Countering Antisemitism is the Work of Interfaith Coalitions

Antisemitism is an issue that all communities across the political spectrum have a responsibility to address. What makes countering antisemitism so complicated is that for years, some right-wing politicians have been wielding antisemitism as a weapon against the left to advance their authoritarian agenda. While increasingly giving a free pass to the white supremacist forms of antisemitism on the right, they saw that they could effectively deploy accusations of antisemitism against the left to break apart progressive coalitions. To be clear, these accusations were often based on real instances of antisemitism which must be addressed. Yet they found that such accusations, even when they were not substantiated, were still effective, particularly when deployed in the context of conversations about Israel and Palestine and even more effective when used against Muslims or Arabs and other people of color. 

The horrific attacks in Israel on October 7, 2023, the catastrophic war in Gaza and now the region ever since, have been absolutely devastating to all with personal, religious, familial, or other communal ties to the region. In response to this deep pain, these same bad actors on the right have exploited real divisions on Israel/Palestine to drive a wedge in progressive coalitions trying to work across our differences in the service of common cause. As members of our communities were traumatized by images and reports of death, devastation, and hostage-taking, rather than provide empathetic leadership to all impacted, they suggested that any criticism of the Israeli government was a call for genocide against Jews, further stoking fear and suspicion amongst those advocating for the safety of Israelis, Palestinians, or both. They targeted Jewish and Arab and Muslim voters with divisive messaging. And they have shone a spotlight on real and perceived incidents of antisemitism in progressive movements to drive our communities apart and make it harder to navigate issues where we have substantive disagreements. The goal? To keep us from building solidarity with one another, a solidarity which is essential to protect our communities and protect our democracy. 

We can refuse to take the bait of this authoritarian strategy. If authoritarianism relies on us being divided, we must counter it by choosing to instead come together. 

The work to address antisemitism, and all forms of hate, must be an essential part of the work of interfaith coalitions. This is for two core reasons:

First, speaking out against antisemitism is an essential component of interfaith allyship. Interfaith coalitions have become increasingly fractured over these past two and half years, as would-be allies to Jewish, Arab, and Muslim communities have felt unsure about how to respond to antisemitism, Islamophobia, and anti-Arab racism in the context of broader tensions around Israel and Palestine in American domestic politics. Right-wing actors have suggested one cannot counter antisemitism without exacerbating Islamophobia & anti-Arab racism, and that one cannot counter Islamophobia & anti-Arab racism without exacerbating antisemitism. 

This is a false narrative. It is a divide-and-conquer tactic aimed at disrupting interfaith solidarity, fueling hate against multiple minority communities in America, and preventing allyship to each of these communities. It is essential that we join together in disrupting this narrative by being unequivocal in our solidarity to each and every one of these communities and insisting on bold allyship. We can lift up powerful examples of Jewish-Muslim solidarity, of Jewish-Arab solidarity, and broader interfaith partnerships that all demonstrate there is a strong and viable path forward that protects all of our communities and protects our democracy. The narrative that we must choose some communities over others is a false choice.

Second, we must all work together to counter antisemitism because it is being weaponized to harm Jewish communities and American democracy. The same right-wing actors who peddle in Nazi conspiracy theories are claiming to be tough on antisemitism when they take steps which do not, in fact, help Jewish communities, such as cutting off funding for institutions of higher education and targeting immigrants. Such strategies are part of Project Esther by the Heritage Foundation, which was the blueprint for the administration’s official strategy for combatting antisemitism. Ultimately, when these bad faith actors use antisemitism as a justification for authoritarianism, they are directly fueling antisemitism, by scapegoating Jews as the reason for their actions. As an interfaith coalition, we need to be able to effectively call that out and insist on strategies which actually do help Jewish communities.

I see a parallel between efforts to address antisemitism and efforts to address religious freedom. So-called religious liberty advocates on the right have invested incredible resources in efforts to stand up for religious liberty – efforts which are in fact weaponizing free exercise rights to deny access to reproductive health care and to discriminate against LGBTQ people. Meanwhile they seek to erode the separation of church and state. All of this is deeply harmful to our religious liberty, yet headline after headline erroneously describes the successes of these right-wing causes to undermine religious liberty as wins for religious liberty. In a similar vein, when we allow right-wing actors to weaponize antisemitism, we are letting them get away with falsely claiming to be the champions of work to address antisemitism, while they are actually furthering antisemitism, by scapegoating Jewish communities and giving a free pass to the antisemites in their midst.

We have to resist these false narratives from the right by being bolder, louder, and more strategic in efforts to address antisemitism. We have to be willing to call out antisemitism, whether it comes from the left or the right. And to do that, and to do it well, we must work with our extraordinary Jewish partners who are leading the way – organizations like the Nexus Project, Bend the Arc, T’ruah, and the Jewish Council on Public Affairs. 

At Interfaith Alliance, we insist that combatting antisemitism must be a core issue for interfaith coalitions, and we are eager to continue working with our partners to amplify strategic messaging and take bold action to protect Jewish communities.

Maggie Siddiqi is the Senior Advisor at Interfaith Alliance.

The views and beliefs expressed in this post and all Interfaith Alliance blogs are those held by the author of each respective piece. To learn more about the organizational views, policies, and positions of Interfaith Alliance on any issues, please contact [email protected].