From 6:45 PM until 8:30 PM
At Zoom Meeting
WATCH THE VIDEO!
Watertown Citizens’ Monthly Meeting on Wednesday, November 16 entitled, "Why Supporting Palestinian Rights and Opposing Israeli Apartheid is Not Anti-Semitic", was a huge success with well over 65 people participating. Below is description of the event and the link to the YouTube. If you missed it, please take the time to view the video. You will not be disappointed. Also, please feel free to share the YouTube as far and wide as possible!
Our guest panelists were be Eve Spangler and Elsa Auerbach, who were among the co-authors of an article entitled “The Safety of Others”. They are Boston-area Jewish women who strongly reject the idea that opposing Israeli government oppression of Palestinians and supporting their rights constitutes anti-Semitism. Elsa Auerbach, Ph.D., is Professor Emerita of English at the University of Massachusetts. Eve Spangler is an associate professor of sociology at Boston College. You can read the article at https://www.wrmea.org/2022-june/july/the-safety-of-others.html.
Link to the YouTube - https://youtu.be/NOyqgJsewUk
Also, here are is list of resources provided by Dr. Auerback.
Links for Watertown webinar
Amnesty International report on Israeli crimes of apartheid
Amnesty International’s new research report, Israel’s Apartheid Against Palestinians: Cruel System of Domination and Crime Against Humanity shows that Israeli authorities impose a system of domination and oppression against the Palestinian people in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT), and against Palestinian refugees. Laws, policies, and institutional practices all work to expel, fragment, and dispossess Palestinians of their land and property, and deprive Palestinians of their human rights. We conclude this treatment amounts to an institutionalized regime of oppression and domination defined as apartheid under international law.
Amnesty’s research, campaigns, advocacy, and statements pertaining to Israel are focused on the actions of the Israeli government — they are not, and never will be, a condemnation of Judaism or the Jewish people. Antisemitism is antithetical to everything Amnesty represents as a human rights organization.
IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism
Jerusalem Declaration on Antisemitism
The Jerusalem Declaration on Antisemitism is a tool to identify, confront and raise awareness about antisemitism as it manifests in countries around the world today. It includes a preamble, definition, and a set of 15 guidelines that provide detailed guidance for those seeking to recognize antisemitism in order to craft responses. It was developed by a group of scholars in the fields of Holocaust history, Jewish studies, and Middle East studies to meet what has become a growing challenge: providing clear guidance to identify and fight antisemitism while protecting free expression. Initially signed by 210 scholars, it has now around 350 signatories.
Distorted Definition: Redefining Antisemitism to Silence Advocacy for Palestinian Rights
Palestine Legal documentation of harms caused by the IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism
One of the primary tactics opponents of the movement for Palestinian freedom have used to silence political debate is the branding of all support for Palestinian rights as anti-Jewish. Roughly half of the incidents of suppression Palestine Legal responds to each year include false accusations of antisemitism, totaling 895 incidents from 2014 to 2020.
In an effort to add legitimacy to this tactic, Israel lobby groups have employed a distorted definition of antisemitism that encompasses virtually all criticism of Israel and have attempted to entrench this definition through policy changes and legislation.
This page tracks the evolution of the cynical ways Israel lobby groups have abused the definition and the definition’s impact on advocates for Palestinian rights.