In view of the slanderous attacks on NDP federal leader Avi Lewis for his statement grieving Israel's genocidal war on the Palestinians, I reproduce the statement issued by Independent Jewish Voices, an anti-Zionist organization of Canadian Jews. Bear in mind that Israel wrongfully claims to represent Jews world-wide, -- Richard Fidler
In advance of Yom Kippur, NDP leader Avi Lewis tweeted a brief
reflection, naming that on a day when Jews are called to account for the year
that has passed, “we failed to do our part to stop an ongoing genocide
committed in our name.”
Thousands of Jews around the world marked the holy day with
the same solemn reflection, grappling with the same grief, from mass public yizkor
demonstrations to private contemplation at communal gatherings. Lewis is
far from alone in the frustration that our collective efforts have fallen short
in the face of the unrelenting devastation being inflicted upon Palestinians by
Israel.
Yet rather than grapple with the reality of Israel’s ongoing
genocide, several politicians, commentators, and pro-Israel lobby groups have
fixated on Lewis’ statement, mischaracterizing this heartfelt expression of
grief as antisemitic. They even went so far as to blame Lewis for the
frightening shooting outside a synagogue in Belleville, Ontario, at the outset
of Kol Nidre, Yom Kippur evening services.
As we have since learned, the shooter, a former member of
the Canadian Armed Forces, is purported to have subscribed
to antisemitic conspiracy theories, including that Jews were responsible for
COVID-19. He has since died of injuries sustained in a shootout with a police
officer, who is now in critical condition. While fortunately none of the
congregants were injured, the instance is a grim reminder of ongoing threats
posed to Jews by far-right antisemitic conspiracy theorists, a phenomenon that
goes all too often ignored as Zionist lobby groups and pundits find it more
politically advantageous to focus their ire on supporters of Palestinian
liberation.
Not even Jews like Avi Lewis are spared in their haste to
jump to conclusions and score points for Israel and its defenders when we speak
simple truths: that a genocide is being committed, that it is being done in our
name, and that we must do everything in our ability to bring about justice in
the face of such atrocities. We do not hold all Jews accountable for the
actions of Israel, as bad-faith critics often claim when we speak as a
collective. Rather, we follow Jewish intellectual traditions of
collectivity.
Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel famously wrote, “In a free
society, some are guilty, but all are responsible.” The ashamnu prayer
that we say at Yom Kippur reflects a sense of collective responsibility, saying
“we are guilty” or “we have trespassed.” Our traditions teach us to understand
ourselves as morally intertwined with one another, each individual acting not
only on behalf of themself alone, but as part of a larger whole. This tradition
is a fundamental principle for progressive Jews who fight for collective
liberation.
As Jews, we feel particularly called upon to respond to the
atrocities being committed in our name. But every day we see Canadians of many
backgrounds and faiths feel similarly called to respond to those same war
crimes being committed with their own government’s tacit endorsement or
subsidized with their tax dollars. In this regard, it is not Canadian Jews that
are uniquely responsible, who have failed to stop a genocide. It is everyone,
together. It is notably the Canadian government and other signatories of the
Genocide Convention, for whom it is not only required to punish acts of
genocide but also to prevent them.
Zionist politicians, lobbyists and pundits are evidently
more interested in smearing a progressive Jewish politician than helping Canada
fulfill its international obligations. And in their eagerness to misattribute
blame for antisemitism to Palestine solidarity, they fail to address the very
real threat of white supremacy and far-right extremism to Jewish life. Most
egregiously, they dismiss and distract from Israel’s ongoing attempted
annihilation of the Palestinian people in full view of the world, every day.
