[ For too long, Jewish communal institutions have adopted a
“just us” approach. The ADL and United Jewish Appeal-Federation of
New York, two central organizers of Sunday’s march, have long
histories of demonizing Muslim and Palestinian communities...]
[[link removed]]

AS JEWS, WE MUST REJECT WHITE SUPREMACY’S EFFORTS TO PIT US AGAINST
OTHER GROUPS   [[link removed]]

 

Jay Saper
January 6, 2020
Truthout
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_ For too long, Jewish communal institutions have adopted a “just
us” approach. The ADL and United Jewish Appeal-Federation of New
York, two central organizers of Sunday’s march, have long histories
of demonizing Muslim and Palestinian communities... _

Protesters hold a banner during a Jewish solidarity march across the
Brooklyn Bridge in New York City on January 5, 2020., Ron Adar /
Echoes Wire / Barcroft Media via Getty Images // Truthout

 

I was proud to march against anti-Semitism with tens of thousands of
New Yorkers on Sunday in the wake of the heartbreaking attacks on
Orthodox Jewish communities from Monsey to Jersey City to Brooklyn.
While Sunday’s march displayed powerful unity in our rejection of
anti-Semitism, it also underscored a central tension in our Jewish
communities: Are we fighting for justice, or just us? 

For too long, Jewish communal institutions have adopted a “just
us” approach. The Anti-Defamation League and the United Jewish
Appeal-Federation of New York, two of the central organizers of
Sunday’s march, have long documented histories of demonizing
[[link removed]] Muslim
[[link removed]] and Palestinian
[[link removed]] communities
and supporting
[[link removed]] policing
[[link removed]] initiatives
[[link removed]] that have devasting impacts on
communities of color, including Jews of color. 

It is unacceptable for institutions that claim to represent our
communities to act upon the belief that Jewish safety, protection and
well-being can come at the expense of our Black, Palestinian and
Muslim neighbors. On Sunday, these establishment organizations did not
break from their shameful track record. In some cases, they chose to
double down on division, at precisely the moment when we need to
protect and defend other vulnerable communities. 

There were certainly those in the crowd who echoed the divisiveness
and racism from the stage. However, others made it clear that the
fault-lines in our community have shifted dramatically — toward a
politics of solidarity and collective liberation.

Beyond yesterday’s march, we can see signs of this shift everywhere
we look. In a letter to her Kolot Chayeinu Congregation in Brooklyn,
Rabbi Miriam Grossman reflected on the powerful experience
of lighting a public menorah on the last night of Chanukah while
being protected by a ring of South Asian Muslims and other people of
color. “I nearly cried,” wrote Rabbi Grossman. “We will protect
each other. We are already protecting each other. The path forward is
not isolation or fear but solidarity, relationships, and love.” 

Hasidic writer and Monsey resident Shimon Rolnitzky echoed this
“path forward” in a moving letter
[[link removed]] to
the Jewish Telegraphic Agency: “The natural friends of Orthodox Jews
are other minority communities next to whom we live. A large part of
the Black, Latino, and Muslim communities, our neighbors, look at us
religious Jews as their natural allies against a world of enmity and
hate.” Even _The New York Times_ editorial board agrees
[[link removed]] on
the shortsightedness of policing as a response to antisemitic
violence: “flooding Brooklyn communities with police officers is not
the solution, particularly given the history of overly aggressive
policing tactics in minority neighborhoods.” 

One thing is clear: Our shared enemy is white supremacy and our shared
solution is one another. 

Indeed, we see the broader Jewish community undergoing a seismic
awakening. We will no longer allow our fear, grief or vulnerability to
be manipulated into support for increased violence against other
communities. We refuse to allow white supremacy to pit us against one
another or make us pawns in a system of divide and conquer. Instead of
sinking in isolation, we are choosing to rise in solidarity.

Real safety means stronger, more just communities where everyone is
free, without exceptions. Ending anti-Semitism requires ending
Islamophobia here at home and supporting Palestinian
self-determination in Israel/Palestine. 

Targeted by surveillance programs, police shootings, deportation and
mass incarceration, communities of color have long been at the
forefront of envisioning real safety. Our Muslim and Palestinian
partners, including the indomitable Linda Sarsour, embodied this
[[link removed]] on New
Year’s Eve by organizing a moving “Safety in Solidarity”
gathering in Brooklyn immediately following the attack in Monsey. Rep.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez demonstrated this
[[link removed]] by marching
alongside of us across the Brooklyn Bridge. 

As I made my way home from the march on Sunday, exhausted and
overwhelmed after the third rally against anti-Semitism in a week, I
also had clarity: Defending and protecting each other is not an
abstraction or a buzz phrase. It is what we must do with our bodies,
our sanctuaries and our traditions, for all communities endangered by
the current administration and its authoritarian allies across the
globe. 

One thing is clear: Our shared enemy is white supremacy and our shared
solution is one another. 

_[Jay Saper is a member of Jewish Voice for Peace and lives in
Brooklyn, New York.]_

_Copyright, Truthout [[link removed]]. Reprinted with
permission. May not be reprinted without permission._

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