A Very British Antisemitism, Day, er, 5?

Racism is shit. Racists are shit. Antisemitism is racism. Antisemites are shit.

It seems required of us, those that aren't right wing apologists, to mention this. It's like an ideological ID check. Just run the anti-Semitic credentials through the computer to see how they shape up to the definition. Does that sound trivial? It ought not, but what other reaction can one have when these accusations are bandied about so freely? Do those doing so not realise the danger; that haphazard accusations are threatening to become transparent and risk trivialising the very real problem of racism?

Then of course there is the elephant in the room: the state of Israel. A state that, clearly and demonstrably, engages in racist murderous behaviour.

Perhaps I shouldn't say this, antisemitism isn't a joke. Racism isn't a joke. We are seeing a rise in fascism as capitalism collapses. It has no answer to structural challenges but to double down on divisive ideologies: us and them. Usually along national lines.

But...I am fed up with the pearl clutching from the establishment. The rhetoric surrounding Labour and Corbyn is so toxic that discourse is impossible. Of course it's ridiculous to assert Labour are institutionally antisemitic. By what proof? If that were true then it would have been true for a lot longer than the period Corbyn has been leader. Thus it is abundantly clear that this is being used now to oppose him, which tells me the motives of those deploying these claims. It is political.

Now that isn't to say that there aren't people in the Labour party and wider movement who are or at least have used antisemitic rhetoric. That of course should be challenged and dealt with. I would hope such people can be approached and educated. Much of it, I think, stems from the characteristically defensive underdog position that the left is on. It is not in a position of authority and power whereas ideas such as Zionism - specifically Israel - are inexplicably bound up with the systems of power in the world. It is an ally of the capitalist imperialist, and largely white christian, west. It has interest groups throughout the western world, including within the Labour party. There is thus a response to that which, inchoate and raw, isn't without some justification.

However we must of course be careful. It is too easy a step to make from this defensive, almost conspiratorial (see 911 truthers), mindset into amplifying dangerous stereotypes, for example propagating the notion that the "jews run the world". These are beloved of the right, particularly fascists, for a reason. They help cement that "us and them" narrative that entrenches late capitalist state power. "Jews are the problem": the perennial bogeyman motif into which Jews have sadly historically been placed.

Things currently though are not so simple. While fascism is on the rise and while antisemitism is part of its DNA it, in the sense of opposing the left, is also happy to use claims of antisemitism to beat its political opponents. This is largely opportunistic and of course quite hypocritical, but no less dangerous. We must recognise this, but at the same time not give succour to those that deploy antisemitism incorrectly, smearing people on the left unjustly for political gain. Of course as an anarchist I reject the political dichotomy that capitalism supports (though you'd be foolish not to call me a lefty, in broad terms :D). That way lies division, and it will never truly free us.