meemsaf

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how Jewish institutions are involved in promoting problematic messaging on antisemitism. Events where Israel flags are displayed as a response to an antisemitic incident are an example of how this messaging goes wrong. I think they show how well-meaning non-Jewish people might misread what they’re seeing.

When a Jewish community in the diaspora answers antisemitism with Israel flags etc, the underlying idea is something like “this kind of thing will never stop happening, but we’re no longer helpless – we have a plan B: leaving for Israel.” Someone from outside can think joining in is an act of solidarity, and the diaspora Jewish Zionists who promote this kind of response will both see it as a sign of solidarity and support and encourage it in return.

But think about it. What are you saying when you support the notion antisemitism cannot be solved here, that the solution is for Jews to have a whole other country?

Historically, Zionism only really gained support among Jewish people in the face of unspeakable, horrific persecution. It is a kind of hope born out of despair, and affirming it is an affirmation of hopelessness. Supporting it implies you cannot hope to keep antisemitism in check.

All of this is of course setting aside the fact that Zionism came up within a colonialistic framework, one which allowed a European movement to carve out a state in the middle of the Arab world. It would be a problematic response to antisemitism even without that!

Coming from within the Jewish community, the idea of escaping antisemitism into a Jewish ethnostate is a sad, bad idea. When non-Jewish people promote it, that's a whole lot worse.