Natalie Strecker watched the unfolding of the antisemitism ‘crisis’ within Labour with incredulity. She initially wanted to quit the party, but decided to take a different approach in the hope that others might be inspired to do the same.
Here is a selected listing of some of the most egregious muzzling of Palestine solidarity activities from the past week alone.
Congressional Republicans continue to push legislation that targets the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement and their first move of 2020 is the Israel Anti-Boycott Act.
The Trump administration’s executive order on antisemitism signals a repressive state action—in effect, setting policy by executive fiat—and an increasingly hostile limit on speech. It will give permission to those university administrations who wish to suppress Palestine solidarity activity rather than make a strong defense of academic freedom.
Last month, two civil rights complaints were filed against Columbia University in the wake of the Trump administration’s recent executive order on campus antisemitism. The Lawfare Project launched one complaint on behalf of an Israeli-American student who claims he was a victim of “systematic discrimination” from professors and pro-Palestine groups such as Students for Justice for Palestine and Columbia University Apartheid Divest.
Amidst fear and mourning, the Jewish community is turning towards antiracist solidarity to create real safety. “One thing is clear,” JVP member Jay Saper writes, “our shared enemy is white supremacy and our shared solution is one another.”
Nada Elia reflects on the the complexities of the rise in antisemitism we are currently seeing in the United States. “More than ever before, as hatred sweeps this country, we must be the ones who protect each other,” Elia writes.
Under Boris Johnson in Britain, Jewish institutions, rabbis, and Jewish student leaders are claiming to fight antisemitism while simultaneously defending, excusing, or denying the discrimination and oppression of another people. It’s a narrative framework that’s not sustainable, Robert Cohen writes.
Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg derides American political culture as ignorant and ahistorical and says he is a “misanthrope”, while extolling Zionism. “All of Judaism is Zionism because we are a universal religion focused on a very particular place.” Anti-Zionism is essentially murderous, he said, aimed at the “soul” of the Jewish people.