Monday, September 1, 2014

Perspectives on new antisemitism - Julius and Wistrich

The following post was created at the suggestion of Prof Gerald Steinberg on twitter on 1 September 2014.


Anthony Julius (1956-)
British lawyer and academic

 Wiki

Selected Books
  • Trials of the Diaspora: A History of Anti-Semitism in England (Oxford University Press 2010). ISBN 978-0-19-929705-4.
Selected articles/papers

Contrary responses

Ben White, 'Major defeat in case claiming union was anti-semitic', 27 March 2013
http://liberalconspiracy.org/2013/03/27/major-defeat-for-case-claiming-union-was-anti-semitic/

Jamie, UCU Cleared Of Antisemitism - Anthony Julius Charged With ‘Being Rubbish’, 26 March 2013
http://www.newleftproject.org/index.php/site/article_comments/ucu_cleared_of_antisemitism_anthony_julius_charged_with_being_rubbish

Stephen Sizer, 'Trial of the Diaspora', 23 November 2012
http://stephensizer.blogspot.com.au/2012/11/trials-of-diaspora.html?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed

Trials of the Diaspora by Anthony Julius, 27 February 2010
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/feb/27/trials-of-the-diaspora-julius

"Antony Lerman examines England's long history of antisemitism...Julius is not just creating anti-­Zionist labels in the abstract. He pins them on individuals, giving pride of place to so-called "new Jewish ­anti-Zionists". And it's here that he reveals the bankruptcy, confusion and malign nature of his project. He calls Independent Jewish Voices "anti-Zionist", yet among its signatories are Zionists, non-Zionists and anti-Zionists. He then unjustifiably singles out certain individual signatories as exemplifying the "new anti-Zionism", misreading and misinterpreting their writings to prove his case. In Julius's eyes the misdemeanours of these Jews are not minor. They are accused of being fellow travellers of antisemitism, whose "contributions to antisemitism are significant". Isn't this a gnat's crotchet away from calling them "Jewish anti­semites"?

The fact is that anti-Zionism – which I think is like insisting the Earth is flat – can be a cloak for, or synonymous with, antisemitism. He could have demonstrated this by continuing to write the history of antisemitism from 1967 on, instead of wasting 150 pages on political polemic. There is merit in the earlier sections of this book, but the deficient treatment of anti-Zionism casts a shadow over the whole work."


 Robert Wistrich (1945-)
Head of the Vidal Sassoon International Center for the Study of Antisemitism
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

 Wiki
Personal website

 Selected Books 

  • The Left Against Zion.Vallentine Mitchell & Co, 1979. ISBN 0-85303-199-1
  • Between Redemption and Perdition: Modern Antisemitism and Jewish Identity. Routledge, 1990. ISBN 0-415-04233-X
  • Anti-Zionism and Antisemitism in the Contemporary World. New York University Press, 1990. ISBN 0-8147-9237-5
  • Antisemitism, the Longest Hatred. Pantheon, 1992.
  • Theodor Herzl: Visionary of the Jewish State. New York and Jerusalem: Herzl Press and Magnes Press, 1999, 390 pages.
  • Demonizing the Other: Antisemitism, Racism and Xenophobia. Routledge, 1999. ISBN 90-5702-497-7
  • Islamic Judeophobia: An Existential Threat, in Muhammad's Monsters, Balfour Books, 2004, editor David Bukay.
  • A Lethal Obsession: Antisemitism - From Antiquity to the Global Jihad, Random House, 2010. ISBN 978-1-4000-6097-9

 Selected Papers

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Causes of antisemitism

Antisemitism i.e. hatred of Jews is an example of racism.

 Racism is a learned behaviour, it is not innate.

 Factors that may contribute to racism and racially motivated violence include:
  • "Xenophobia, the fear of of people who are different. An element of xenophobia is present in racism. Deep fear can express itself in racially motivated violence.
  • A desire to feel superior to others. 
  • Racism is used by governments or groups to excuse systemic and systematic oppression and human rights abuses.
  • Feeling protection of basic human rights for minority groups are "special rights", and are a form of inequality and reverse discrimination.
  • Historic patterns of prejudice, discrimination, and racism. Colonialism, historic hostilities, and the slave trade contribute to modern racism.
  • Ignorance of other cultures, religions, and values.
  • Fear of sharing power with other groups of people.
  • Isolationist and protectionist foreign policies.
  • Laws and government policies aimed at preventing immigration of people of different cultures and religions."
Extracts on antisemitism

Yasmeen Serhan, 'Anti-Semitism has no place in Palestine advocacy',+972 Blog, 23 July 2014

"Anyone who claims to speak for Palestine while condoning acts of bigotry against our Semitic brothers and sisters should not be speaking on our behalf at all, let alone for those suffering in Gaza. 

Amidst heart-wrenching death tolls and news accounts of the recent escalation in Israel’s ongoing bombardment of Gaza, reports of violence in a Parisian protestagainst the Israeli military operation began to shower my newsfeed. Articles detailed how hundreds of participants in a pro-Palestinian demonstration allegedly took to the streets of Sarcelles – home to one of France’s largest Jewish communities – and wreaked havoc on the surrounding community.
Accounts described how protestors allegedly threw Molotov cocktails near a synagogue and set fire to local businesses and vehicles. Such actions came at the heels of Paris’ recent citywide ban on all pro-Palestine activity, including demonstrations. The protests, according to these accounts, were supposedly in the name of Palestinian “advocacy.”"

Shannon Thomas, 'Collective memory, collective trauma, collective hatred', August 2014

"Trauma runs through the narratives of both Israelis and Palestinians in the form of the Holocaust and the Nakba. But in order to rationalize their moral superiority, both sides actively deny the other’s suffering.

…Instead, both sides have done their utmost to vilify their counterparts, allowing them to justify aggression against civilians in the name of targeting the “enemy.” Israeli officials swat away the UN statistic that over 70 percent of the people in Gaza killed in Operation Protective Edge are civilians, blaming Hamas for the casualties and thereby erasing the need for remorse. Statements by Hamas have lauded the capture of an IDF soldier and the murder of Israeli teens Naftali Fraenkel, Gilad Shaer, and Eyal Yifrah, making no differentiation between combatants and children.

So long as all those involved in the conflict refuse to look at the harsh and twisted reality of these logics, more people will suffer, more people will die, and more people will continue to come up with excuses for why it’s all okay."
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Hate crimes against Jews


Agencies that combat antisemitism

A. Multilateral

The Holocaust and the United Nations Outreach Program
http://www.un.org/en/holocaustremembrance/

B. National

United Sates of America

The Anti-Defamation League
http://www.adl.org

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights
Hate Crimes Against Jews
http://www.civilrights.org/publications/hatecrimes/jews.html

"Examples of... anti-Semitic hate crimes include:

On June 10, 2009, a white supremacist and anti-Semite entered the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum on the Mall in Washington, DC and opened fire, killing a security guard, Stephen T. Johns, before being critically wounded himself. The shooter, James Von Brunn, has published an anti-Semitic book and created an anti-Semitic Web site, on which he posted Holocaust denial essays and embraced various conspiracy theories involving Jews, blacks and other minority groups. He had been arrested and imprisoned in 1981 for using a sawed-off shotgun to try to take Federal Reserve Board members hostage on the grounds that Jews control the nation's banking system.

That night, President Obama issued a statement saying, in part, "This outrageous act reminds us that we must remain vigilant against anti-Semitism and prejudice in all its forms. No American institution is more important to this effort than the Holocaust Museum, and no act of violence will diminish our determination to honor those who were lost by building a more peaceful and tolerant world." Later in the week, the House of Representatives passed H Res 529 (pdf) and the Senate passed S Res 184 (pdf) to condemn the attack, support the important work of the Holocaust Museum, and express condolences to the family of Officer Johns.

On May 20, 2009, four New York residents were arrested for an alleged plot to attack two synagogues in the Bronx and to shoot down planes at a military base in Newburgh, New York. They were arrested after planting what they believed to be bombs in cars outside of the Riverdale Temple and the nearby Riverdale Jewish Center. They also plotted to destroy military aircraft at the New York Air National Guard Base located at Stewart Airport in Newburgh, New York.

Evidence indicates that the four perpetrators were Muslims and were motivated to act because of their hatred of America and Jews. "These were people who were eager to bring death to Jews," Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Snyder said at a court hearing the day after the arrests. "These are extremely violent men." Authorities said the men were angry over the U.S. war in Afghanistan and had voiced hatred of Jews

The men reportedly began surveillance of several synagogues and a Jewish Community Center in the Bronx in April 2009. In preparation for the attack, the men went to a warehouse in Stamford, Connecticut to obtain what they believed to be a surface-to-air guided missile system and three IEDs, which they transported back to Newburgh. The men also purchased a semiautomatic handgun to use during the planned terrorist operation.

On June 2, the U.S. District Court in New York returned an eight-count indictment against the four suspects, adding three counts of attempting to use weapons of mass destruction and two counts of conspiracy to kill U.S. officers and employees.

In December 2007, four Jewish students from Hunter and Baruch Colleges in New York City were assaulted on a subway train by a group of eight assailants as they wished people a happy Hanukkah. At least two victims were punched in the face, and a knife was pulled. Police arrested the assailants after the train was stopped.
In January 2008, more than 50 headstones were overturned and vandalized in a northwest Chicago Jewish cemetery. The headstones were sprayed with anti-Semitic images, such as swastikas and the Star of David hanging from a gallows. Some grave markers also contained white supremacist symbols. A 21 year-old self-professed neo-Nazi was arrested and charged with felony hate crime and felony criminal damage to property.
In July 2006, an individual forced his way into the building of the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle and went on a murderous rampage, killing one woman, Pam Waechter, 58, and seriously injuring five others, one of whom was 17 weeks pregnant. Eyewitnesses reported that the murderer, a U.S. citizen of Pakistani descent, forced his way through a security door and announced "I'm a Muslim American; I'm angry at Israel" as he began shooting. The perpetrator told a 911 dispatcher "I want these Jews to get out….I'm upset at your foreign policy. These are Jews…." He was arrested and charged with fifteen felony counts, including murder. In June 2008, a jury deadlocked on the question of the insanity of the perpetrator. The King County prosecutor has promised to retry the case. The trial is scheduled for October 2009.37"


Europe

The Kantor Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry presented its annual global anti-Semitism report
http://www.eurojewcong.org/docs/antisemitism_worldwide_report_2011.pdf
 
Tomer Velmer, ‘Hate crimes against Jews becoming more brutal’, 18 April 2012
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4217671,00.html
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What is antisemitism? Hatred toward Jews

The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights[i] working definition of antisemitism may be summarized as “hatred toward Jews”.[ii]  

The working definition states “Antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.”

Certain groups will misconstrue that criticism of Israel is antisemitic.  However, criticism of Israel and antisemitism are not synonymous.  A responsible democratic society welcomes criticism to ensure governments are held accountable.  The practical guide to the working definition of antisemitism clearly states “criticism of Israel to that similar to that leveled against any other country cannot be regarded as antisemitic”[iii].


The Working Definition of Antisemitism states “Examples of the ways in which antisemitism manifest itself with regard to the state of Israel taking into account the overall context could include:… drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis” [emphasis added].  That does not mean a critic cannot make such a comparison - but it does mean that if such a comparison is made then the criteria used to judge if it is antisemitic will depend on the overall context.

Notes
[i] formerly called European Union Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia - EUMC
[ii] EUMC Working Definition of Antisemitism  http://web.archive.org/web/20120324063309/http://fra.europa.eu/fraWebsite/material/pub/AS/AS-WorkingDefinition-draft.pdf

[iii] EUMC Working Definition of Antisemitism, 16 March 2005 http://fra.europa.eu/fraWebsite/material/pub/AS/AS-WorkingDefinition-draft.pdf
http://fra.europa.eu/fraWebsite/research/publications/studies_discussion_papers/studies_antisemitismreport_en.htm.  Also see the Council of Europe Definition ECRI General Policy Recommendation N°9:
The fight against antisemitism 
Adopted by uropean Commission against Racism and Intolerance antisemitism (ECRI) on 25 June 2004
http://www.coe.int/t/dghl/monitoring/ecri/activities/GPR/EN/Recommendation_N9/Recommendation_9_en.asp


JTA, 'EU drops its ‘working definition’ of anti-Semitism', Times of Israel, December 5, 2013,
http://www.timesofisrael.com/eu-drops-its-working-definition-of-anti-semitism/#ixzz3C4DNjkMN

European Forum on Antisemitsim
http://www.european-forum-on-antisemitism.org/working-definition-of-antisemitism/english/
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Aims of the blog

The following blog was inspired by a question posed by Gerald Steinberg on twitter.

Prof Steinberg is professor of political studies, Bar Ilan University, and founded the program on conflict management and negotiation. He is also the founder/president of NGO monitor, a Jerusalem-based public affairs institute.

Prof Steinberg asked "So how do you explain antisemitism?"

Screenshot, 1 September 2014


This blog will be an attempt to document examples of antisemitism and explain aspects of antisemitism.

As an aside, the context was the Australian Ambassador, David Sharma was suggesting the following Haaretz article explained modern day anti-Semitism"


The reality was the article sought to suggest that progressives were "anti-Israel" because of ignorance rather than antisemitism.

I would hope that progressives are critical of either Israel or Palestine if the human rights and the laws of war are violated (e.g. military occupation, settlement expansion, firing of indiscriminate low explosive rockets, firing of high explosive missiles, force used is disproportionate to the perceived military necessity.)

Notes

Eyal Winter, 'Why are Brits who know little about Israel so active against it? It may have less to do with anti-Semitism than we think.' Haaretz, 30 August 2014
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