Tucson Opinion: Non-Jews can talk about anti-Semitism, too

The national conversation about anti-Semitism and its weaponization is happening. There are articles and podcasts about it, left and right. As a Jew, I think it is imperative that non-Jews understand and speak about anti-Semitism. Knowledge of histories of oppression across marginalized groups can create shared empathy and unbreakable solidarity in the fight for social justice.

However, not all Jews agree that non-Jews should speak or write about anti-Semitism and its currently contentious definition. For instance, in response to the “Palestinian rights and the IHRA definition of antisemitism” open letter published in The Guardian and signed by a group of 122 Palestinian and Arab academics and journalists, Dr. Sara Yael Hirschhorn tweeted: “I’m sorry but I don’t feel that the #Palestinians or the #Arab world should be the arbiter of what #antisemitism is.”

Hirschhorn is suggesting that what counts as anti-Semitism should come from the Jewish community. Intracommunal conversations are always important. But do not mistake critical self-reflective intracommunal dialogue with exclusionary gatekeeping — the idea that only Jews have the authority to talk about or understand anti-Semitism.

That idea is not only incorrect, but a pernicious distraction and waste of time. I welcome Palestinians and anyone else to learn about and define the history of bigotry against Jews.

Anti-Semitism is traditionally defined as prejudice against Jews for being Jewish, and is manifested in stereotypes, conspiracy theories, hate speech and physical violence. In 2016, the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance adopted a framework of anti-Semitism that expands upon the traditional definition to include the targeting of Israel for criticism, such as claiming that the existence of the State of Israel is a racist endeavor. In practice, political Zionism (Jewish nationalism) has resulted in anti-Arab racist policies including legal segregation from Jews and the ongoing dispossession of Palestinians from their land.

Millions of Palestinians live under Israeli military law with no citizenship status or civil rights. And yet, because the IHRA definition conflates the Jewish people with the modern day state of Israel, critics of such crimes are accused of anti-Semitism.

On Dec. 15, Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) hosted a landmark panel about this topic with speakers Rep. Rashida Tlaib, Peter Beinart, Marc Lamont Hill, and Barbara Ransby, moderated by Rabbi Alissa Wise. This panel attracted controversy, one reason being that non-Jews who are critical of Israel and support Palestinian equal rights (such as Tlaib, Hill, and Ransby) should not have this kind of platform to talk about anti-Semitism.

In actuality, we need more panels like this. We need more panels like this to contextualize anti-Semitism in the broader struggle for justice. To debunk the propaganda machine that weaponizes anti-Semitism to justify crimes against Palestinians. To envision a decolonized world.

The message from the panel was clear: anti-Semitism is interconnected with other forms of dehumanization. Hill argued, “Those same people marching in Charlottesville against Black people were also marching against Jewish people. We have to realize just how bound up we are together.”

Of course non-Jews must be part of the conversation about anti-Semitism and the IHRA’s politicized definition. I am a white Jew from a middle-class background, born and raised in Arizona.

I study and speak about anti-Black, anti-Arab, anti-Latinx racisms; I fight against Islamophobia, ableism and systemic poverty. As JVP panel moderator, Rabbi Wise said: “I want all my people to know that Jews have allies, and we must also be allies.”