Reposting the thread below in light of Sunrise DC’s recent statement. Few additional thoughts to follow… 
https://twitter.com/therubykid/status/1448277971526201350
Even on its own terms, just on a very pragmatic level, what is the strategy here? How does Sunrise DC’s action advance the struggle for Palestinian self-determination a single inch? How does it obstruct Israel’s machinery of oppression?
Beyond that, this statement is a pretty good example of how the “absolute anti-Zionism” that dominates much left thinking about Israel/Palestine has an inevitably antisemitic logic.
The implied litmus tests - disavow any and all links, even loose affinity, with Israel, and commit to politics premised on opposing Israel’s existence - the vast majority of mainstream Jewish organisations, and most Jewish people, will fail.
I don’t think there’s any reasonable political case for applying those tests to organising (e.g., in who you’re prepared to work with, who you think should be allowed in left spaces, etc.). But there’s definitely no strategic case. What does it achieve? Who gains?!
A strategy of isolating and boycotting/excluding “Zionists” in the way the statement implies is very unlikely to have any positive material impact on Palestinian lives. It is, however, a great way of promoting David Miller-esque conspiracist hostility to Jewish communities.
Unsurprisingly there’s a fair bit on these issues - how the left should relate to Jewish communities, and the antisemitic potential of root-and-branch “boycott Israel” campaigns, etc. - in my book, so… if you want to read more, buy it. Available here: fiveleavesbookshop.co.uk/product/confro…
Good to see some dissent within @sunrisemvmt on this issue. This is a good thread:
https://twitter.com/sunrisemvmtgwu/status/1451205219023560716
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