Identity politics is often brought up when it’s used by the left to denounce somebody with whom they disagree with. We hear countless stories of Gen Z at university campuses shutting down right-wing speakers such as Milo Yiannopoulos or Ben Shapiro because their speech is just too frightening for them to handle.
Right-wingers censoring speech is something not discussed as much but has historically been, and currently remains, a major issue. Take the religious right in America, who blamed Marylin Manson for school shootings, trying to stop their kids from listening to the provocative singer for fear they become a school shooter themselves. Or recently when Donald Trump said he would like to tighten libel laws in the US. And even Theresa May, the-then home secretary, who banned Tyler, the Creator from the UK for “posing a threat to public order”.
This right-wing snowflakism is embodied best by those who conflate criticism of the Israeli Government with prejudice against Jews as a people. There is no doubt a percentage of those who criticise Israel so fervently do so as a subsequent afterthought of their mindless bigotry.
But most do not. Most see the horrific apartheid taken place under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and simply speak out against it. Against a government that does not want to see a two-state solution and have continued to build thousands of settlements which are illegal under international law.
And now we come to the UK labour Party.
Back in September Labour’s National Executive Body (NEC) decided to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of anti-Semitism after months of party infighting and anti-Semitism claims made against members of the party and Jeremy Corbyn himself.
However, the NEC added a statement when agreeing to the international definition which read: "this will not in any way undermine freedom of expression on Israel or the rights of Palestinians".
One Jewish group said it risks giving bigots a “get out of jail free card” while another said: "It is clearly more important to the Labour leader to protect the free speech of those who hate Israel than it is to protect the Jewish community from the real threats that it faces.”
The issue with these statements is that we can walk and chew gum at the same time. We can ardently fight against anti-Semitism while speaking up against injustice Palestinians face on a daily basis. And yes, Israel faces huge issues too. They live in an area extremely hostile to their way of life, their religion and their democracy. Yes, they are the only democracy in the middle-east, yes Hezbollah is a terrorist organisation, but when did the bar that morality sits on become so low.
To say Israel gets a pass merely because it’s not as a bad an Iranian theocracy that murders apostates is a very low standard, to say the least.
So, let’s argue on the issues, on the policies and on their effects. Let’s not devolve such an important debate into strawmen and fallacies. Labour did the right thing to protect freedom of speech as well as the Jewish community. Not that they would have had to if people would stop assuming the motives behind arguments they dislike.
Comments
Post a Comment