Authors Ben Lorber (senior research analyst at progressive think-tank Political Research Associates, who studies and publishes on antisemitism and white nationalism) and Shane Burley (filmmaker and writer who has worked on both far right and left-wing movements with prominent writings on antisemitism and fascism) reflect on the oppressive belief system of antisemitism.
According to Lorber, “The way to uproot antisemitism is to end inequality — to build a world where people aren’t alienated and there isn’t astounding, unprecedented wealth inequality or people getting thrown out of their homes. And there are steps we could take to get there: The movements that we build now are like the world in miniature. We prefigure the world we want to live in by building our movements for liberation, by taking care of each other, by mutual aid. Putting forward that vision of a better world is really at the heart of Tikkun Olam. It’s at the heart of Jewish religious teaching for thousands of years, and it’s also at the heart of Jewish progressive movements.”1
Burley says, “When we silo antisemitism away from other forms of oppression, we give up our ability to do anything about it. Instead, we can only mitigate it: maybe get more police, maybe a new piece of legislation that limits speech we find threatening, something like that. But we don’t actually go at the fundamental core roots anymore. Safety through solidarity has been on the Jewish left and the left more broadly for years. But it’s the idea of walking away from nationalism or excessive policing or Draconian laws as the solution for antisemitism, and instead bringing it back to the community.”1
1 Taken from Bend the Arc: Jewish Action.
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