I am coming back to the subject of the #Australian GO8 universities definition of #antiSemetism because the controversy is an itch I feel compelled to scratch. It follows my reading of an article published by The #Conversation (whose authors’ biases are duly noted in the margin) which highlights the weaknesses of our language when it is used to define and pin down the meaning of a word describing ‘others’. This weakness is mostly evidenced when emotions are at play, and there are few subject matters where emotions rules our head more than when we talk about ‘others’.
As the authors explain, “[the] Controversy has centred on where the definition moves to conflate antizionism and antisemitism. Some scholars and activists believe it mutes legitimate discussion about Israeli state violence towards Palestinians.
The competing Jerusalem Declaration was subsequently endorsed by around 370 leading scholars of Holocaust history, Jewish studies, Antisemitism studies, and Middle East studies. It defines antisemitism as “prejudice, discrimination, hostility or violence against Jews as Jews”. Its authors claim the declaration aims “to protect a space for an open debate about the vexed question of the future of Israel/Palestine”.
I have to say that the latter (The Jerusalem Declaration) is the better and more workable definition in a context where policies and actions of the #UltraNationalist #Netanyahu govt can rightly be condemned and criticised without expressing anti-semitic sentiments. Most, if not all, other definitions would favour one extremist ideological perspective over another.
Source: https://theconversation.com/a-new-definition-of-antisemitism-from-universities-australia-is-attracting-criticism-two-historians-explain-why-251252
Just as we know and understand that a fascist State (Russia) misuses the term #fascism as a false flag to legitimise its invasion of a neighbour’s (Ukraine) internationally recognised territory, we should also recognise that the terms anti- #Zionism and anti- #Semitism are conflated by ultra nationalists in the State of Israel and those who support their expansionist and racist ideologies.
For the record, I support a two state solution even if I cannot see how we get there given past and present circumstances. Perhaps the toppling of the Netanyahu’s govt is a small step along that road. And my saying this should in no way be construed as expressing anti-semitism.
As this example shows, definitions of Semitism need not exclusively describe the Jewish people which is a recent (late C19th) trend.
Semitism: “Cultural characteristics attribute to the semetic people.” (Source: EOD)
“Semitic people or Semites is a term for an ethnic, cultural or racial group associated with people of the Middle East, including Arabs, Jews, Akkadians, and Phoenicians. The terminology is now largely unused outside the grouping "Semitic languages" in linguistics.” (Source: Wikipedia)
This broader meaning only serves to confuses contemporary discussions at large (trust our media outlets to confuse us all further for clearly political reasons).
