A Guide for the Perplexed
A Guest Post by Michael Ezra
1. In 1844 Karl Marx tied up Jews with capitalism: "What is the worldly religion of the Jew? Huckstering. What is his worldly God? Money....Money is the jealous god of Israel, in face of which no other god may exist...The chimerical nationality of the Jew is the nationality of the merchant, of the man of money in general." For Marx, in order for there to be human progress, capitalism, and with it, "the empirical essence of Judaism," had to be abolished. [1] Despite some of Marx's most ardent supporters' attempts to excuse Marx's words by placing them “in context" or otherwise, this reeks of a standard antisemitic trope through the years.
2. Marxists see everything in terms of power relations. As Marx and Engels explained in the Communist Manifesto, political power is "merely the organised power of one class for oppressing another." The ruling class, which is the capitalist class, oppress the proletariat or the working class. Marx and Engels demanded the "forcible overthrow of all existing social conditions." [2] Force is required, for as Engels explained, "in history nothing is achieved without violence and implacable ruthlessness." [3]
3. Jews and/or Judaism are thus tied up with money, with power, and with oppression. Through such an analysis, violence and demonisation of Jews are justified by some leftists. Consider Ulrike Meinhoff of the Marxist Red Army Faction. For her, hatred of Jews was actually the hatred of capitalism. As a witness at the trial of Horst Mahler in 1972, she posed the question “How was Auschwitz possible, what was anti-Semitism?” Her stated opinion: “Auschwitz means that six million Jews were murdered and carted on to the rubbish dumps of Europe for being that which was maintained of them—Money-Jews.” Also, for her, the murder of the Israeli Olympic team at 1972 Munich Olympics was not only justified but something that could be praised.[4]
4. Sections of the contemporary left insist they are only attacking Zionists, they are not attacking Jews. This might be more believable if they did not use the very same themes by tying up Zionists with money and political power. As examples, one can note a 1979 comment by an activist in the National Union of Mineworkers that it was "Zionist money power" that lay behind imperialism and the oppression of the Palestinian people. [5] In a 1983 editorial of their newspaper, the Workers Revolutionary Party spoke of a "powerful Zionist connection" that stretched from such places as the top of the BBC, through to Margaret Thatcher's government and right into Ronald Reagan's White House. [6] Whether it be Jews or "only Zionists," the attacks are the same: they can be despised and justifiably attacked for political power, money, and oppression.
5. Alternatively to talking about Zionists controlling the press and influencing Western governments with money, some Marxists take the opposite approach when it comes to Israel. By this alternative, it is Western Imperialism that holds the true responsibility for the oppression of the Palestinians, but with Israel as a tool of Western Imperialism. By this reading, Israel is a country placed in the region to ensure Western imperialism's economic interests in the Middle East, notably oil, are safe. [7] But yet again, even with this alternative, political power, money, and oppression lie at the root at justifying, supporting, or excusing attacks on Zionists.
6. Since the left wish to overthrow imperialism, capitalism and eradicate oppression, and as the left defines itself as "anti-racist," attacks on Jews for having money and power might not even fit in with some on the left's view of what is antisemitic in the first place. Consider Matti Bunzl's definition of traditional antisemitism. It is that which is "designed to effect the exclusion of Jews from the national body.... [whereby] Jews were construed as intrinsic outsiders to Europe's nation-states, interlopers in a fantasy of ethnic purity." [8] This definition ignores the conspiratorial nature of much antisemitism from accusations of Christ killers, through to using money and power to control the press and government. The notorious antisemitic Russian fake document, "The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion" and the Dreyfus Affair in France, both of which had a Jewish conspiracy at their heart, were conveniently ignored by Professor Bunzl in his analysis.
7. From the 1970s, postmodernist leftists have attempted to redefine racism from simply having prejudice to having "prejudice plus power." They have done so with some success. Judith Katz put it in her 1978 training manual for anti-racism that "It is important to push for the understanding that racism is 'prejudice plus power' and therefore third world people cannot be racist against whites in the United States. Third world people can be prejudiced against whites but clearly do not have the power as a group to enforce that prejudice." [9] By this way of thinking, if Jews/Zionists are deemed to have power and are the oppressors and Muslims/Arabs are deemed to not have power and are the oppressed, and if antisemitism is a form of racism, Muslim antisemitism is a contradiction: it cannot really exist. This is why, in a number of articles published in the wake of the Islamist murders at the Charlie Hebdo office and the subsequent murders at the kosher supermarket in Paris in 2015, the Socialist Workers Party never mentioned the specific antisemitism at play in the choice of the supermarket where murders were committed, although they were quick to point out the rise in Islamophobia.[10]
8. One might wonder what these old texts from Marx and Engels, and extremist views of the Red Army Faction, the Workers Revolutionary Party and the Socialist Workers Party has to do with Jeremy Corbyn. The answer is that it is a similar strain of thought. And it for such reasons why Corbyn, among many other acts, attended a wreath-laying ceremony in 2014 for the members of the Black September group who had murdered the Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics. [11] These were, of course, the very same murderers whose actions Ulrike Meinhoff of the Red Army Faction had praised.
2. Marxists see everything in terms of power relations. As Marx and Engels explained in the Communist Manifesto, political power is "merely the organised power of one class for oppressing another." The ruling class, which is the capitalist class, oppress the proletariat or the working class. Marx and Engels demanded the "forcible overthrow of all existing social conditions." [2] Force is required, for as Engels explained, "in history nothing is achieved without violence and implacable ruthlessness." [3]
3. Jews and/or Judaism are thus tied up with money, with power, and with oppression. Through such an analysis, violence and demonisation of Jews are justified by some leftists. Consider Ulrike Meinhoff of the Marxist Red Army Faction. For her, hatred of Jews was actually the hatred of capitalism. As a witness at the trial of Horst Mahler in 1972, she posed the question “How was Auschwitz possible, what was anti-Semitism?” Her stated opinion: “Auschwitz means that six million Jews were murdered and carted on to the rubbish dumps of Europe for being that which was maintained of them—Money-Jews.” Also, for her, the murder of the Israeli Olympic team at 1972 Munich Olympics was not only justified but something that could be praised.[4]
4. Sections of the contemporary left insist they are only attacking Zionists, they are not attacking Jews. This might be more believable if they did not use the very same themes by tying up Zionists with money and political power. As examples, one can note a 1979 comment by an activist in the National Union of Mineworkers that it was "Zionist money power" that lay behind imperialism and the oppression of the Palestinian people. [5] In a 1983 editorial of their newspaper, the Workers Revolutionary Party spoke of a "powerful Zionist connection" that stretched from such places as the top of the BBC, through to Margaret Thatcher's government and right into Ronald Reagan's White House. [6] Whether it be Jews or "only Zionists," the attacks are the same: they can be despised and justifiably attacked for political power, money, and oppression.
5. Alternatively to talking about Zionists controlling the press and influencing Western governments with money, some Marxists take the opposite approach when it comes to Israel. By this alternative, it is Western Imperialism that holds the true responsibility for the oppression of the Palestinians, but with Israel as a tool of Western Imperialism. By this reading, Israel is a country placed in the region to ensure Western imperialism's economic interests in the Middle East, notably oil, are safe. [7] But yet again, even with this alternative, political power, money, and oppression lie at the root at justifying, supporting, or excusing attacks on Zionists.
6. Since the left wish to overthrow imperialism, capitalism and eradicate oppression, and as the left defines itself as "anti-racist," attacks on Jews for having money and power might not even fit in with some on the left's view of what is antisemitic in the first place. Consider Matti Bunzl's definition of traditional antisemitism. It is that which is "designed to effect the exclusion of Jews from the national body.... [whereby] Jews were construed as intrinsic outsiders to Europe's nation-states, interlopers in a fantasy of ethnic purity." [8] This definition ignores the conspiratorial nature of much antisemitism from accusations of Christ killers, through to using money and power to control the press and government. The notorious antisemitic Russian fake document, "The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion" and the Dreyfus Affair in France, both of which had a Jewish conspiracy at their heart, were conveniently ignored by Professor Bunzl in his analysis.
7. From the 1970s, postmodernist leftists have attempted to redefine racism from simply having prejudice to having "prejudice plus power." They have done so with some success. Judith Katz put it in her 1978 training manual for anti-racism that "It is important to push for the understanding that racism is 'prejudice plus power' and therefore third world people cannot be racist against whites in the United States. Third world people can be prejudiced against whites but clearly do not have the power as a group to enforce that prejudice." [9] By this way of thinking, if Jews/Zionists are deemed to have power and are the oppressors and Muslims/Arabs are deemed to not have power and are the oppressed, and if antisemitism is a form of racism, Muslim antisemitism is a contradiction: it cannot really exist. This is why, in a number of articles published in the wake of the Islamist murders at the Charlie Hebdo office and the subsequent murders at the kosher supermarket in Paris in 2015, the Socialist Workers Party never mentioned the specific antisemitism at play in the choice of the supermarket where murders were committed, although they were quick to point out the rise in Islamophobia.[10]
8. One might wonder what these old texts from Marx and Engels, and extremist views of the Red Army Faction, the Workers Revolutionary Party and the Socialist Workers Party has to do with Jeremy Corbyn. The answer is that it is a similar strain of thought. And it for such reasons why Corbyn, among many other acts, attended a wreath-laying ceremony in 2014 for the members of the Black September group who had murdered the Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics. [11] These were, of course, the very same murderers whose actions Ulrike Meinhoff of the Red Army Faction had praised.
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References
[1] Karl Marx, "On the Jewish Question," 1844. Online athttps://www.marxists.org/arch…/…/works/1844/jewish-question/
[2] Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, "The Manifesto of the Communist Party," 1848. https://www.marxists.org/…/18…/communist-manifesto/index.htm
[3]. Friedrich Engels, "Democratic Pan-Slavism," Neue Rheinische Zeitung, February 15, 1849. Online athttps://marxists.catbull.com/archi…/marx/works/1849/…/15.htm
[4] Jillian Becker, "The Red Army Faction: Another Final Battle on the Stage of History," TERRORISM: An International Journal, Vol. 5, Nos 1-2, 1981, pp.89-105. A version of this article is available free online athttp://www.libertarian.co.uk/lapubs/cultn/cultn012.pdf
[5] "P.L.O. Petition Campaign: Miners demand recognition," The News Line, December 8, 1979, p.2. This reference was also used by Steve Cohen in his book, "That's Funny, You Don't Look Antisemitic." An online version can be seen here http://you-dont-look-anti-semitic.blogspot.com/…/zionism-an…
[6] "The Zionist Connection," The News Line, April 9, 1983, p.8. A version of this editorial is reproduced online at https://www.workersliberty.org/…/news-line-editorial-april-…
[7] An example of this argument is the thesis of John Rose's pamphlet, "Israel: The Hijack State: America's Watchdog in the Middle East," (London: Bookmarks Publishing Cooperative, 1986). A version of this pamphlet is available free online at https://www.marxists.org/…/document/mideast/hijack/index.htm
[8] Matti Bunzl, "Between anti‐Semitism and Islamophobia: Some thoughts on the new Europe," American Ethnologist
Vol. 32, No. 4 (Nov., 2005), pp. 499-508. Unfortunately, I cannot locate a freely accessible version of this article on line. (NB. I am grateful to David Hirsh for bringing this article to my attention).
[9] Judy H. Katz, "White Awareness: Handbook for Anti-racism Training," (University of Oklahoma Press, 1978), p.50. The relevant page can be seen freely online at https://books.google.co.uk/books…
[10] For examples, see Dave Sewell, "Muslims in Paris speak out—‘We are not sorry for being Muslim’" Socialist Worker, January 20, 2015 online at https://socialistworker.co.uk/…/Muslims+in+Paris+speak+out+… , "Statement of the International Socialist Tendency on the Paris shootings," Socialist Worker, January 22, 2015, online at
https://socialistworker.co.uk/…/Statement+of+the+Internatio… and Mark Brown, "Socialism, satire and Charlie Hebdo," International Socialism: A Quarterly Review of Socialist Theory, July 6, 2015. Online athttp://isj.org.uk/socialism-satire-and-charlie-hebdo/
[11] "Jeremy Corbyn 'wreath laying' attacked by Israeli PM," BBC, August 14, 2018, online at https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-45170622
[1] Karl Marx, "On the Jewish Question," 1844. Online athttps://www.marxists.org/arch…/…/works/1844/jewish-question/
[2] Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, "The Manifesto of the Communist Party," 1848. https://www.marxists.org/…/18…/communist-manifesto/index.htm
[3]. Friedrich Engels, "Democratic Pan-Slavism," Neue Rheinische Zeitung, February 15, 1849. Online athttps://marxists.catbull.com/archi…/marx/works/1849/…/15.htm
[4] Jillian Becker, "The Red Army Faction: Another Final Battle on the Stage of History," TERRORISM: An International Journal, Vol. 5, Nos 1-2, 1981, pp.89-105. A version of this article is available free online athttp://www.libertarian.co.uk/lapubs/cultn/cultn012.pdf
[5] "P.L.O. Petition Campaign: Miners demand recognition," The News Line, December 8, 1979, p.2. This reference was also used by Steve Cohen in his book, "That's Funny, You Don't Look Antisemitic." An online version can be seen here http://you-dont-look-anti-semitic.blogspot.com/…/zionism-an…
[6] "The Zionist Connection," The News Line, April 9, 1983, p.8. A version of this editorial is reproduced online at https://www.workersliberty.org/…/news-line-editorial-april-…
[7] An example of this argument is the thesis of John Rose's pamphlet, "Israel: The Hijack State: America's Watchdog in the Middle East," (London: Bookmarks Publishing Cooperative, 1986). A version of this pamphlet is available free online at https://www.marxists.org/…/document/mideast/hijack/index.htm
[8] Matti Bunzl, "Between anti‐Semitism and Islamophobia: Some thoughts on the new Europe," American Ethnologist
Vol. 32, No. 4 (Nov., 2005), pp. 499-508. Unfortunately, I cannot locate a freely accessible version of this article on line. (NB. I am grateful to David Hirsh for bringing this article to my attention).
[9] Judy H. Katz, "White Awareness: Handbook for Anti-racism Training," (University of Oklahoma Press, 1978), p.50. The relevant page can be seen freely online at https://books.google.co.uk/books…
[10] For examples, see Dave Sewell, "Muslims in Paris speak out—‘We are not sorry for being Muslim’" Socialist Worker, January 20, 2015 online at https://socialistworker.co.uk/…/Muslims+in+Paris+speak+out+… , "Statement of the International Socialist Tendency on the Paris shootings," Socialist Worker, January 22, 2015, online at
https://socialistworker.co.uk/…/Statement+of+the+Internatio… and Mark Brown, "Socialism, satire and Charlie Hebdo," International Socialism: A Quarterly Review of Socialist Theory, July 6, 2015. Online athttp://isj.org.uk/socialism-satire-and-charlie-hebdo/
[11] "Jeremy Corbyn 'wreath laying' attacked by Israeli PM," BBC, August 14, 2018, online at https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-45170622
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