A-Infos (en) France, UCL AL #347 - Anti-fascism, Tzedek! A Jewish voice for justice (ca, de, fr, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

Created in June 2023, the Tsedek collective! has been growing very 
rapidly since the start of the Israeli genocidal offensive in Gaza. Born 
in Paris, he spread to Lille, Marseille, Grenoble, Lyon... He made 
another Jewish, decolonial and anti-Zionist voice heard. ---- This can 
only displease fans of the massacre. Already three Tsedek events have 
been canceled following pressure[1], and the anathemas against Tsedek 
often repeat the most classic anti-Semitic rhetoric[2]. But what is this 
collective, and why is it so scary?
"Tzedek" is the Hebrew word for "righteousness." And it is this notion 
which is at the center of the anti-racist work of this collective. 
Justice in Palestine first of all: peace will not take place without 
justice and equality. Respect for the rights of Palestinians (lifting 
the blockade, right of return, release of prisoners, fight against the 
wall and expulsions, etc.) is a necessity so that everyone can live 
equally in a democratic country , from the Sea to the Jordan.

Justice in France too, against state racism, because the anti-racist 
commitment is not complete if it does not attack our own imperialism. 
From the Darmanin law to police crimes in France, or the repression of 
demonstrations in Senegal with the support of the French state, Tsedek 
participates in demonstrations and communicates his support for all 
struggles against state racism. Justice at last, for all oppressed 
people, everywhere in the world. In his statement of support for the 
Kurdish demonstration of January 6, 2024[3], Tsedek compares Jewish 
history and Kurdish history: "we share the same community of destiny in 
the face of ethno-nationalism and imperialism" .

"For a Jewishness emancipated from Zionism"
The collective considers that a materialist analysis of Zionism can only 
lead to defining it as a colonial project. "Zionism is best defined by 
its material manifestation: apartheid, expulsions, house destruction, 
dehumanization, blockade, political prisoners, summary executions, 
ethnic cleansing and genocide"[4]. Tsedek therefore intends to bring a 
critical Jewish voice. Faced with the massacre in Gaza, he launched a 
petition on October 31 which proclaimed: "you will not have the silence 
of the Jews of France". In the Parisian demonstrations for a ceasefire 
in Gaza, the collective appeared in a "Jewish bloc" alongside other 
anti-Zionist Jewish organizations (Oy Gevalt, Kessem, UJFP)[5].

If Tsedek opposes organizations and collectives that claim to represent 
Jewish speech, it is not to speak "in the name" of Jews, but to insist 
on the plurality of Jewish opinions. The amalgamations between 
Jewishness and Zionism, and between anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism, lead 
to the essentialization of Jews, as if they were a uniform mass who 
would speak with one voice in favor of colonialism. To refuse this 
capture of Jewish voices, there was a need for a new collective that 
would allow anti-Zionist Jewish people to express themselves in the 
first person, against institutions that speak in place or on behalf of 
all Jewish people. From then on, Tsedek did not hesitate to take on the 
conflict with the Zionist Jewish organizations, from the CRIF to the 
UEJF, which reciprocated him.

"The right to self-determination of Jews cannot be at the expense of 
another people" Nadav Joffe, co-founder of Tsedek! in the Mediapart show 
À l'air libre.
RED PHOTO LIBRARY
Against anti-Semitism and its exploitation
At the center of the collective's commitments is also the fight against 
anti-Semitism. Tsedek offers a materialist reading, which breaks with 
dominant analyses. In the collective's manifesto, anti-Semitism is 
defined as a "product of white supremacy". In 1492, the same year that 
Christopher Columbus opened the way to the colonization of the American 
continent, Spain expelled Jews in the name of "purity of blood": it was 
indeed European nation-states that made Jews and Jewish outcasts, who 
racialized and discriminated against them.

When these same nation-states use the fight against anti-Semitism to 
produce national unity around them, as was the case with the November 12 
demonstration in Paris, Tsedek sees it as a hideous instrumentalization, 
all the more so when it involves using the pretext of the fight against 
anti-Semitism to reinforce other racisms, notably Islamophobic[6]. The 
same government which called for this march contains, among others, 
Gérald Darmanin, author of filthy declarations on Jews who "practice 
usury" and give rise to "troubles and complaints"!

On the contrary, the fight against Tsedek anti-Semitism is closely 
linked to all other anti-racisms. Anti-Semitism, like all racism, has 
its specificities, but making it exceptional racism is a political 
mistake: the anti-racist fight will be common or it will not be. In the 
fight against anti-Semitism, as in all struggles, "the compass can only 
be that of justice, collective emancipation and political opportunities 
that break with the structures that produce anti-Semitism. Without this, 
it is disarmed"[7].

Daniel (UCL Lyon)

To validate

[1]An event planned for January 6, at the Cirque Electrique de Paris 
entitled "against anti-Semitism, its exploitation and for revolutionary 
peace in Palestine" was canceled by the town hall which lent the room, 
possibly by giving in to threats of far-right Zionist groups. On January 
30, it was a screening of the film The Zone of Interest in the presence 
of researcher Sadia Agsous-Bienstein, planned at the Magestic Bastille 
cinema, which was canceled at the last minute. A new session was planned 
for February 6, with the historian Johann Chapoutot as second guest. The 
latter declined the invitation at the last minute, and the cinema 
refused to allow the premiere to speak alone, with justifications of 
which the person concerned underlined the racist subtext.

[2]On the Akadem website, a column entitled "Tsedek and Neturei Karta, 
the Jews preferred by anti-Semites" presents Tsedek as a "marginal and 
over-publicized" group, for example.

[3]"With the Kurdish left on January 6 Justice and truth for the six 
assassinations!», Libertarian Alternative, February 2024

[4]https://x.com/TSDKcollectif/status/1749834211131805949

[5]For a presentation of the UJFP in the columns of Alternative 
Libertaire: "Pierre Stambul (UJFP): "Our audience is growing"", 
Alternative Libertaire, May 2009

[6]UCL developed a very similar position in our press release of 
November 18, 2023, "Fight against anti-Semitism: dangerous attempts at 
reappropriation by the extreme right"

[7]Tsedek, "Anti-Semitism must be fought, its exploitation too", 
November 3, 2023.

https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Tsedek-Une-voix-juive-pour-la-justice
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