Ruth Wisse, a scholar of Jewish history and culture, writes about what she sees
as
The Dark Side of Holocaust Education, that teaching about the Holocaust might not be the cure for antisemitism that
some think it is. One of the reasons for Wisse's skepticism is the way that the
teaching of the Holocaust has been universalized to include all victims of
persecution.
And that is a trend that took a giant leap forward when Jimmy Carter was
president.
Wisse points to Carter's surprising support for the construction of the
Holocaust Museum -- surprising on account of his support for a Palestinian
state and the sale of F-15 fighter aircraft to Saudi Arabia. In fact, when the
suggestion was first made to Carter, in 1977, to establish the museum, the
idea went nowhere. It was not until the following year
after the suggestion was made a second time
that
Carter surprised a group of rabbis he was meeting in the Rose Garden by
saying he had decided to appoint a commission to explore the construction of
a Holocaust memorial.
A presidential aide suggested that the commission overseeing the project
should not be composed only of Jews. It had to have members who represented
all those who suffered at the hands of the Nazis. Otherwise, Congress wouldn't
support it. For example, the aide insisted that the membership had to include
Lithuanians because they were members of the resistance -- ignoring the fact
that the Lithuanians had been a part of the problem.
Wisse comments:
One should have appreciated the leverage this gave him to steer its mission
in the universalizing direction he preferred.
Eventually, Elie Weisel quit the committee because it became too
politicized. And as it turned out, the only limit on universality was
Carter's insistence that when it came to
funding, that would have to come primarily from the Jewish
community alone.
This universalization of Jewish persecution is still alive and well.
In January 2019, New York Democratic representative Carol Maloney introduced
the "Never Again Education Act," which was passed near-unanimously by both
the House and Senate. On May 29, 2020, the bill was signed into law by
Trump, authorizing $2 million annually in support of Holocaust education for
5 years.
But just 3 months after Maloney introduced the bill, Democrats in Congress
responded to antisemitic comments by Ilhan Omar by putting together a
resolution condemning antisemitism generally, along with anti-Muslim
discrimination and bigotry against other minorities as well.
Now, the generalizing of antisemitism is being taken one step further, that
anyone can speak about and define antisemitism.
Linda Sarsour, who opined that “nothing is creepier than Zionism,”
praised
Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, and
believes
one cannot support the right of Jews to a homeland of their own and still be
a feminist.
Perhaps they were just looking for the voice of experience.
In fact, why should Sarsour be the only non-Jew who can lecture Jews on what
is -- and isn't -- antisemitism:
Appearing on the panel will be Rep. Rashida Tlaib, who supports a “one-state
solution” in which Israel is replaced by an Arab state; Peter Beinart, the
only Jewish panelist, who has openly rejected the existence of Israel in its
current form; Marc Lamont Hill, who has publicly recited the slogan “from the
river to the sea, Palestine will be free”; and Barbara Ransby, an academic who
supports the antisemitic BDS movement.
And when the topic was described as dismantling antisemitism, the goal
is to dismantle the claim of antisemitism:
The panel, billed as “Dismantling Antisemitism, Winning Justice,” claims in the event description that, “Antisemitism is used to manufacture
division and fear. While anyone can fuel it, antisemitism always benefits the
politicians who rely on division and fear for their power.”
“We
will explore how to fight back against antisemitism and against those that
seek to wield charges of antisemitism to undermine progressive movements for
justice,” it states.??
Normally, identity politics dictates that members of a targeted group have
shared life experiences which provide them with a special insight and
understanding that outsiders don't fully understand when it comes to the racism
that group suffers.
But if that does not apply to Jews, maybe it is no longer a thing. If non-Jews
can now define antisemitism, maybe in this progressive age of
intersectionality now all persecuted groups fully understand and
identify with all other persecuted groups.
Not according to Sarsour.
When Marc Lamont Hill started tweeting earlier this week about BDS, he went so
far as to claim that even the Palestinian Arabs themselves who work for
Israelis and enjoy superior wages favor boycotts against Israel.
Anila Ali, a Democratic activist and a Muslim, challenged him to debate the
issue, a challenge Hill declined.
She's not Palestinian and she will never speak for us.
But Sarsour would have no problem with Ali speaking for Jews.
So according to identity politics, when minorities cry racism -- they are to
be believed.
Yet when it comes to Jews, when they cry racism -- they are up to something.
And what could be more sneaky and underhanded than to describe what
antisemitism looks like using the IHRA working definition of
antisemitism?
By contrast, the Livingstone Formulation, named in 2006 after the then Mayor
of London Ken Livingstone, is the standard articulation of the opposite
assumption.
The Livingstone Formulation says that when people raise the issue of
antisemitism, they are probably doing so in bad faith in a dishonest
effort to silence legitimate criticism of Israel. It warns us to be
suspicious of Jewish claims to have experienced antisemitism. It warns us
to begin with the sceptical assumption that such claims are often sneaky
tricks to gain the upper hand for Israel in debates with supporters of the
Palestinians.
And this is the substantial position of the ‘call to reject’ the IHRA
definition of antisemitism. [emphasis added]
Jews just cannot win:
o Discussion of Jewish persecution must include all
persecutions
o Anyone can discuss and define antisemitism
o When Jews insist they must define what
antisemitism is, it's a trick
o Antisemitism is being used as a way to deflect criticism
of Israel
o Anyone can define antisemitism, but not anyone can define
how other minorities feel
o Intersectionality is universal and encompasses all races,
classes and genders into common discrimination -- except for Jews.
Maybe not all progressives are as anti-racist as they think they are.