“Anti-Semitism in the Socialist Tradition”

From Communalism: International Journal for a Rational Society, Issue # 11, August 2007, by Kjetil Simonsen, “Anti-Semitism in the Socialist Tradition.”

Here is a discussion forum on the article.

Conference: Antisemitism and Islamophobia in Europe

Antisemitism and Islamophobia in Europe:
comparisons/contrasts/connections

22nd - 24th June 2008
Department of Hebrew and Jewish Studies
University College London

Organised by: Edge Hill University, Goldsmiths College, UCL

Aims
The aim of this conference is to explore the connections, commonalities and differences between Antisemitism and Islamophobia in Europe through a broad geographical and historical lens.

Papers will focus on contemporary and historical flashpoints, such as Britain, Germany, France, Iberia, Austria, Russia, the Balkans, and the Netherlands. In addition to ‘national’ case studies, the conference will attempt to gain a broad ‘European’, transnational perspective on this complex question or will at least consider whether such a thing can or should be attempted.

Given the acute relevance of the subject today, we aim to give equal attention to contemporary as well as historical research. At the same time, however, the importance of looking at Antisemitism/Islamophobia in the longue durée is critical, and papers will be included that go back to the medieval period.

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Anti-Zionist Campaign in Poland, 1967-68

In the ongoing debate about the relationship of antisemitism to anti-zionism, historical case-studies can serve as useful material. The anti-zionist campaign in Poland, of 1967-1968, offers the ability to examine the relationship in detail. Below are links to some recent contributions on the topic.

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Matthias Küntzel: Iranian Holocaust Denial

from the essay:

“There are other dictatorships in the world. But only in Iran are the fantasy-worlds of antisemitism and religious mission linked with technological megalomania and the physics of mass destruction.

“The specific danger presented by the Iranian nuclear option stems from the unique ideological atmosphere surrounding it – a mixture of Holocaust denial and weapons-grade uranium, of death-wish and missile research, of Shiite messianism and plutonium.

“We are dealing here with a phantasmagoric parallel universe in which the reality principle is constantly ignored: a universe from which the laws of reason have been excluded and all mental energy is harnessed for the cause of antisemitism.”

read the essay here

Not Just a Smear Tactic. Review of “The Past Didn’t Go Anywhere: Making Resistance to Anti-Semitism Part of All of Our Movements”

Matthew N. Lyons

April Rosenblum. The Past Didn’t Go Anywhere: Making Resistance to Anti-Semitism Part of All of Our Movements. Self-published, 2007. Download at www.thepast.info

In July of 2006, Bluestockings bookshop in New York City announced it was hosting a workshop for social justice activists on “opposing anti-Semitism in the movement.” The announcement sparked a heated online discussion on New York’s Indymedia website. Some people asked if the workshop was going to be “some Zionist bullshit” and why it wasn’t going to address other forms of discrimination, such as “Zionist anti-Semetism [sic]” against Palestinians. Critics doubted the existence of any real anti-Semitism on the left, or they suggested that it was caused by “right-wing Jews” having “cried wolf too many times.” One charged that “whining about anti-Semitism is like whining about ‘anti-white,’ or ‘reverse racism.’” They added that “Jews are one of the wealthiest groups in the world with the most privilege.”
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