Ive wanted to do an assessment of the document that @JFREJNYC put out on anti-Semitism a few months ago but I hadn't had the chance to read it in its entirety. I recently finally got to it and want to share some of my thoughts with you.
For context, it's important to note that @JFREJNYC is one of the few organizations Tamika Mallory and Linda Sarsour have deemed kosher enough to work with -- in contrast to the @ADL_National one of the largest and oldest civil rights organizations in the country.
Here's a link to the document in full. I highly recommend reading it in its entirety as it is a necessary launching pad for discussion. jfrej.org/wp-content/upl…
I appreciate @JFREJNYC 's documentation of the way in which white supremacism is reinforced by anti-Semitism; how white supremacists have divided non-Jewish people of color and Jews for a long time and how much of this is a product of European colonialism.
Yet here is where is my appreciation ends because for all the history it sheds a light on, @jfrej is blind to its own biases and the history of its own ideology. As a result there will be limits on its ability to create social change.
Here are some of its blindspots:
@JFREJNYC claims to have produced a text on what anti-Semitism is and how to fight against it but in fact only does so when it manifests itself in such a way that underscores its own ideological beliefs.
@JFREJNYC claims to have produced a text on what anti-Semitism is and how to fight against it but in fact only does so when it manifests itself in such a way that underscores its own ideological beliefs.
is anti-capitalistic — and thus completely ignores the historical anti-Semitism in communist societies such as in the Soviet Union (which some of my best friends escaped).
is critical of imperialism only when it manifests itself as a function of European Christian society; the imperialism of the Ottoman Empire and the Soviet Union is seen as benevolent at best, harmless at worst.
's claim that most Jews are on the left is true but they are largely not on the fringe left that JFREJ describes or believes in; they are not anti-capitalist nor are they anti-Zionist.
ignores the fact that anti-Semitism has been influenced by Islamism and was imported into the Arab world also in part due to Soviet influence. Anti-Semitism was not imported into Arab society by European Christian colonialism *alone*.
The biased reading of Israeli history aside, this is a strange dichotomy suggesting that power in and of itself is bad & that it is the Jews which uniquely should be powerless. It reads as if powerlessness is a virtue; what then should a movement of liberation be working toward? 
Many imperialist regimes are unabashedly anti-capitalist & have been historically. But by definition @JFREJNYC can't call out the Soviet Union which persecuted Jews for their Jewishness. To do so would be to call out its own ideology. Its erasure of this experience is complicity.
The citation in the document disproves the claim made by @JFREJNYC . In fact the citation points out how within Islamic text, there is anti-Jewish rhetoric and, while it may not had manifested itself in the same way it did in Christian Europe, it was still present. (1/2)
This glosses over the persecution Mizrahi & Sephardi Jews experienced & continue to experience today in places like France & Germany. To say that it wasn't European anti-semitism is true but misses the point that European anti-semitism isnt the only form of anti-semitism. (2/2)
These kinds of throwaways are present throughout the document & underscore the lack of critical thought, complexity and nuance in the document which reads increasingly like a rant against capitalism much more than a comprehensive assessment of anti-semitism.
There's a section entitled, 'Resistance: an unbroken tradition of solidarity and liberation' which I must do a full breakdown of. The section is not illumination for what it covers but precisely for what it does not.
Guess what politically revolutionary movement @JFREJNYC can’t quite seem to mention in this section. Go ahead. Guess.
Zionism was the revolutionary movement for the reestablishment of the state of Israel. It was a response to, at least in part, a desire to quell anti-Semitism, i.e. Jewish powerlessness by affirming the need for Jewish power. Not "allyship." Not "coalition building." POWER.
Yet for all its talk of resistance, @JFREJNYC does not affirm the need for Jewish power because it cannot. It describes power as an overall societal ill. This is its blindspot and why it is ill-equipped to address anti-Semitism.
The very small section on Israel is pretty shallow & doesnt mention anti-semitism coming from the Palestinian Arab community which predates the reestablishment of Israel. This anti-semitism often takes the form of Islamism mixed w/ forms of Nazism (swastikas being flown in gaza.)
ironically writes that they are “familiar with the violence of displacement—no Jews required” with no realization of the irony of the fact that they admitted beforehand that Jews were displaced violently by the Roman occupation of Judea.
Which leads me to point out another thing - you can’t talk about anti-Semitism without talking about Judaism & the role that Zionism has played specifically to combat it.
Anti-Semitism is not simply the perpetuation of myths that Jews are nefarious money handlers. It is an attack on Jewish memory, heritage, & uniqueness i.e Jews because they are Jews and a devaluing of that collective experience, specifically as it relates to Israel.
Anti-semitism also entails the notion that Jews should be powerless — the only response to which is actual power. And thus comes the need for Zionism. That power should be wielded responsibly, diligently, democratically, and fairly. But it *is* POWER. And it is necessary.
teaches us that Jews come from everywhere (Kaifeng, Indian, Ethiopian, etc.) What it fails to teach is that these groups have also had an intimate connection to & desire to return to Israel. This is erasure, & tragically for JFREJ, it contributes to anti-semitism.
Its important to remember that these are the groups Tamika Mallory & Linda Sarsour feel completely comfortable working with. I think now you know why. Its natural for them to call out the @ADL_National for its Zionism. What they & their allies cannot seem to abide is Jewish power
Which brings me to @ZionessMovement; its so important as a progressive voice in this space, & one who fully understands the need to support progressive movements responsibly, & one that embraces Zionism w/o equivocation.
We understand that a central problem has been the powerlessness of the community; the erasure of Jewish memory, lived experience, & acknowledgment of connection to the land as it is *central* to the formation of Jewish identity. To deny this, to disparage this *is* anti-Semitism.
I end with two quotes from Amos Oz, probably my favorite Israeli leftist lol; but to reduce him to such a category is to miss the point and to not internalize the deep love he has for his people even amidst his criticisms of them.
"I will fight again, as I did in 1967 and in 1973 if anyone tries to kill me or my people...[Zionism] is not a form of colonialism; neither is it a form of racism. It is a national liberation movement... like other national liberation movements, it has its...fanatic components."
“There are many indications of this...love for the People of Israel...true where there is great love there is also a chance of envy...But the envy & the hatred are the shade, & the shade exists only where there is light…[&] it is important...that Israel know it is loved.”
Thanks for reading. 🤗📚🙏🏾
