contested terrain

“Anti-Racist” Antisemitism II

Sandwiched between the attempted Synagogue bombings in New York City and a deadly shooting at the Holocaust Museum in Washington DC, a self-described leftist is proclaiming the post-antisemitism era.

How? By instrumentalizing anti-racism. “Anti-oppression theory,” identifies “oppression” as “prejudice plus power.” That is, although Jews encounter prejudice, it is not backed up by a system of power reinforcing it, the author claims. The conclusion: “Jews are not an equity-seeking group.”

At first look the author’s flawed analytical framework seems to lead him to his blindspot in seeing antisemitism. But it’s not so innocent. Take a look at the subtitle of the article: “How Myths about Anti-Semitism Distort Human Rights in Our Schools and Universities.” That is, it is firstly an attack on the existence of antisemitism. Hence, no mention of the recent attempt to blow up two Synagogues. It is a denial of antisemitism without an analysis of it. And secondly, it is an attack on Jews who speak out against antisemitism, demonizing them as oppressors and enemies of human rights.

“Anti-oppression theory” is employed to give a psuedo-intellectual rationalization for attacking Jews, and for burying any mention about the violence they are confronted with. This reminds me of Bernard-Henri Lévy’s description of what he calls “anti-racist” antisemitism:

Anti-racist anti-Semitism — saying that for the sake of the blacks, for the sake of the Arabs, we must make the Jews shut up — this works. If the Jews practiced ‘memorial pornography’ — thus exaggerating their own suffering — they became responsible for why the world didn’t care enough about the history of slavery and the suffering of blacks.

Bad social theory can be helpful for a political project. And, as they say, idiots can be very useful.

This entry was posted on Monday, June 15th, 2009 at 5:15 pm and is filed under antisemitism. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.