The following is an edited version of a letter signed by many Jewish writers 2 weeks after 7/10/2023 and published on social media. Bear in mind that this letter was written before the current conflagration in Gaza escalated to its current enormity as at 14 November 2023:

” We reject antisemitism in all its forms, including when it masquerades as criticism of Zionism or Israel’s policies.

We find this rhetorical tactic antithetical to Jewish values, which teach us to repair the world, question authority, and champion the oppressed.

We refuse the false choice between Jewish safety and Palestinian freedom; between Jewish identity and ending the oppression of Palestinians.

In fact, we believe the rights of Jews and Palestinians go hand-in-hand. The safety of each people depends on the other’s.

We understand how antisemitism and criticism of Israel or Zionism have been conflated.  

To counter these sweeping definitions, a group of scholars of antisemitism published the Jerusalem Declaration in 2020, offering more specific guidelines for identifying antisemitism and distinguishing it from criticism and debate around Israel and Zionism.

Characterising all critiques of Israel as antisemitic also conflates Israel and all Jewish people in the popular imagination.

The US Department of Homeland Security is preparing for an expected rise in hate crimes against both Jews and Muslims—it has already begun.

For each of us, Jewish identity is not a weapon to wield in a fight for statist power but a fount of generational wisdom that says justice, justice, you shall pursue. Tzedek, tzedek, tirdof. We object to the exploitation of our pain and the silencing of our allies.

And we refuse to allow such urgent, necessary demands to be suppressed in our names. When we say Never Again, we mean it.”

You can find the full text and list of signatories here:
— Read on www.nplusonemag.com/online-only/online-only/a-dangerous-conflation/

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