Standing Up to Hate in the Time of Plague

While many of us are quarantined at home because we are vulnerable to COVID-19, others — whether vulnerable or not — are out protesting (hopefully peacefully) against racial inequality in the U.S. and elsewhere.

Stuck at home and researching another Holocaust-related project, I have been pondering the potential effectiveness of protests and when other means might be more effective.

I do think for Black Lives Matter that peaceful protests can get the media attention needed to shine a very strong spotlight on system-wide racial prejudice. Once the public’s attention is achieved, then real change at government, company and individual levels must take place.

Finding ways to combat anti-Semitism can be harder than finding ways to combat racial bias because anti-Semitism is often not recognized for what it is. If we want to combat anti-Semitism, we must first find ways to educate people as to what anti-Semitism is.

Here is the definition from the U.S. Office of the Special Envoy To Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism

The Department of State has used a working definition, along with examples, of anti-Semitism since 2010. On May 26, 2016, the 31 member states of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), of which the United States is a member, adopted a non-legally binding “working definition” of anti-Semitism at its plenary in Bucharest. This definition is consistent with and builds upon the information contained in the 2010 State Department definition. As a member of IHRA, the United States now uses this working definition and has encouraged other governments and international organizations to use it as well.

Bucharest, 26 May 2016

In the spirit of the Stockholm Declaration that states: “With humanity still scarred by …antisemitism and xenophobia the international community shares a solemn responsibility to fight those evils” the committee on Antisemitism and Holocaust Denial called the IHRA Plenary in Budapest 2015 to adopt the following working definition of antisemitism.

On 26 May 2016, the Plenary in Bucharest decided to:

Adopt the following non-legally binding working definition of antisemitism:

“Antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.”

Once what constitutes anti-Semitism is understood, then comes the harder task of educating people to accept Jews, as well as other minorities, as equals. While difficult, this is a task in which we can all participate.

Read about the free theater project to combat anti-Semitism and racism at ThinEdgeOfTheWedge.com

Read the entire U.S. Department of State definition of anti-Semitism here.