I’m seeing more and more “sloppy” positions among non-Jewish anarchists who were raised within some form of Christianity—positions that inadvertently (or not) aren’t at all sensitive to their Jewish anarchist friends and all the awfulness, conundrums, and feelings we’re grappling with these days, never mind all the numerous fronts we Jewish anarchists are having to fight on that you might not even see or be aware of. Or sadly, painfully, inadvertently (or not) are replicating bad/old/tired antisemitic tropes. Or sadly, painfully, inadvertently (or not) are throwing their Jewish anarchist friends under the bus—or seemingly advocating our death along with all Jews, or at least a hefty amount of bloodlust against most of the world’s Jews.
My heart feels more broken then ever by the genocide against Palestinians, and as an anarchist, by knowing we can’t rely on any state, international body like the United Nations, or NGO to stop it. (Progressives and liberals can at least comfort themselves with such delusions.) All we can rely on is each other, as bleak and horrific and powerless as that feels when Palestinians are being massacred by the hour. Yet we only keep our hearts—broken, yes, precisely because they are fiercely and rebelliously loving—if we keep steadfast to liberatory forms of solidarity, liberatory forms of collective care, including taking care not to do (further) harm to each other.
Because fascism and colonialism, racism and heteropatriarchy, states and cops, antisemitism and Islamophobia are damned good at harming us without anarchists offering a helping hand. Without us, inadvertently (or not) becoming as bloodthirsty as them.
What we have that they never will is our ability to gift each other as much life and empathy, love and solidarity as possible.
(photo: bottom half of an 8.5x11 white piece of paper wheat pasted to a wall in so-called Asheville, NC, as seen on a walk; the words on the paper, in black ink, read: “Fight for Palestine! Fight for humanity! Fight racism! Fight Islamophobia! Fight antisemitism! Fight colonialism!,” signed by “Eve Adams sisters in arms / Jewish voice for anarchy,” with three little symbols: a Star of David, dove with olive branch, and circle alef [jewish anarchist version of a circle A])
#JewishVoicesForAnarchism
#SolidarityIsOurBestWeapon
#UntilAllAreFree
