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British MPs won't get to see 'WitchHunt' in the House of Commons - the very place it needs to be shown
Cohen, Robert
http://mondoweiss.net/2019/03/british-witchhunt-commons/Date Written: 2019-03-03 Publisher: Mondoweiss Year Published: 2019 Resource Type: Article Cx Number: CX23548 A screening of a documentary - made by Jewish Labour party members - about charges of anti-semitism in the British Labour Party has been cancelled. Abstract: -- Excerpt: A new documentary 'WitchHunt' about the long running accusations of antisemitism in the British Labour Party was due to be shown in the House of Commons tomorrow, 4 March. The screening was cancelled after protests that the film itself contributes to the very antisemitism it sets out to explore.... 'WitchHunt' does not say that antisemitism does not exist in the Labour Party. Nor does it diminish the pain and hurt that antisemitic tropes can cause to Jewish Labour party members or Jewish Labour MPs or the Jewish community more broadly. What is being questioned is the scale of the problem and the motivation of those who are presenting it as a 'crisis' of such proportions that it threatens the safety of the entire Jewish community in Britain.... My own journey to Palestinian solidarity has taken inspiration from the generations of Jewish critics of Zionism that have come before me. I've found Jewish opposition to Zionism to be amongst the most thoughtful and nuanced sources on the subject. They 'get' where Jewish Zionists are coming from. They 'get' the history of racism towards Jews. They 'get' why the on-going oppression of the Palestinian people by the Israeli government is so difficult for the mainstream Jewish community to face into. In the case of Jewish Voice for Peace, they're also able to set anti-semitism within a broader understanding of racism and a more inclusive strategy to counter it. Subject Headings |