Speaking Out on Facebook about Anti-Jewish Oppression
The Parkland shooting [the February 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, USA] had a big impact on people here in Canada. And learning of the layers that weren’t being mentioned in the media, such as the school’s significant Jewish population and the anti-Jewish nature of a speech by the CEO [Chief Executive Officer] of the NRA [National Rifle Association] made me feel scared and quiet.
But after reading a recent post by Cherie Brown (the International Liberation Reference Person for Jews) insisting that we notice, discharge on, and speak out about anti-Jewish oppression, I decided to write something about it on social media. I have a large number of “friends” on Facebook. They are a diverse group, and there is a lot of discussion about oppression on my feed, though rarely about anti-Jewish oppression.
My post received a surprisingly (to me) large response. Non-Jews expressed their support and their wish to understand, learn more, and educate others. The assistant Imam of the local mosque liked my post. Many Jews commented with gratitude and relief. A lot of people shared my post on their own page. I was surprised (because of my own undischarged discouragement) that so many people wanted to publicly associate with my words about anti-Jewish oppression. Many were Indigenous folks and People of the Global Majority with whom I have relationships. I have stood visibly with them as an ally over the years but have often struggled to expect them (as I have all non-Jews) to be my ally as a Jew.
I think what made this post different than ones I’ve written on the topic in the past is that I was able to show how anti-Semitism affects me personally and communicate that I want and expect something of others.
In the past few years, especially the last year, I have been discharging regularly about the Holocaust. I have also recently become an RC teacher and been discharging on my struggle to figure out a relationship with an assistant—a struggle that stems from distress related to trust and feeling baffled about really doing something with someone else. I think all this discharge has helped me be able to communicate about anti-Jewish oppression, and I am hopeful about taking this further, into other realms.
Thank you to Cherie, and everyone who posted on this topic, for the contradictions [to distress], information, and encouragement.
Here is what I posted on Facebook:
I find it hard to talk about anti-Semitism (more accurately described as anti-Jewish oppression). There are many reasons for this, and I won’t go into all of them here, but one is that anti-Jewish oppression is often brought up and used by conservative/right-wing forces in a manner that distorts what it actually is and that leaves everyone very confused about its existence. So I realize that I need to speak up and start defining what it is myself.
Anti-Jewish oppression is an ancient oppression. Jews are the original “other,” bogeyman [terrifying, dreaded thing], group to be feared, despised, and so on.
Part of how anti-Jewish oppression manifests in 2018 is through coded language and through silence. I want to talk about how both have occurred surrounding the Parkland school shooting and the inspiring movement led by teens that has risen up in its aftermath.
Reportedly, forty percent of the population of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, where the shooting took place, is Jewish, and a number of the victims were Jewish. Across Parkland, many families were sitting Shiva (observing the Jewish ritual of mourning) after the shooting, and the Jewish community has been in upheaval since. Nikolas Cruz, the shooter, had spoken of hating Jews. I find it odd that none of this is mentioned except in Jewish publications. While it has not been substantiated that the attack was a hate crime, I do think that leaving out these demographic details (given that Jews make up only about two percent of the U.S. population) is weird. The invisibility of this makes me, and I suspect other Jews, feel scared.
The vibrant and hopeful youth-led #NeverAgain movement (a number of whose participants are Jewish) has been attacked by the NRA. That may not surprise you, but what you probably don’t know is that the content of the speech made last week by NRA Chief Executive Wayne LaPierre is textbook “Protocols of the Elders of Zion” propaganda (which Hitler used to rationalize the Holocaust).
LaPierre blamed “European-style socialists” for a powerful plot to destroy America’s freedom. Anyone who’s Jewish knows immediately that “European-style socialists” is code for Jews, and it strikes fear in our hearts because, as silly as this propaganda sounds, it has been used against us with deadly consequences, and here it’s being espoused again in 2018 by the head of a powerful association with millions of members. (My family actually were/are socialists, and came from Europe, but that is another story.)
LaPierre then went on to describe a vast conspiracy of these “intellectual elites,” who “hide behind labels like ‘Democrat,’ ‘left-wing,’ and ‘progressive’ to make their socialist agenda more palatable.” He went on to say that the teens are being exploited for this agenda. His perspective is also deeply racist as he suggested that movements led by people of colour, such as Black Lives Matter, have only made gains because of the power of this secret conspiracy.
LaPierre then identified the enemies of the NRA, and many were prominent Jews—from Bernie Sanders, to Karl Marx, to Michael Bloomberg, to George Soros.
While the speech was reported on, there was no mention of its virulent anti-Jewish undertones, except in Jewish publications. And maybe some of that is because folks just don’t get [understand] the mechanism that’s at work here. Or they don’t want to see it?
I would love it if my non-Jewish friends would seek to understand how anti-Jewish oppression works—and not just for me but for them, because its aim is to keep people divided and confused. There is so much more to say about this, but, simply put, we will not be able to end other oppressions, such as racism, without also taking this on [doing something about this].
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Reprinted from the e-mail discussion list for RC Community members
(Present Time 192, July 2018)