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THREAD: I should just log off, but in an effort to do something constructive, I'll put some of the resources for critiquing and confronting antisemitism on the left I've found most accessible and useful in a single thread.
I don't focus on this because I think left antisemitism is "worse" or "more dangerous" than other forms of antisemitism. The greatest danger of physical harm to Jews comes from white nationalism, licensed by far-right authoritarian populisms in, or close to, power.
But, as a partisan of the revolutionary socialist movement, I feel a particular responsibility to confront distorting, misleading, and toxifying ideologies within my own movement, as part of an effort to transform that movement so we're fit to achieve our aims.
Recommended reading follows. I don't wholly agree with all of the writing, but I think all of this literature contributes something valuable to an analysis of how antisemitism manifests on the left, and what we can do to change that.
Already mentioned today, but have to start with Steve Cohen's 'That's Funny, You Don't Look Antisemitic' (1984). Still highly relevant today. Latest edition available from @dontlookanti, text also available online if you can't afford it.
Also retweeted this earlier, but just to put everything in one place, @homeandfreedom's 'The Past Didn't Go Anywhere' (2007). https://www.aprilrosenblum.com/thepast
Two interviews with Moishe Postone, one of the most insightful critics of left antisemitism:
"Antisemitism and Reactionary Anti-Capitalism" (2016) https://www.workersliberty.org/story/2017-07-26/anti-semitism-and-reactionary-anti-capitalism
"Zionism, antisemitism, and the Left" (2010)
https://www.workersliberty.org/story/2010-02-05/zionism-anti-semitism-and-left
"Antisemitism and Reactionary Anti-Capitalism" (2016) https://www.workersliberty.org/story/2017-07-26/anti-semitism-and-reactionary-anti-capitalism
"Zionism, antisemitism, and the Left" (2010)
https://www.workersliberty.org/story/2010-02-05/zionism-anti-semitism-and-left
"Looking Left At Antisemitism" (2019), by @transform6789: http://transformativestudies.org/wp-content/uploads/Spencer-Sunshine.pdf
"Socialist Antisemitism and its Discontents in England, 1884-98" (2017), by Satnam Virdee: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/0031322X.2017.1335029
Two articles on the origins of contemporary left antisemitism in Stalinism:
"The Stalinist Roots of 'Left' Antisemitism", by Stan Crooke (1988)
https://www.workersliberty.org/files/wl10stalinismantisemitism.pdf
"The Stalinist Roots of 'Left' Antisemitism", by Stan Crooke (1988)
https://www.workersliberty.org/files/wl10stalinismantisemitism.pdf
"Soviet Anti-Zionism and Contemporary Left Antisemitism" (2019), by @IzaTabaro: https://fathomjournal.org/soviet-anti-zionism-and-contemporary-left-antisemitism/
Obviously this list is not exhaustive, but these books/articles are certainly ones I refer to frequently and which have done a lot to educate me and shape my thinking on this issue. Feel free to add your own. Hope these are useful to some of you.
