The first was from a chapter 27 member who hollered in the street during a parade in Minneapolis that one of our other members was an antisemite. He gave no explanation and was kicked out of our group a couple years ago by the VFP Board for misconduct.
The second was an activist who wrote on the FP page of another chapter 27 member, (who was a TIME magazine Person of the Year) that she was “being undercover and paid to work for RT” (a Russian-sponsored news network that broadcasts globally 24/7.) This activist also accused our chapter president of being an antisemite after he mentioned that the seven VFP members who hooked up with Palestinians for an annual peace march in Hebron were given “a typical Israeli welcome” when Israeli security forces fired gas canisters at them. All the members ducked repeatedly to avoid serious injury or death. According to an article in Mondoweiss by former Marine Captain and VFP member Mathew Hoh who was there, “Each year the peaceful march is stopped violently by the Israeli military and police forces, as similar non-violent resistance is violently met by the Israeli military and police forces throughout all of occupied Palestine.”
Then there was bigmouth me. Things did not go well during a heated discussion between me and an activist who singled herself out as a “Jewish-Queer-Communist” at an academic conference in the Twin Cities. I believed my question to her about what she thought about local Jews who weren’t speaking out against the war in Gaza was reasonable, and more specifically — how that community felt about the 34 rabbis in Minnesota who voted against a Minneapolis city council ceasefire resolution in Gaza. It was my understanding rabbis are religious and spiritual leaders.
Instead, I got a short history lesson from her on the 19th century Zionist kingpin Theodor Herzl. She also dodged my concern about her statement that “Jews are always on the frontlines during battles for equal rights.” Did she not know that most of world Jewry still support the apartheid, Jewish nation-state? Shortly after, she went on a rant that implied I was antisemitic. Twice I asked her if she was calling me an antisemite, but she said nothing. The tenor and tone of my voice was already elevated and my blood pressure had skyrocketed so I decided to leave after letting her know in two words, what I thought. While leaving the auditorium I apologized to everyone for my outburst, but before I could get out the door a woman in the audience screamed “antisemite.”
For all I know, the cat-caller based her blurt on non-legally binding International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definitions of antisemitism that include holding Jews responsible for the actions of the Israeli government. I was simply curious about what she thought about Jews who didn’t speak up during the genocidal slaughter in Gaza. Perhaps one day, a case for antisemitism will be made after someone has the temerity to ask rabbis what they think about the numerous Jews who don’t believe Israel is a legitimate country. According to another IHRA tenet — it is antisemitic to not recognize Israel’s right to exist.
What I know from my experience, is that those who sling accusations of antisemitism tend to identify as Jews, and don’t bother to explain their allegations. This leaves people like me shocked, scratching our heads and wondering if there will be damage to our reputations, organization or work life.
Israeli historian, author and Associate Professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies and Endowed Professor in the Study of Modern Genocide at Stockton University, Raz Segal knows first hand what can happen if even prominent Jews like himself allege that the Israeli government is committing genocide. His offer to lead the Center for Holocaust and Genocidal Studies at the University of Minnesota was rescinded last year after the pro-Israel Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota and the Dakotas, organized a campaign to oppose his appointment.
Even though efforts to include the IHRA definition of antisemitism in federal government fizzled in the Senate last December, citizens need to remain vigilant of all accusations of antisemitism and insist that those claims be explained. It seems to me, that those who are publicly condemned by the horrific A-word, should be given a chance to find out why their words were out of line, or defend them — that’s how it works in democracies anyway.