Activism

No room for racism in a movement working for equality and freedom

The important battle of explaining to people that opposing Zionism does not equal anti-Semitism was dealt a terrible blow this past week with the exposure of anti-Semitic tweets by a leader of the Free Gaza Movement, Greta Berlin. Wherever your line is for what’s acceptable speech about Jews, Berlin’s statements and attitude were over the line and have done great damage to the cause of ending the siege of Gaza and working towards justice in Israel/Palestine.

Berlin has done great work with vigor and creativity to try and free the besieged and imprisoned people of Gaza — and this work must continue. We tried to serve her efforts on several occasions, and that’s our only excuse for taking so long to speak out emphatically. We were hoping for clearer explanations of how and why the videos she distributed were being used, and they haven’t come. We apologize to readers for not having said sooner what we’re saying now, this speech is offensive and must be condemned.

Ali Abunimah and Jewish Voice for Peace have distinguished themselves by taking a clear stand here. They deserve great honor, as do our own Alex Kane and Annie Robbins and Allison Deger, all of whom jumped on this incident at the start and did not try to wish it away.

The sadness of this incident is that it has exposed substantial support for Berlin in the community that is criticizing Israel. These attitudes have to be taken on and rooted out — there is no room for racism in a movement working for equality, justice and freedom for all in Israel/Palestine. Neither liberation, nor oppression, is a zero-sum equation and this incident has revealed a disturbing tendency to vilify Israelis, and Jews more broadly, out of an apparent desire to challenge the occupation and Israeli policy. Ironically, this base racism accomplishes the very opposite, and only confirms the false assumptions of Israel’s defenders that the movement for Palestinian rights is simply a front for an anti-Semitic crusade against Jews. Hannah Arendt and others long ago predicted that the establishment of a militant garrison state on others’ land in the Middle East in the name of all Jews would result in anti-Semitism. That era seems to be upon us. While it was predictable, it is not excusable. These attitudes are repellent, and any movement for human rights must give them no quarter.

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Just after posting this I saw this statement that was just published on Electronic Intifada – http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/struggle-palestinian-rights-incompatible-any-form-racism-or-bigotry-statement

The struggle for Palestinian rights is incompatible with any form of racism or bigotry: a statement by Palestinians

We the undersigned, as Palestinians living in historic Palestine and the diaspora, in the spirit of past statements, and in light of recent controversies, write to reaffirm a key principle of our movement for freedom, justice, and equality: The struggle for our inalienable rights is one opposed to all forms of racism and bigotry, including, but not limited to, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, Zionism, and other forms of bigotry directed at anyone, and in particular people of color and indigenous peoples everywhere.

We oppose the cynical and baseless use of the term anti-Semitism as a tool for stifling criticism of Israel or opposition to Zionism, as this assumes simply because someone is Jewish, they support Zionism or the colonial and apartheid policies of the state of Israel – a false generalization.

Our struggle is anchored in universal human rights and international law in opposition to military occupation, settler-colonialism, and apartheid, something people of conscience of all ethnicities, races, and religions can support.

Finally, we call on people around the world to join us in a morally consistent stance that opposes racism and bigotry in all forms. An ethical struggle for justice and equal rights in any context entails zero tolerance for racial discrimination and racism anywhere.

You can see the 85 signatories at EI

wait a second, is it clear she is RACIST?

i know most all jews and many non jews are extremely sensitive to bigotry, for quite good reasons. but do i think berlin has a hatred for jews for being jews, jews in general, or the religious practices of jews? i actually do not.

i think she posted links to absurd theories about zionists, around WWII. often the sign of a racist, but i think *posting* such does not make her racist. i also happen to think that *even* believing such absurd theories (which i am unsure she does) generally propagated *by* racists, does not make her de facto racist, just intellectually challenged at a minimum.

i do not disagree with her being removed from acceptable circles in the fight for palestinian rights…. i think this in entirely warranted. we do not want such people at all, assuming she was posting these links in a gesture of support/belief, and we have no context to refute such.

but let’s be specific…. this does not make her by definition racist or anti-semitic.

i have very firm and informed opinions about the USG, and what our government/power elites do and have done in recent decades…. this does not make me “anti-american” or racist. i also have very informed and fairly unassailable opinions about the lavon affair and the USS liberty, but this does not make me racist or “anti-semitic” or even “anti-israel”.

do not misinterpret this as support for her actions, i agree that she should have no prominence after such posts, even if it was misconstrued. but we don’t need to run around saying she is racist, and that a large portion of people working for palestinian rights support her (and are, therefore, supporters of racists and/or de facto racists).

and while we purge our ranks though, wouldn’t it be nice if zionists would condemn and purge their racists? including so many past and present members of the israeli gov? we have the quotes, and they do not involve possible support for ahistorical ideas, generally espoused by racists…. we have unmitigated racist language, and racist ACTS.

i’m really proposing we are clear about our semantics. purge her away, and this i agree to. but make sure we note that we simply have no tolerance for what *may* be a sign of racism, but what is more undeniably a sign of untenable fringe ideas on history…

No need to apologize for waiting to see if Greta had a good explanation. Her action does appear to be indefensible. Hopefully the Free Gaza Movement will remove her from any leadership role. Otherwise they will become irrelevant.

Weird.

Phil and Adam:

In such a long posting, surely there is room for the TEXT or VIDEO or whatever is being discussed. I know it’s been displayed elsewhere, but for ease of reference, could you insert the matter complained of?

And, BTW, was it a description of her own thought or something else? If the latter, was it clearly labeled as such?