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Universal Solidarity and the Charge of Anti-Semitism

Universal Solidarity and the Charge of Anti-Semitism

IS SOLIDARITY ANTI-SEMITIC?

The Europe worth defending is the Europe of universal solidarity, not just the Europe of selective solidarity with those who “like us.” On January 3, 2022, Emma Watson, a star best known as Hermione in the Harry Potter films, posted on Instagram an image of a pro-Palestinian rally overlaid with the words “Solidarity is a verb” and a quotation from Sara Ahmed on the meaning of solidarity (which does not mention Jews or Palestinians): “Solidarity does not assume that our struggles are the same struggles, or that our pain is the same pain, or that our hope is for the same future. Solidarity involves commitment, and work, as well as the recognition that even if we do not have the same feelings, or the same lives, or the same bodies, we do live on common ground.” Immediately, Watson’s Instagram post sparked accusations of anti-Semitism from Israeli politicians. It got so bad that even the big Western media like CNN had to admit that the accusations had gone too far.85 This incident makes it obvious that the official Israeli stance, according to which a critique of the Israeli policy is okay but not when it becomes anti-Semitic, is a lie. The reality is that no matter how innocent and neutral a critique of Israel may sound, the defenders of Israel and its politics always find some metaphoric or metonymic link to anti-Semitism. This stance reaches an extreme in the claim that a critique of capitalism is anti-Semitic, because in our popular imagination Jews are identified with financial wealth. So the truth of the distinction between a critique of Israeli policy and anti-Semitism is that there is none: Every critique de facto echoes anti-Semitism; an acceptable critique of Israel is an empty set (in the mathematical sense of the set theory). In the case of Watson, this logic is brought to the extreme. We don’t have to look for anything behind or beneath—the mere mention of solidarity, when applied to what the state of Israel is doing with Palestinians, becomes anti-Semitic. However, the same accusation could and should also be made against the reactions to Watson’s post. When they accuse Watson of being anti-Semitic for promoting solidarity, are they silently assuming that solidarity itself is anti-Semitic? But if solidarity is in itself anti-Semitic, then it becomes something that must be foreign to Judaism. The problem here is the asymmetry implied by the partisans of Israeli politics, who practice the wildest hermeneutics of suspicion, discovering traces of anti-Semitism everywhere. And yet, sympathizers of West Bank Palestinians are not allowed to criticize them, to bring out the apartheid and oppression at work in “neutral” Israeli security measures, without being called anti-Semitic. Yes, one should be horrified at Iran’s project to destroy Israel, but one should be no less horrified by what Israel is doing to West Bank Palestinians. The title of a recent dialogue on anti-Semitism and BDS on Der Spiegel was: “Wer Antisemit ist, bestimmt der Jude und nicht der potenzielle Antisemit” (“Who is an anti-Semite is determined by the Jew and not the potential anti-Semite”).86 Okay, sounds logical, the victim should decide if they are really a victim. But there are two problems here: (1) Should not the same also hold for Palestinians who should be able to determine who is stealing their land and depriving them of elementary rights? (2) Who is “the Jew” who determines who is an anti-Semite? What about the numerous Jews who support BDS, or who have doubts about Israel’s politics regarding the West Bank? Does the quoted claim from Der Spiegel not imply that the Jews who are critical of the politics of Israel towards the Palestinians are betraying their Jewish identity? No wonder they are often called “self-hating Jews” …

练习题

According to the passage, what kind of Europe is “worth defending”?

A. A Europe of selective solidarity only with those who are culturally similar
B. A Europe of universal solidarity rather than solidarity only with those who “like us”
C. A Europe that avoids all political criticism in order to preserve harmony
D. A Europe that defines solidarity as identical struggles and identical hopes

Which description best summarizes Emma Watson’s Instagram post as presented in the passage?

A. It accused all Israeli citizens of anti-Semitism and called for violence.
B. It showed a pro-Palestinian rally with the phrase “Solidarity is a verb” and a Sara Ahmed quotation about solidarity.
C. It quoted Israeli politicians defending security measures in the West Bank.
D. It argued that solidarity requires all people to have the same pain and the same future.

In the passage, why is the notion of an “acceptable critique of Israel” described as an empty set, ?

A. Because the author believes no one has ever criticized Israel.
B. Because the author claims every critique is treated as if it echoes anti-Semitism.
C. Because the author argues all critiques of capitalism are mathematically invalid.
D. Because the author says only Israeli politicians may criticize Israel.

Which claims are made in the passage about accusations of anti-Semitism? Select all correct answers.

A. Critiques of Israeli policy may be treated as anti-Semitic even when they sound innocent or neutral.
B. Critique of capitalism can be framed as anti-Semitic through stereotypes linking Jews with financial wealth.
C. The passage says Sara Ahmed’s quotation explicitly attacks Jews and Judaism.
D. The author argues that solidarity with Palestinians can be labeled anti-Semitic by defenders of Israeli policy.
E. The author says Western media unanimously supported the accusations against Watson without qualification.

Which objections does the author raise against the slogan from Der Spiegel, “Who is an anti-Semite is determined by the Jew and not the potential anti-Semite”? Select all correct answers.

A. If victims determine victimization, Palestinians should also be able to identify who steals their land and deprives them of rights.
B. The phrase leaves unresolved who counts as “the Jew” who decides.
C. The phrase may imply that Jews critical of Israeli policy are betraying Jewish identity.
D. The phrase proves that no Jews support BDS or doubt Israeli policy toward the West Bank.
E. The phrase completely eliminates all asymmetry in political criticism.

The passage argues that accusing Watson of anti-Semitism merely for promoting solidarity risks implying that solidarity itself is foreign to Judaism.

The author’s position is that one should be horrified by Iran’s project to destroy Israel, but not by Israel’s treatment of West Bank Palestinians.

The author says that the “acceptable critique of Israel” is an ___ in the mathematical sense of set theory.

How does the passage connect the critique of capitalism to accusations of anti-Semitism?

Compare the passage’s criticism of asymmetrical accusations around Israel with the prior idea that politically correct discourse can conceal ideological censorship.

Which comparison best integrates the current section’s argument about accusations of anti-Semitism with the prior discussion of concealed ideological censorship?

A. Both argue that public debate should be replaced by institutional obedience whenever accusations are politically sensitive.
B. Both describe a mechanism in which a political restriction is presented as something other than censorship or suppression: critique of Israeli policy is redescribed as anti-Semitism, while an edited interview is explained through a neutral note rather than admitted ideological pressure.
C. Both claim that accusations of anti-Semitism and TERF pressure are always justified by the victim’s right to define harm.
D. Both argue that obscene public speech is the only effective way to restore universal solidarity.

Select all statements that correctly connect the current section’s idea of universal solidarity with Kant’s public use of reason from the prior section.

A. Universal solidarity rejects solidarity only with those who are already “like us,” while Kant’s public use of reason involves a trans-national universality beyond one’s particular institutional identity.
B. Emma Watson’s post, as described in the current section, is presented as a call for solidarity that recognizes different struggles while still affirming common ground.
C. Kant’s public use of reason means that people should never obey any regulations or institutional orders.
D. The current section criticizes an asymmetry in which Palestinian suffering cannot be publicly named without being labeled anti-Semitic, which conflicts with the need for a public space of reason.
E. Universal solidarity means that all groups must have identical pain, identical struggles, and identical hopes.

True or false: The current section’s criticism of the claim “the victim decides who is an anti-Semite” is structurally related to the prior warning about tribal factions, because applying victim-definition asymmetrically can turn public reason into competing group authority rather than universal debate.

In the current section, the claim that every critique of Israeli policy is treated as anti-Semitic means that the set of acceptable critiques is described as ___, which parallels prior examples where public reason is narrowed by erasure or concealed censorship.

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