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WHY A WORKSHOP ON ANTISEMITISM IS ACCUSED OF BEING ANTISEMITIC  
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Nina Mehta and Donna Nevel
March 31, 2025
Common Dreams
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_ In addition to a robust discussion of what antisemitism is, the
curriculum also includes what antisemitism is not, distinguishing
between antisemitism and criticism of, or opposition to, Israel or
Zionism. _

People, including a young woman holding a sign that reads:"
Anti-Zionism is not anti-Semitism," chant slogans and carry
Palestinian flags as they arrive at Potsdamer Platz during a "Freedom
for Palestine", protest march that drew thousands of participants on
November 04, 2023 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Sean Gallup // Common
Dreams)

 

An education group makes plans to hold a workshop for its community
on antisemitism from a framework of collective liberation
[[link removed]]; publicity goes out; and, before
you know it, a right-wing organization (that has never actually seen
the curriculum) is determined to get it cancelled. The firestorm is so
intense that it’s hard to imagine that it’s about one workshop.
The workshop in discussion is one we offer and facilitate at PARCEO
[[link removed]], a resource and education center that works with
a range of institutions to strengthen their work for justice. The
scenario is one we have encountered on multiple occasions.

The accusations hurled at the workshop, its organizers, and those
endorsing it: “I knew it would be antisemitic once I saw the word
‘collective.’” “The facilitators are pro-Palestine.” “The
organization believes that criticism of Israel
[[link removed]] is not antisemitic.”
“They are antisemites.” “They are antisemites.” “They are
antisemites.”

To reiterate: The workshop being offered is on antisemitism! The
topics cover what antisemitism is—historically and currently—and
how it manifests in the U.S. today. Sections are included on Christian
hegemony; on white nationalist antisemitism; on tropes and
stereotypes; on conspiracy theories; on philosemitism. The voices of
Jewish historians, educators, and scholars, along with many others,
are integrated throughout the curriculum.

So what is actually going on? What, in fact, are the reasons there is
so much venom and energy devoted to making sure these workshops
don’t happen? Four interconnected reasons seem to be at play.

The first reason: In addition to a robust discussion of what
antisemitism is, the curriculum also includes what antisemitism is
not, distinguishing between antisemitism and criticism of, or
opposition to, Israel or Zionism. Those wanting to shut down the
curriculum reject any such distinction.

The workshop is attacked because it focuses on challenging
antisemitism from a “collective liberation” framework. It seems
just the name of the workshop is threatening.

This section of the workshop illustrates the ways that false charges
of antisemitism are wielded to penalize and silence those standing
with the Palestinian movement for justice. One example of how this
plays out is through the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance
(IHRA) definition of antisemitism—in which 7 of its 11 examples of
antisemitism are about criticism of Israel, not antisemitism. The IHRA
definition is the gold standard of antisemitism definitions for these
detractors.

Author Antony Lerman, in “Whatever Happened to Antisemitism,”
couldn’t be clearer about the danger of these false definitions:
“By falsely conflating anti-Zionism—a form of legitimate political
discourse and belief—and antisemitism—a form of ethno-racial
hostility and hatred—and calling it “new antisemitism” and
codifying it in the form of the “IHRA working definition of
antisemitism, antisemitism has been redefined to be what it is not.”
He adds: “The conflation is false because, first, the root concept
of ‘new antisemitism,’ that Israel is the ‘collective Jews’
among the nations, is a myth—a state cannot have the attributes of a
human being. Second, it is a heretical corruption of Judaism because
it entails an idolatrous deification and workshop of the state…”

The workshop points to other ways these false conflations are employed
to further a particular agenda. For example, the Heritage
Foundation’s Project Esther
[[link removed]],
a recently released right wing national strategy document, lays out a
plan to supposedly combat antisemitism in the US. But by
characterizing critics of Israel as “a global Hamas Support
Network,” it’s clear its real aim is to destroy the Palestinian
movement for justice and restrict activism against US policy more
broadly.

Another example highlighted in the workshop is how, under the guise of
fighting antisemitism, specifically on college campuses, Zionist
groups (like those trying to get the workshop cancelled) are using
Title VI of the Civil Rights Act to suppress pro-Palestine advocacy.
Just a bit of background: Title VI, which prohibits discrimination in
educational institutions, authorizes the Department of Education to
investigate charges of antisemitism. That authority was expanded in
2019 when President Trump issued Executive Order 13899 directing that
the DOE, in protecting against antisemitism, "consider" the IHRA
definition. As a result, DOE investigations of antisemitism now
include not only the classic examples of anti-Jewish bigotry, but
anti-Israel protest as well. And President Trump ramped this up even
more with his recent Executive Order, “Additional Measures to Combat
Anti-Semitism,” that directs all agencies charged with enforcing
Title VI to report to him within 60 days about what they are doing to
address antisemitism. As if to underline his concern with protest that
is critical of Israel, the Order refers specifically to complaints of
antisemitism following “October 7, 2023.” So, again, we can see
the ways that criticism of Israel and actual antisemitism become
indistinguishable.

The second “problem” of the curriculum, for those opposing it, is
that it rejects the essentialist view of antisemitism that is so
central to many mainstream and right-wing Jewish organizations. This
perspective understands antisemitism as eternal and never-ending.
According to the eternalist perspective, antisemitism can’t be
stopped and Jews are always under threat–it is “us” versus
“them.”

A different perspective—which is the one adhered to in the
workshops—understands antisemitism as historically contextual,
emerging in different historical periods for different reasons and in
relation to other forms of oppression. In other words, when
understanding antisemitism and Jewish experience, context is critical.

These different understandings impact whether we see—and respond
to—antisemitism in isolation (eternalist view) or, rather, in
relationship to the societies and to other struggles against
oppression. As Professor Barry Trachtenberg points out, “If one
accepts antisemitism to be eternal, and not a consequence of social or
historical factors, then it is a fact of life that will forever push
Jewish people into defensive postures. It will make us more
nationalist, more reactionary, more militaristic, and more closed off
from the rest of the world.” We see this perspective in living color
today as a number of Zionist organizations have unequivocally
supported Israel’s genocide against the Palestinian people,
(wildly!) positioning Israel as a victim and lamenting that nobody
cares about the Jews (“us” versus “them”).

Next, the workshop is attacked because it focuses on challenging
antisemitism from a “collective liberation” framework. It seems
just the name of the workshop is threatening.

Challenging antisemitism necessitates a commitment to challenging all
forms of racism and injustice.

The workshop’s emphasis on collective liberation reflects a deep
commitment to the ways our different communities can act in solidarity
with one another, as so many are. As we think more deeply about
solidarities and what that tangibly looks like, we know that such
injustices as Islamophobia, anti-Black racism, anti-Palestinian
racism, and antisemitism must not be viewed as oppositional or
isolated struggles, but, rather, the success in challenging each of
these injustices requires a vision that is holistic and
interconnected.

Those opposing the workshop believe that a collective liberation
framework minimizes, even makes a mockery of, antisemitism. This
perspective is rooted in the belief that antisemitism is exceptional,
that is, it is separate from, and unrelated to, other struggles for
justice. In fact, the concept of “collective liberation,” in their
view, is yet another example of antisemitism.

We challenge this exceptionalism in our workshop with an excerpt from
Professor Alana Lentin: “As I write in Why Race Still Matters
(2020), the elevation of antisemitism as the racism above all racisms,
and the contention that any discussion of the Shoah alongside other
genocides renders it banal, constrains solidarity between Jews and
other racialised people, thwarting a fuller understanding of race as a
colonial mechanism and a technology of power for the maintenance of
white supremacy.”

A framework rooted in collective liberation is essential in the fight
against antisemitism and all forms of racism. After the shooting at
the Tree of Life Synagogue, Rabbi Brant Rosen, reflecting on the
sacred power of solidarities, said “Yes, among the many important
takeaways from this terrible, tragic moment is the simple truth that
we must never underestimate the sacred power of solidarity. Moments
such as these must remind all targeted minorities that we are always
stronger when we resist together.”

The amount of effort spent trying to get a simple workshop cancelled
would just seem absurd if it weren’t so destructive and didn’t
reflect a much deeper commitment by those opposing it to defend
Israel's genocide, to attack anyone who speaks out as an antisemite,
and to insure that those voices are not heard.

Finally, those trying to shut down the workshop are outraged that it
is being facilitated by individuals who support justice for the
Palestinian people. In the view of the workshop’s detractors, those
facilitating the workshop (who, in fact, support Palestinian justice)
are thereby automatically excluded from any authority to teach about
antisemitism (and, even worse, proves that they are antisemites). What
they are in fact saying is that if you care about anti-Palestinian
racism, then you can’t care about antisemitism.

We turn that view on its head and say clearly that challenging
antisemitism necessitates a commitment to challenging all forms of
racism and injustice. And we know that solidarity, as articulated by
community leader Sister Aisha Al Adawiya
[[link removed]] means:
“Standing up for each other in a real authentic way. No cameras
rolling. Just the human spirit calling on us to say, ‘This is not
right and I have to say something’.”

The amount of effort spent trying to get a simple workshop cancelled
would just seem absurd if it weren’t so destructive and didn’t
reflect a much deeper commitment by those opposing it to defend
Israel's genocide, to attack anyone who speaks out as an antisemite,
and to insure that those voices are not heard. We know the attempts to
silence and penalize those protesting across the country have
tremendous repercussions; students, faculty, and other activists are
being doxxed and punished, losing their jobs, being denied financial
packages, and, more recently, facing threats of deportation—and all
in the name of fighting antisemitism.

But the voices demanding justice will continue to reverberate and
strengthen day by day despite these desperate attempts to shut them
down.

_[NINA MEHTA works with a wide range of community groups and
organizations on collaborative research, education, cultural
organizing, music, and media projects. She is co-director of PARCEO, a
participatory resource and education center._

_DONNA NEVEL is a community psychologist, educator, and long-time
organizer for justice.]_

_Licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to
republish and share widely._

* anti-Semitism
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* Racism
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* zionism
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* Jewish community
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* Trump 2.0
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* Israel
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* Palestine
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* Palestine solidarity
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* Heritage Foundation
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* Project Esther
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* Christian nationalism
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* definition of antisemitism
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