 2020
Earlier this week, a group of 122 prominent Palestinian and Arab scholars and intellectuals signed a petition about antisemitism. In it, they took on the question of whether anti-Zionism is inherently antisemitic, taking aim at the definition of antisemitism used by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance. Among other things, the IHRA working definition holds that denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination is antisemitic, a proposition which, the letter writers argue, leads to the suppression of Palestinian rights. The suppression of Palestinian rights in the IHRA definition betrays an attitude upholding Jewish privilege in Palestine instead of Jewish rights, and Jewish supremacy over Palestinians instead of Jewish safety, they argue.
No doubt, many in the Jewish community will dismiss a group of Palestinian intellectuals as unqualified to weigh in on antisemitism. After all, they are not its primary targets or victims, so what gives them the right to express their views on such a sensitive issue?
But Palestinians and their supporters are deeply implicated in the swirling controversy over antisemitism and anti-Zionism, for it is their criticism of Israel at which the formulators of new definitions of antisemitism take aim. The equation of opposition to Israel with antisemitism is actively and often opportunistically advanced by American politicians at national and state levels in order to target Palestinian activists, including President Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who has consistently focused on the BDS movement as undeniably antisemitic.
In this regard, Palestinians have standing to be heard on the subject of antisemitism.
The 122 petitioners begin by making clear that no expression of hatred for Jews as Jews should be tolerated anywhere in the world. Nor, they declare, can Holocaust denial, which has reared its head in the Palestinian world (including, infamously, in Mahmoud Abbas dissertation), be tolerated.
Where they depart from the discourse on antisemitism as formulated by the IHRA is on Zionism and Israel. The scholars argue against the identification of all Jews with the Zionist project. This is, as an empirical matter, true, especially if we focus on the population of Haredim who have traditionally been opposed to or agnostic about Zionism, though that is weakening over time.
Still, it is reasonable to assume that a majority of Jews in the world, including in the U.S., have a strong and positive identifications with Israel. And its a tactical mistake for Palestinians to deny this statistical reality, or to lapse into the business, as sometimes happens, of telling Jews what the real basis of their identity is (religious versus national). These moves play into the same game in which Jews tell Palestinians that they arent really a people but rather a scattered patchwork of tribes and clans. No good will come of this shared denialist project.
And yet, their critique of the IHRA definitions overreach cannot be ignored, especially with regard to the clause about denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination. The matter is far less straightforward than it seems, for there is no consensus in international law what the term self-determination means. It could mean nation-state sovereignty, but it also could mean other forms of political organization for example, a federation or national cultural autonomy that reflect a groups nationalcharacter.
In light of this, one could readily imagine a binational state in Israel/Palestine that recognized the national character of the Jews alongside a Palestinian nation as a fulfillment of the standard of self-determination. And yet, adherents to the IHRA definition would almost certainly deem it antisemitic.
What about the recurrent calls for the state of Israel to become a state of all its citizens, which is a different model of governance than a binational state. Is this antisemitic?
Here it is necessary to perform the same act of empathy that Jews demand of the nations of the world. What does the question look like through the eyes of Palestinians? They have been subjected to the major trauma of the Nakba and have had their self-determination consistently denied. Nearly five million Palestinians live in the West Bank and Gaza under some form of Israeli military control without political rights. Nearly two million Palestinians are formal citizens of Israel, but often feel disenfranchised in a state that repeatedly affirms, as did the 2018 Nation State Law, that it is built of, by, and for Jews.
Is it antisemitic to express the desire for full political enfranchisement by defining Israel as a state of all its citizens including Jews and Arabs alike? Or, as the Palestinian letter writers ask, is it forbidden to espouse support for all non-Zionist visions of the future of the Israeli state, such as the advocacy of a binational state or a secular democratic one that represents all its citizens equally?
I think here of a recent Palestinian-American student of mine. He possesses the same connection to his familys homeland that many American Jews toward Israel do except that hes never had an opportunity to visit Palestine. He is as open-minded and open-hearted as any student Ive met and has nary a shred of antisemitism in him.
Is it reasonable to deny him the right to advocate for a state that defines itself as democratic rather Jewish? Is his preference antisemitic? Should we also subject him to some form of formal or informal punishment because he believes that Israel is a racist endeavor?
This, according to the IHRA, merits designation as antisemitic. But what is my student to think when he calls to mind the occupation regime under which his relatives in the West Bank live the Wall, the constant electronic surveillance, the restrictions on movement, the separate roads and infrastructure, and the denial of equality? What is he to think when he compares his familys status to the 650,000 Israeli Jewish settlers in the West Bank?
The disparate condition of Jews and Palestinians in the West Bank, as prominent Israeli human rights lawyer Michael Sfard has carefully documented, amounts to a regime of apartheid.
Under such conditions, it is understandable why one would use the language of racism with respect to the occupation of Palestinians in the West Bank. One could argue that not only is it not antisemitic to use such language, but that it is a Jewish obligation to do so.
On different grounds, the Palestinian letter writers make a strong point: To level the charge of antisemitism against anyone who regards the existing state of Israel as racist, notwithstanding the actual institutional and constitutional discrimination upon which it is based, amounts to granting Israel absolute impunity. Israel can thus deport its Palestinian citizens, or revoke their citizenship or deny them the right to vote, and still be immune from the accusation of racism.
This is not to deny that the accusation of racism is deeply wounding to Jewish ears. It is. But offense of this sort does not necessarily mean antisemitism. To stigmatize as antisemitic those who imagine Israel as a state of its citizens or who regard its policies as racist is effectively to deny them the right to advocate for justice for Palestinians.
And to equate these advocates to antisemites who plot and execute murderous attacks on Jews is a dangerous deflection, as well as an injustice both to the fight against antisemitism and to the struggle for justice for Palestinians.
David N. Myers teaches Jewish history at UCLA, where he directs the Luskin Center for History and Policy. He is the president of the board of the New Israel Fund.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect those of the Forward.
More here:
Yes, Palestinians have the right to speak about antisemitism - Forward
- Belief in Conspiracy Theories Is Probably Not Getting Worse Over Time - Office for Science and Society - July 31st, 2022
- Fiber artist confronts the Holocaust in 'Beauty and Terror' series - thejewishchronicle.net - July 19th, 2022
- How Holocaust Denial and Other Bogus Claims Are Poisoning Schools (Opinion) - EdWeek - July 18th, 2022
- 93 and feisty: A Dallas Holocaust survivor will never give up on her mission to educate - WFAA.com - July 18th, 2022
- Facebook reverses stance on Holocaust denial, will ban it now - July 14th, 2022
- Daily Press Briefing by the Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General | UN Press - press.un.org - July 14th, 2022
- Criminalizing holocaust denial in Canada will protect democracy and free speech - The Conversation - July 10th, 2022
- Vivek Agnihotris Team Accuses The Wire of Soft Genocide Denial'; The Wire Responds - The Wire - July 10th, 2022
- Fighting Hate: A look inside the new St. Louis Holocaust Museum - KSDK.com - July 10th, 2022
- Denying Holocaust Denial | National Vanguard - June 23rd, 2022
- Israel Elected to Lead International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance in 2025 - Algemeiner - June 23rd, 2022
- Denying Holocaust Denial, by Thomas Dalton - The Unz Review - June 10th, 2022
- MARCEAU: Holocaust denial should be outlawed in Canada - June 10th, 2022
- Evidence and documentation for the Holocaust - Wikipedia - June 4th, 2022
- Can You Hear Me? Speech and Power in the Global Digital Town Square - Council on Foreign Relations - June 2nd, 2022
- Shoes can be a method of escape, and a tool for taking action - The Fulcrum - May 12th, 2022
- How a Holocaust Survivor Finally Learned Her Own Birth Name | Time - TIME - May 6th, 2022
- What Changes Are Coming to the Transatlantic Digital Landscape? - German Marshall Fund - May 6th, 2022
- What to expect from a Musk-owned Twitter? - Al Jazeera English - May 6th, 2022
- What Do Twitter's Users Actually Want? - The Atlantic - May 6th, 2022
- Russia Is Not the First to Blame Jews for Their Own Holocaust - The Atlantic - May 6th, 2022
- It's a mistake to ban Holocaust denial - The Boston Globe - April 27th, 2022
- A Proclamation on Days Of Remembrance Of Victims Of The Holocaust, 2022 - The White House - April 27th, 2022
- Remarks by Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield at the Museum of Jewish Heritage's Annual Gathering of Remembrance - United States Mission to the United... - April 27th, 2022
- Comedy is a powerful recruitment tool: how the US rightwing use laughs for vast influence - The Guardian - April 27th, 2022
- Op-Ed: Will Twitter survive Elon Musk? - Los Angeles Times - April 27th, 2022
- 'Rolling Thunder' organizer pledges peaceful demonstration but won't speak to controversial guest - CTV News Ottawa - April 27th, 2022
- Survivor Olga Kay passes Holocaust education torch to youth to keep fighting denial - The Times of Israel - April 27th, 2022
- The Ups and Downs of Remote Work in New York - The New York Times - April 13th, 2022
- UN General Assembly approves resolution condemning ... - April 6th, 2022
- Northeastern Launches Into Busy Event Season - Northeastern University - April 6th, 2022
- Against Backdrop of Ukraine Crisis and Continuing Antisemitic Hate Crimes, Senator Anna Kaplan Brings Simon Wiesenthal Center's Renowned "Courage... - March 27th, 2022
- Ukraine, Racism, and the Wars We Ignore - Puck - March 18th, 2022
- Whoever is Labour leader has my sympathy: Ed Miliband on Starmer, the climate crisis and mislaying the Ed Stone - The Guardian - March 18th, 2022
- UN General Assembly adopts German-Israeli proposal against ... - March 8th, 2022
- Book bans have no place in the Flathead Daily Montanan - Daily Montanan - March 5th, 2022
- Commentary: Putin is a prisoner of his own delusions about Ukraine. They will be his undoing - Yakima Herald-Republic - March 5th, 2022
- The Twitches That Spread on Social Media - The Atlantic - March 2nd, 2022
- Impact of teaching the Holocaust and genocide studies in the classroom - WAOW - February 28th, 2022
- Florida House bill could erase years of progress on race and gender, advocates say | TheHill - The Hill - February 15th, 2022
- Whats Really at Stake in Americas History Wars? - The Wall Street Journal - February 11th, 2022
- Abbie Richards fights TikTok disinformation with a cup of tea, a conspiracy chart and a punchline - wgbh.org - February 11th, 2022
- Holocaust denial and distortion must stop - US Embassy in Georgia - January 30th, 2022
- To Combat Holocaust Denial And Online Hate, Congress Should Set Its Sights On San Francisco-Based Internet Archive - Middle East Media Research... - January 30th, 2022
- Holocaust Denial: Key Dates | Holocaust Encyclopedia - January 22nd, 2022
- UN adopts Israeli resolution to combat Holocaust denial - January 22nd, 2022
- UN approves resolution condemning denial of Nazi Holocaust ... - January 22nd, 2022
- U.N. Approves Israeli Measure to Condemn Holocaust Denial - The New York Times - January 22nd, 2022
- Hundreds of Biden Nominees Are Unconfirmed Amid G.O.P. Blockade - The New York Times - January 11th, 2022
- ADL: Holocaust denial still prevalent on Facebook, despite ... - December 14th, 2021
- Denial (2016 film) - Wikipedia - December 14th, 2021
- Holocaust Denial On Trial: The Real Story Of Irving V ... - December 14th, 2021
- Misha and the Wolves Director Sam Hobkinson on the Challenges of Making a Documentary About Fiction - Hollywood Reporter - December 14th, 2021
- Antisemitism, racism and white supremacist material in podcasts on Spotify, investigation finds - Sky News - December 9th, 2021
- It became crystal clear they were lying: the man who made Germans admit complicity in the Holocaust - The Guardian - December 9th, 2021
- The Way to Stop Bad Holocaust Analogies Is Through Education | Opinion - Newsweek - November 18th, 2021
- Im so obsessed with Kinder Eggs, I translated the packaging into hundreds of languages including Klingon - iNews - November 18th, 2021
- Readers Write: Breaking! Gulotta re-elected - Readers Write - The Island Now - November 12th, 2021
- Trust & Verify: Claims of critical race theory being taught in Collier schools remains unfounded - Wink News - November 12th, 2021
- Legality of Holocaust denial - Wikipedia - October 22nd, 2021
- Holocaust Denial: The Gas Chamber Debate | Imaging Genocide - October 22nd, 2021
- Texas schools are being told to teach opposing views of the Holocaust. Why? - The Guardian - October 22nd, 2021
- There are not two sides to every story... - The Daily Advance - October 22nd, 2021
- Italy's Right Is Whitewashing the Country's Past - Foreign Policy - October 22nd, 2021
- The Holocaust Didnt Happen - Antisemitism Uncovered - October 18th, 2021
- BREAKING: Because of Texas Republicans' Education Censorship Law, Holocaust Denial Is Getting Pushed In Texas Classrooms - Texas Democratic Party - October 18th, 2021
- Robert Faurisson - Wikipedia - October 2nd, 2021
- Lili Stern-Pohlmann, survivor of the Holocaust who was sheltered by a kind German woman and a Greek Catholic prelate obituary - Telegraph.co.uk - October 2nd, 2021
- Portman, Cardin Commend Biden Administration for Continuing U.S. Policy Against Participation in U.N. Conference That Promotes Anti-Israel Agendas -... - September 24th, 2021
- Spread Of Misinformation 'Pandemic Within A Pandemic,' German General Counsel Says - WVXU - September 17th, 2021
- Yom Kippur synagogue attack plot: Teenager and three others arrested in Germany - Euronews - September 17th, 2021
- Facebook knew Instagram made teenage girls feel worse about themselves but that they are addicted to app - The Independent - September 17th, 2021
- Far right website sees upsurge in hateful content and Covid-19 disinformation aimed at Scots - The Scotsman - August 22nd, 2021
- Speak, Silence: In Search of WG Sebald by Carole Angier review the artful master of repressed memories - The Guardian - August 22nd, 2021
- Misha and the Wolves: an incredible survival story that was too good to be true - The Guardian - August 13th, 2021
- Facebook's Frustrated Critics Take Their Fight to Washington - BNN - July 18th, 2021
- 'A Big Wake-Up Call': Filmmaker Evan Williams on Germany's Neo-Nazis and the Far Right - FRONTLINE - July 3rd, 2021
- US, Germany confront rising antisemitism, Holocaust denial - USA TODAY - June 29th, 2021
- Secretary Blinken's Travel to Germany, France, Italy, and the Vatican | US Embassy & Consulates in Italy - US Embassy Rome - June 19th, 2021
- Grading Facebook one year after the brand boycott - AdAge.com - June 19th, 2021
Comments