SocraticGadfly: Joe Biden's fighting antisemitism, but it is ONLY antisemitism?

June 08, 2023

Joe Biden's fighting antisemitism, but it is ONLY antisemitism?

As in, will anti-Zionism also be in his crosshairs?

Via this piece at The Conversation (put by Kuff in his weekend link dump), I found linked "The US National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism," straight from the White House.

Those of us who support BDS and know the lies (sic) that the most ardent Zionists can peddle (witness Roger Waters right now and Jeremy Corbin before him) that antisemitism can be weaponized against anti-Zionism. And, given that Warmonger Joe himself is anti-BDS, I don't doubt that, whether accidentally or deliberately, there's a good chance of such happening.

Let's start with this:

The U.S. Government, led by the Department of State,will continue to combat antisemitism abroad and in international fora—including efforts to delegitimize the State of Israel. As we confront antisemitism, we do so

Given that the government of Israel, and Zionist allies in the US, consider any mention of BDS to be "delegitimizing" Israel's right to exist, I think there's good reason to be concerned.

Fortunately, Joe Pa didn't dive totally in the deep end. Mondoweiss notes that (for now?) Biden resisted a push to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism. On the other hand, the piece notes that the White House has expressed support for it before, and while other definitions of antisemitism were also references, the IHRA one was called "most prominent." That said, Mondoweiss said it will keep an eye on the White House on actual implementation. So will I, especially as an election nears.

And, I will give the doc a kudo, as it calls for many federal agencies to educate not only against antisemitism, but also "Islamophobia and related forms of discrimination."

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