With great difficulty I would say. Although many of us may lead comfortable lives, the life of a Diaspora Jew is mostly uncomfortable. Being part of any minority group requires constant questioning as you try to keep thinking, educate your children, preserve your culture and not fall into victim or oppressor roles. Furthermore, how one expresses one's identity is forever changing depending on where one lives and the changing contexts of a particular country. For instance, I would wear a Star of David in England because it states that I am proud to be a Jew and I will not be rendered invisible as a Jew. If I wore a Star of David in South Africa, it would mean to most Muslims and possibly others, that I am a Zionist and that I support the actions of the state of Israel.
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| Harvey Jackins |
Jewish Oppression
As I say in
my article about the Russell Tribunal, I used to be an anti-Zionist. That was until I met Harvey Jackins, the leader of
Re-evaluation Counselling (RC), who understood the nature of Jewish oppression and who, together with Jews belonging to the RC Communities
developed a draft policy on Jewish Liberation. He had observed during
his radical youth, that Jews tended to take up two positions: 1) we joined left-wing organisations and fought for everyone else's liberation except our own or 2) we tended towards ghettoisation within our own communities.
The key distress we carry is one of isolation and we do not expect to have allies.
