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26 Mar, 12 tweets, 5 min read
Generous of @Jackiew80333500 to call the Jerusalem Declaration on Antisemitism (JDA) “workable and acceptable”. As a signatory, I totally agree; and I want to demonstrate how we can work with the JDA to highlight the antisemitic references in the record of ... Jackie Walker. Image
2/ Clearly, the only reason Walker likes the JDA is because it's not the IHRA. But this football match attitude to life can only take you so far. Because when we examine Walker's record against the JDA, the picture couldn't be clearer.
Source for examples
3/ JDA article 7: "...treating Jews, simply because they are Jewish, as agents of Israel."

Here, Jon Lansman as an Israeli agent.

4/ JDA article 2: "... the idea of a Jewish conspiracy in which “the Jews” possess hidden power that they use to promote their own collective agenda at the expense of other people."

Here, Jon Lansman controlling Labour's machinery.
5/ JDA article 7: "Holding Jews collectively responsible for Israel’s conduct ..."

6/ Jackie Walker is a strong supporter of Bristol Professor David Miller, who is now under police investigation for potential hate crimes against Jewish students.
thetab.com/uk/bristol/202… Image
7/ Miller attacked Bristol University Jewish Society and claimed its students were "directed by Israel"

JDA.7 "... treating Jews, simply because they are Jewish, as agents of Israel."

8/ David Miller called Community Security Trust a “straightforward story of influence-peddling by a foreign state”

JDA.9: "Assuming that non-Israeli Jews, simply because they are Jews, are necessarily more loyal to Israel than to their own countries."

jewishnews.timesofisrael.com/bristol-profes…
9/ And I can go on and on; the Jerusalem Declaration leaves no room for doubt that such statements by Walker and Miller are antisemitic.
10/ I believe that the JDA’s language on these aspects is more precise than the IHRA. You’re welcome to decide for yourself - @schraubd prepared a useful comparison table

11/ The over-reach and ambiguities of parts of the IHRA made it, I believe, less useful, and even counter-productive, as we've seen the Miller case.
12/ The JDA can and should be used in such cases; and I believe it is more effective.

jerusalemdeclaration.org

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More from @YairWallach

Yair Wallach Profile picture
27 Mar
1/ Do you know who’s afraid of the Jerusalem Declaration on Antisemitism (JDA)? Professor David Miller from Bristol. He knew it was coming, from rumours; and he railed against it in his infamous 15 FEB talk. In fact, this was his main point (5:30)

2/ “… the Zionists are already planning their alternative to the IHRA. It’s called the Jerusalem Declaration, and it will be announced shortly, at a time of their choosing, when the think it’s going to make the most impact and have the most effect.”
3/ “What we’ll be faced here [is] a Liberal Zionist case for suggesting that there is a serious case of antisemitism or Judeophobia in this country when there isn’t. There isn’t a serious problem. They will to get it back on the agenda. So we face a massive battle over that.”
Read 8 tweets
Yair Wallach Profile picture
26 Mar
The Jerusalem Declaration on Antisemitism (JDA) - What is it good for? THREAD

jerusalemdeclaration.org
1/ The JDA is a response to the IHRA working definition, and seeks to address the IHRA's shortcomings, and clarify the areas in which the IHRA is too ambiguous and open to wildly different interpretations.
2/ The main focus here is on the entanglement between antisemitism and Israel/Palestine. The concern is global, as reflected in the international group of signatories. However, each context deserves its own attention. I will focus on the UK.
Read 17 tweets
Yair Wallach Profile picture
23 Mar
So a few thoughts on the results, based on current polls:

Netanyahu can form a hard right government, with bare majority of 61 out 120, with the Kahanist Ben Gvir in crucial position. Netanyahu wants to halt or cancel his trial, and will be willing to promise everything
2/ However, it's not clear everyone will be happy to hand Netanyahu what he wants (immunity or halting the trial); and I expect a Kahanist government will face enormous international pressures. In normal times, Netanyahu would never agree to such government.
3/ So yes, such a government, that liquidates Israel's judiciary on one hand, and pushes aggressively for annexation, is possible, and would be a departure and a serious escalation. And at the moment it seems to be leading that way...
Read 9 tweets
Yair Wallach Profile picture
4 Mar
Raef Zreik: "To be anti-Zionist means mainly an ideological stand on the narrative on how we got here. But what hinders any solution is not ideological, but rather political. And here, I'm a 100% political person ...
"I'm interested in the manifestations, practices, materialities of how people live. If someone like [Meiron] Benvenisti thinks the essence of Zionism is a binational state, I'm not going to argue with him saying, no you have to stop being Zionist."
"I agree with him, and he can continue to call himself a Zionist. I'm fine with that. I'm for the political, not the ideological."

From his remarkable talk in Van Leer in the panel on Julia Neuberger’s book on Antisemitism:
Read 4 tweets
Yair Wallach Profile picture
4 Mar
These are two key paragraph from David Feldman's article: Miller's assumption - and it's not just his - that if you're a Zionist, you have no right to speak, especially on antisemitism. A couple of points on that

haaretz.com/israel-news/da…
The first is that anti-racism means fighting racism - not fighting for the victims whose politics we like. Otherwise it's not anti-racism. And being a victim of racism does not mean that you can't be bigoted yourself. But that doesn't cancel the racism against you.
The idea that Jews need to state publicly their opposition Zionism in order to be allowed to speak is unacceptable. In the same way that other members of minority groups should not be demanded to profess their loyalty or good standing (e.g. French muslims at the moment).
Read 6 tweets
Yair Wallach Profile picture
13 Jan
1/ One of the risks of using the term "Apartheid state" is that it could create the impression that Israel is an unusual anachronism - like South Africa was. A relic of a bygone age of colonialism. But Israel is not an anachronism in 2021; it's very much cutting edge.
2/ It's no accident that hard-right populists from all over the world look up to Netanyahu. For them, Israel represents a success story, of how to maintain economic growth and some democratic credentials while promoting exclusivist citizenship and unequal domination.
3/ While Israel is unusual in many ways (which make it interesting) I have always maintained that regarding it as an aberration is profoundly wrong. I think it should be clear to anyone watching world events.
Read 6 tweets

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