For the first time in my life, I'm frightened to be Jewish - David Graeber on antisemitism in the UK

[TaxationIsFreedom]

Given the rise of right wing (often antisemitic) political movements in the past few years and the ongoing British election and discussion around antisemitism in the Labour Party I found this article quite interesting, and a perspective you don't often see in the mainstream media. I think it's worth reading in full.

https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/opendemocracyuk/first-time-my-life-im-frightened-be-jewish/

I am 58 years old, and for the first time in my life, I am frightened to be Jewish.

We live in a time when racism is being normalized, when Nazis parade in the streets in Europe and America; Jew baiters like Hungary's Orban are treated as respectable players on the international scene, "white nationalist" propagandist Steve Bannon can openly coordinate scare-mongering tactics with Boris Johnson in London at the same time as in Pittsburg, murderers deluded by white nationalist propaganda are literally mowing Jews down with automatic weapons. How is it, then, that our political class has come to a consensus that the greatest threat to Britain's Jewish community is a lifelong anti-racist accused of not being assiduous enough in disciplining party members who make offensive comments on the internet?

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One might ask how this happened? Here I feel I must tell a somewhat brutal truth. Orginally this scandal has very little to do with antisemitism. It is in its origins a crisis of democratization in the Labour Party.

Let me hasten to emphasize: this is not because bigoted attitudes towards Jews do not exist in the Labour Party. Far from. But Antisemitism can be found on almost every level of British society. As a transplanted New Yorker, I'm often startled by what can pass in casual conversation (from "of course he's cheap, he's Jewish" to "Hitler should have killed them all."). Surveysshow that antisemitic attitudes are more common among supporters of the ruling Conservative party than Labour supporters. But the latter are in no sense immune.

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And history from Cable Street to Charlottesville teaches us when the brownshirts do hit the streets, police tend to prove useless or worse, and it's precisely the "hard left" that is willing to stand by us. If that day comes, I know that Jewish left intellectuals such as myself are likely to be first on their list, but I also know that Corbyn and his supporters will be the first to place their bodies on the line to defend me. Will Tom Watson, the current purger-in-chief of purported antisemites in the Labour party, be there with them? Why do I doubt this?

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All I can do is plead to anyone involved in promulgating this campaign, in politics and media: please, stop. My safety is not your political chess piece. If you actually want to help, you could work with the party leadership, instead of using it as yet another way to seize power that you've repeatedly failed to win by legitimate, electoral means: If you're not capable of actual constructive behaviour, then at the very least, stop making things worse. Because what you are doing in the name of "protecting" me is driving us all to disaster. And for the first time in my life, I am genuinely afraid.

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[Velocity:Design:Comfort]

Not only is Graeber awesome and this true, you have a great username OP

 

[Doggg]

These are indeed frightening times...

 

[Syder]

All I can do is plead to anyone involved in promulgating this campaign, in politics and media: please, stop. My safety is not your political chess piece. If you actually want to help, you could work with the party leadership, instead of using it as yet another way to seize power that you've repeatedly failed to win by legitimate, electoral means: If you're not capable of actual constructive behaviour, then at the very least, stop making things worse. Because what you are doing in the name of "protecting" me is driving us all to disaster. And for the first time in my life, I am genuinely afraid.

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Such a great quote, can't wait to read the whole thing

 

[jelly]

Well said, just read your snippets. The issue is there in labour etc. but it's also everywhere and being ignored, as well as others.

The world is basically getting distracted on one hand while a much broader dark turn is happening and rooting itself which is mostly being hand waved away and no doubt is very frightening for the people it's aimed at and will possibly get worse. You don't want to reach a point were it tips again.

 

[Messofanego]

Right-wingers been using identity politics and concern trolling to their advantage, it's a shame it's worked for centrists and even lefties to think it's confined to the Labour party when this is just more cynical tactics.

 

[LewieP]

Pretty obvious that for many folk, talk of anti-Semitism is just a convenient bat with which to hit Corbyn, rather than a cause they actually care about. Which this article argues quite effectively.

If people criticising Corbyn/Labour actually cared about racism and prejudice first and foremost, there would be many other targets far higher on the list that would be a bigger priority.

I don't think Corbyn and Labour have a flawless track record on reacting to anti-Semitic and/or racist elements within the party, but Corbyn personally has been a lifelong anti-racist campaigner, even in times when he was in the minority going against public and establishment norms. By all means ask for better, but anyone who says he doesn't care or is coming from a malicious position probably has another agenda at play.

 

[travisbickle]

I think you missed the crux of his argument that the democratisation of the Labour Party with thousands of new members since Corbyn was elected has led to non-PR-trained voices making outlandish statements in public. A huge influx of ordinary people into the Labour Party has meant the anti-semitic bias in the general population of the UK has entered the halls of "political debate". It has a positive effect (anti-semitic attitudes have dropped within the party and are lower than the general British public since Corbyn was leader) but it has been used as a stick by trained-to-rule Labour MPs like Tom Watson to beat people with the theory that the Party leaders are horrible and crazy extremists are infiltrating the party, even though it's merely a consequence of broadening who is allowed to speak about political issues.

It's the "decorum" debate that's been happening for decades about what should or shouldn't be discussed within politics, and even the language that should be used. It's a managerial politics that's been crumbling the last 5-10 years as politics has been opened up to everyone through the development of social media.

 

[Jag]

My wife is terrified of our Jewish last name and she wants me to change it but I won't. Didn't think I would be scared to be a Jew in my lifetime, but here we are.

As Mark Twain said, history doesn't repeat itself but it often rhymes

 

[Deleted member 2145]

my safety is not your political chess piece

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louder

 

[Acorn]

My wife is terrified of our Jewish last name and she wants me to change it but I won't. Didn't think I would be scared to be a Jew in my lifetime, but here we are.

As Mark Twain said, history doesn't repeat itself but it often rhymes

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This isn't at all the same as anti semitism or anywhere at the same scale but anti catholic abuse has been making a mini comeback in the West of Scotland. Instead of it making me less proud of my roots, I'm more proud of them and more likely to state them.

Because fuck bigots.

 

[julian]

My coworker was telling me how things like the Green New Deal are really playing into "the globalists" hands so they can get all the government money. I had good reason to believe he had no idea what he was saying and explained how anti-Semitic what he just said was. He was so taken aback. I think he legitimately thought I was crazy. I have been pushing him for days to google the terms so he could understand what I was talking about.
I asked him where he heard this and he said some podcast with a guest from the Labour party.

 

[Tzarscream]

I still think there's an unacceptable level of "yeah but" when talking about antisemitism and Labour, particularly on this forum.

 

[Acorn]

My coworker was telling me how things like the Green New Deal are really playing into "the globalists" hands so they can get all the government money. I had good reason to believe he had no idea what he was saying and explained how anti-Semitic what he just said was. He was so taken aback. I think he legitimately thought I was crazy. I have been pushing him for days to google the terms so he could understand what I was talking about.
I asked him where he heard this and he said some podcast with a guest from the Labour party.

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Yeah at my mates engagement party I got trapped with a guy repeating the "Soros was in the SS" shite. I thought he was fucking joking or something because it was so dumb but no it's a widespread conspiracy theory.

He was a trump fan nothing to do with labour.

 

[kittens]

I've been hearing this and feeling this amongst my Jewish friends, and every new act of violence in the headlines makes me fear for them more and more.