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"This is an important point. Our movement is trying to persuade young people, especially Jews, to turn against Zionism so any blunder, if one that is innocent in character, can be used by our enemies against us." This sounds like the dilemma about ensuring white support in South Africa during the anti-Apartheid movement. I agree with the pragmatism element. The problem is that I do not think that how rhetoric sounds is the driving force behind whether or not anyone, including young Jews, perceive an attack. We are talking about situations of institutionalized racism, in which racial privileges, whether illusory or material, are assumed across the board by a host of different institutions, from Congress to the police to the churches, etc. Jews are seen as the forefront and triumph of western civilization while Arabs and/or Muslims are seen as the enemy within. That means that, as others have pointed out, even non-anti-Semitic rhetoric might be perceived as an attack on Jews because it attacks institutional inequality. If we peg our rhetoric to what may or may not persuade young Jews then the effect is that we are not only hamstrung from talking about certain subjects that are simply inherently taboo (i.e. the exploitation of the Holocaust; Jewish power in the United States; the Zionist lobby; so on), while at the same time castigating anti-Zionist anger that others in this thread seem to agree is not necessarily anti-Semitic. I'm thinking of people like Steven Salaita. His Tweets were hardly nuanced. If we followed this notion of trying to persuade young Jews, then none of his tweets would have qualified. But at the same time, the effect of telling him to watch his mouth because we need to appeal to Jews (or liberals, or any other constituency) is that anger, outrage, and so forth become anathema within Palestine circles. Something is lost when you are forced to take the edge off your rage, it means that even within the community that is supposed to be advocating for something, certain feelings and thoughts are unacceptable. The idea also applies to much less controversial stuff -- BDS, calling Israel an Apartheid regime, etc. All of these things are arguably "extreme," at least within the American milieu, and any one of those things could easily alienate someone who grew up Jewish and affiliates Israel with good thoughts. The end result of this line of reasoning -- not saying certain things despite the fact that they are innocent, valid expressions of ideas that are taboo, or invalid expressions of legitimate outrage -- is that Israel is shielded from certain kinds of discourse, essentially to pander to Jews specifically and Zionists more generally. Is that a good strategy? Is it even necessary? - Amith On Wed, Mar 4, 2015 at 4:04 PM, Louis Proyect via Marxism < marxism@lists.csbs.utah.edu> wrote: > ******************** POSTING RULES & NOTES ******************** > #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. > #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. > #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. > ***************************************************************** > > On 3/4/15 3:54 PM, MM via Marxism wrote: > >> I’ve never had any affiliation with any of the groups mentioned, but I >> actually think we*should* walk on eggshells when language is involved that >> plays even unconsciously into anti-Semitic caricatures - but I believe this >> more for tactical reasons than moral ones. That isn’t to deny for a moment >> that willful anti-Semitism is repugnant, but even perfectly fair and >> desparately necessary criticisms of the state of Israel, or of individual >> Zionists or Zionist organisations, are constantly spun by Zionists as >> anti-Semitic - and I think we should be absolutely vigilant in avoiding and >> distancing ourselves from language that makes that easy for them to do, >> precisely in order to protect the space for the enormous amount of >> criticism that needs to be made, as part of a broader campaign of >> opposition and resistance. From our previous exchange, and from your >> description of the piece you’re writing, my sense is that you may disagree >> with my approach on this issue. I hope you’ll at lea >> > st allow that it may be a reasonable and considered one. > > This is an important point. Our movement is trying to persuade young > people, especially Jews, to turn against Zionism so any blunder, if one > that is innocent in character, can be used by our enemies against us. > > I was reminded of this from a recent incident at UCLA where a member of > Hillel was asked about her qualifications as Inside Higher Education > reported: > > A University of California at Los Angeles student was nearly denied a > position on the student government’s judicial board last month after > student representatives questioned whether her ties to the Jewish community > were a conflict of interest. > > The sophomore candidate, Rachel Beyda, originally failed to win the > majority of votes she needed to serve. She was later unanimously approved > for the position, after a faculty member intervened. The votes came after > an interview with the student, in which she was asked, “Given that you’re a > Jewish student and very active in the Jewish community, how do you see > yourself being able to maintain an unbiased view?” > > Critics have said that they are stunned that being Jewish and active in > the Jewish community could be cited as a reason to reject a candidate for a > student government position. > > full: https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/03/03/ucla- > student-government-questions-judicial-board-nominee-being-jewish > > Instead, she should have been asked whether her membership in Hillel might > be a problem, especially in light of this: > > Campus Hillels across the country have distanced themselves from their > University of California, Los Angeles affiliate following revelations that > UCLA Hillel acted as a pass-through for political donations to pro-Israel > student government candidates. > > Hillel International, the campus centers’ parent body, nevertheless > strongly supports the donations, which UCLA’s student newspaper revealed > recently. > > The donations, which came to light in early July, when The Daily > Californian obtained several personal emails disclosing them, have raised > concern in some quarters about Hillel venturing into student government > politics as a partisan player. > > “I couldn’t remotely even think about getting involved in that,” said > Rabbi Leah Cohen, executive director of the Hillel at Yale University, > referring to the type of actions UCLA Hillel undertook. > > Originally, the money in question came to UCLA Hillel as a single $1,000 > donation from Los Angeles-based real estate mogul Adam Milstein, a > prominent pro-Israel activist. The emails obtained by the Daily Californian > showed that Milstein asked UCLA Hillel to direct his money to “UCLA Student > Government Leaders.” Milstein wrote that he wanted the contribution to be > used to help pro-Israel student candidates “prevail vs. some anti-Israel, > pro-BDS students” competing for the same seats. “BDS” is an acronym for the > movement to boycott, divest from and sanction Israel to protest its > occupation of the West Bank and policies toward the Palestinians. > > full: http://forward.com/articles/202616/why-did-ucla-hillel- > funnel-cash-from-pro-israel-do/ > > The question to Beyda might have been poorly formulated but they were on > the right track. > > _________________________________________________________ > Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm > Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/ > options/marxism/amithrgupta%40gmail.com > _________________________________________________________ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
