Right and wrong ways to fight antisemitism.
Gaza and antisemitism become issues in a small Hudson Valley village.
As I mention from time to time, in addition to publishing “Words for the Wise” I also edit and publish an online newspaper for my village of Croton-on-Hudson in New York state. The Croton Chronicle serves a municipality of about 8300 residents, plus somewhat more who are within the boundaries of the Croton-Harmon school district.
From time to time the Chronicle has published Guest Editorials, and even a couple of in-house editorials, about Israel’s onslaught on the people of Gaza. Until very recently, discussion of that issue has been very muted in this largely white, middle to upper class community, despite its dominance by liberal Democrats and reputation for social justice activities. There are a number of likely reasons for this, including a reluctance to offend members of Croton’s Jewish community.
But the general silence has been broken lately due to several recent occurrences. Some activists in the village asked the Board of Trustees to adopt a resolution in favor of a ceasefire in Gaza and an arms embargo against Israel. Unfortunately, the trustees declined to even take up the proposed resolution, largely on the grounds that the village should not get involved in “international” questions.
Then, in better news, the senior rabbi of our local temple, Temple Israel of Northern Westchester, made a statement critical of Israel’s war in Gaza during Friday night services. The temple leadership, knowing of my concerns that local Jews were not speaking out loudly enough about what was being done in their name, invited me to attend, and I was thus able to do a story about the rabbi’s powerful words (even though he did not go far enough for some.)
Then, more bad news. Last week, a divided village Board of Trustees adopted a resolution endorsing the very problematic IHRA (International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance) definition of antisemitism, which has been used for many years to suppress criticism of Israel (it’s basic approach underpins the Trump administration’s attempts to deport foreign students sympathetic with the Palestinians and extort money from universities that allegedly do not protect Jewish students, among other authoritarian attempts to suppress speech critical of Israel.)
In short order, the Chronicle published several articles on the debate over adopting the IHRA definition:
— A Guest Editorial urging the board not to adopt the IHRA definition.
— A news story reporting what they actually did.
— An in-house editorial condemning the board’s action.
— A Guest Editorial questioning whether defining antisemitism was helpful.
Readers should feel free to click on these links if they are interested in how this question is playing out in a small, mostly liberal community (although it has a sizable minority of Trump supporters.) To put things plainly, the village leaders first declined to speak out about the massacres in Gaza, and then made it more difficult for those who might want to speak out to do so without risk of being accused of antisemitism.
In this post I just want to briefly give my personal views. Opinion on adopting the IHRA definition was sharply divided, as the links will demonstrate, and many Jews in Croton feel that the village as a whole has not taken the issue of antisemitism seriously. (The Board of Education, dominated by presumed leftists, has shown no interest in adopting the IHRA definition, although an advocate of that position was recently elected to the board.)
There is no question that antisemitism is an issue, and there have been a number of such incidents in Croton, particularly in the school setting, and especially since October 7 and Israel’s counterattack and collective punishment of the people of Gaza.
But to put it bluntly—and remembering that I myself am Jewish—few of the activists working on the issue of antisemitism in our community have been equally outspoken about Israel’s actions in Gaza. Indeed, the Jewish community is divided, and some are strongly supportive of Israel although very few have been vocal on either side of the conflict. Those who have, including a former village trustee, have written letters to the local print newspaper and Guest Editorials in the Chronicle, but those voices have been few and far between.
It’s tempting to say that the incidents of antisemitism in communities like ours are fairly minor compared to what is happening to the people of Gaza, who are the victims of massive war crimes and, according to a growing consensus among human rights experts, an actual genocide. But all acts of dehumanization have to be taken seriously and acted upon, large and small.
Nevertheless, it seems clear to me that in this historical moment, the most effective way for American Jews to combat antisemitism would be to rise up in a block and condemn Israel’s actions. If, as the IHRA definition and the examples given by the organization of what is antisemitism indicate, it is antisemitic to associate all Jews with the actions of Israel and hold them responsible for it, American Jews have a responsibility to make clear that they do not agree with what Israel is doing in their name.
To continue to prevaricate on this question, which so many are still doing, makes it much more difficult not only to act when antisemitic acts take place but even to sympathize with the victims of it. Israel was at least partly born out of the Holocaust—although its earliest origins lie with dreams of a return to Palestine—but Israeli Jews quickly became oppressors and colonizers in their turn. This is a moral burden which all Jews must bear, again, to repeat, because it is being done in their name.
There is no conflict between condemning antisemitism and working against it and condemning genocide against Palestinians and working against that. American Jews, and Jews around the world, are facing the most serious moral crisis of our lifetimes. We should give no quarter to stereotypes that we are natural born killers who see primitive tribalism and bloody revenge as our main way of being in the world.
Those who see us that way, and who cheer us on to kill ever more Palestinians, are the true antisemites. And they certainly do not have our best interests at heart.
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Palestinians are Semitic (the Jewish people are not the only Semitic people). And an ancient people living in Palestine. It seems to me that the anti-semitism being exploited is by the Israelis, targeting the Palestinians.