The
smears against Corbyn and the left are part of a concerted effort to
undermine a potential left government and must be opposed
by
Alex Snowdon
Part
2 - Opposition to Israel is not antisemitic
One
thing that the sustained attacks on both sides of the Atlantic have
in common is the question of Israel.
Ilhan
Omar faced a backlash due to comments she made about Aipac, the
American umbrella group for pro-Israel lobbying campaigns, and its
influence on US politics, and for wider criticisms of the Netanyahu
government and Israeli abuses of Palestinians’ human rights.
Last
summer’s furore over alleged antisemitism in the Labour Party
pivoted around how to define antisemitism. There was a major campaign
to force the party to adopt the full definition, including very
controversial examples relating to Israel, proposed by the
International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA).
The IHRA
code was subsequently adopted by the Labour Party’s national
executive committee. It treats as antisemitic such things as saying
that Israel is a ‘racist endeavour’ or challenging Jews’ right
to self-determination, which in practical terms means the state of
Israel.
Many
Jewish organisations worldwide have condemned the definition on the
grounds that it extends the meaning of antisemitism to encompass fair
criticism of Israel. Attitudes towards Israel have always varied
within Jewish communities, which have rich traditions of anti-Zionism
and of non-Zionist currents. These Jewish groups have also expressed
concern that it makes the struggle to defeat antisemitism harder by
focusing on the wrong targets.
This
does not mean that the entire weaponising of antisemitism is driven
by Israel or its lobbyists. That is to grant them an exaggerated
influence. Their objectives – to delegitimise opposition to
Israel’s apartheid regime and its violence, racism and colonisation
of Palestinian land – dovetail with how significant parts of the US
and UK political establishments view the strategic interests of their
own countries.
It also
fits neatly with their wider opposition to a rising Left, especially
in the field of foreign policy. A great many of the attacks on
Corbyn’s politics have focused on foreign policy, such as his
personal background of opposition to Nato and nuclear weapons, with
senior figures from the British state (former generals or security
services chiefs) warning darkly of a Corbyn premiership.
Similarly,
Omar’s support for justice for Palestine goes together with a
refreshing opposition to US imperialism which is almost unprecedented
in mainstream US politics. Her highly critical comments about Barack
Obama’s extensive deployment of drones caused outrage in the
Democratic Party elite.
The
conflation of antisemitism with opposition to Israel does not stand
up to scrutiny. Israel is a state built on the ethnic cleansing of
Palestinians in 1948-49, creating a huge refugee population. It has
been characterised, for the last 70 years, by dispossessing
Palestinians of their land, often through force. Israel has developed
a system of control that fragments the Palestinian people:
Palestinians inside Israel are second-class citizens, those in the
West Bank live under military occupation, Gaza’s two million
Palestinians endure an open-air prison and the effects of a
long-running blockade, and millions more are refugees unable to
return to historic Palestine. Opposing all of this is a political and
moral matter, not a question of antisemitism.
Source:
Comments
Post a Comment