Jews partially to blame for anti-Semitism directed at them, says Jewish scholar

PETALING JAYA: The Jews are partially to blame for the anti-Semitism directed at them by the international community as Jewish communities are not doing enough to hold Israel responsible for Gaza atrocities, said Jewish academic Dr Peter Slezak (pic).

"We have to be more subtle about blaming Jews as a whole for the Israeli government’s actions. But the difficulty is that Jewish communities around the world are uncritical supporters of Israel," said Slezak.

"And to that extent, they do share some of the blame,” the Australia-based scholar added after delivering a talk titled ‘Solution to the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict - Proposal from a Secular Jewish Academic’ at Universiti Malaya on Monday.

The professor of philosophy at the University of New South Wales is among a handful of Jewish scholars strongly advocating for an end to the occupation of Palestine by Israel.

He agreed that not all Jews are supportive of Israel, but urged more of them to actively speak out against the atrocities in Gaza.

 “Unfortunately, Israel is acting in the name of all Jews. Therefore, they have the responsibility to say that it’s not in my name. And that I, as a Jew, do not accept that Israel is committing its crime and stealing Palestinian land for us," he said.

Slezak added that Jewish communities need to stand up and speak up, and said that they don't do it enough.

The Independent Australian Jewish Voices co-founder said that Jews who are critical of Israel - like him - are treated with hostility by the Jewish community and are often labelled as being "self-hating."

"On one hand, the Jews will look away and be silent when Israel does terrible things to the Palestinians, and on the other hand they vilify Jews who speak out," he said.

He added that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was not a religious problem, but a political one and that it was wrong to suggest that all Muslims disliked Jews and vice versa.

Slezak said that both communities needed to be educated and immunised against such racist assumptions.

“The cause of this conflict is not Islam and it’s not the Palestinians, these are political problems we have to understand. Our job is to help clarify the real source of the problem and not to be manipulated by the propaganda,” he added.

Dr Slezak is on a week-long visit to Malaysia at the behest of several pro-Palestinian groups such as Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) Malaysia, Viva Palestina Malaysia, My Humanitarian Care, and the Universiti Malaya Palestine Research Group.