As much as many may try to ignore it, the cause of justice and liberation for the Palestinian people is inextricably intertwined with the fight against anti-Semitism and justice and liberation for Jews worldwide, particularly in the diaspora.
Ironically, it has rarely been more apparent than during this trying time, with the bloodshed in Gaza and the trading of increasingly aggressive rhetoric between pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian advocates. Israeli Jewish nationalism is on the rise, while anti-Semitic rhetoric from those purporting to speak for the Palestinians has increased as well. Incidents like what has been happening in France only reinforce the (I believe) erroneous belief that Jews are inherently unsafe outside of Israel, which only leads to increased immigration to Israel and increased nationalism there, and an increased conflation on Judaism with Israel. And who suffers? Palestinians, who had a state built around them that was explicitly designed for someone else, and Jews in the diaspora, who face that much more hostility around the world.
The debate within the Jewish community regarding the best route to liberation has been going on for over a century. I’m no expert by any means, just a secular half-Jew with no formal religious education but a deep interest in history and political movements around the world. One of the best analyses I’ve read is from Bennett Muraskin in New Politics, where he discusses numerous movements that were uniquely Jewish and devoted to equality and liberation for Jews, yet existed separate and apart from Zionism.
Jewish Alternatives to Zionism, by Bennett Muraskin
Putting aside the religious anti-Zionism of some corners of the Hasidic and Litvak ultra-Orthodox communities (where there is a belief that a Jewish state cannot exist until the coming of the messiah), I was especially drawn to discussions of the Jewish Labor Bund, which was a force in the early 20th Century. The Bund was a secular, socialist Jewish movement in Eastern Europe that fought for the rights of Jews (and others) in a deeply anti-Semitic environment. However, unlike the Zionists, who believed that the answer to European Jews’ problems was mass emigration to Israel, the Bundists believed that a free, safe Jewish nation could exist in the diaspora, and that Bundists should work together with other groups of socialists to achieve liberation for all people.
Most importantly, to the Bundists, “To immigrate to Palestine was to betray the cause of socialist revolution and Jewish cultural autonomy. It was to surrender to anti-Semites who wanted to rid Europe of Jews.”
I mention this debate, and the Bundist movement, because I see an increasing trend and an increasing belief in some corners that the only “home” for Jews is in Israel. This, I do not agree with. My home is New York, and not only do I feel safe here, but I believe I have a right to feel safe here, regardless of my religious or cultural background. And if I were to not feel safe here, the best course of action would be to stay and fight, rather than leave.
This belief that Jews are inherently unsafe was sadly, but understandably, bolstered by the Holocaust and a long history of anti-Semitism, in Europe as well as in the lands home to Sephardic and Mizrahi Jews in North Africa, the Middle East, and Central Asia, and it informed radical ultranationalist groups in Israel from before the country’s founding, including Avraham Stern’s Lehi, who went so far as to try to make a deal with the Nazis to encourage Jewish immigration to Palestine
(I know this is a lazy citation, but read Wikipedia entry on Lehi)for more information. There’s plenty of sources cited there).
This philosophy continues to flourish in right-wing Israeli circles, which are seemingly growing in light of this current conflict, increasing Israeli nationalism and hostility to the Palestinian people (Link). And with current incidents of anti-Semitism, including the recent events in France, ratchet it up even further, increasing Jewish emigration from Europe and immigration to Israel. (Link)
And the cycle of violence gets worse. As a firm believer in the right of the Palestinian people to peace, freedom and security, I think the only solution is a binational state with a power-sharing agreement, essentially “Isratine.” In a region where a significant part of the population is Jewish, and a significant part is Arab, either Muslim or Christian, with small numbers of Druze, Armenians, Circassians, and others, Israel can’t be a Jewish state, or a Muslim or Christian one. It must be a shared state.
But if anyone wants this, one of the strongest ways to fight for it is by combating anti-Semitism around the world. The world must allow Jews to feel safe and free as a nation in a diaspora, without an inherent need to move to Israel. And for those fighting anti-Semitism in the diaspora, we must stand with the Palestinians in allowing them to be free and safe. Only then will we see a just peace.