Yaacov has already pointed out that the Jews fit the dictionary definition
of a "race".
In order to make a distinction between the religion and the "race", I refer
to the former as Judaism and the latter as the the Jews, or the concept of
Jewishness. The religion hasn't been racialized, but the Jews have.
Therefore, anti-Jewishness (commonly referred to as anti-Semitism) is racism
while anti-Judaism is not.
This classification is important for the same reason that it's important for
women to be considered persons. (Once upon a time, in Canada, they were not.)
To have it otherwise would be discriminatory. Saying, "Jews can't be victims
of racism" is just as wrong as saying, "Women can't have their human rights
violated."
I almost blew my top last year when the WPIRG staff told me that, "The
Holocaust wasn't racist; it was anti-Semetic." This is from an "anti-racist"
organization. Anti-Jewish discrimination such as this is in itself racism.
If WPIRG is able to maintian its existence, it must actualize one of the
following: acknowledge the problem and start working to improve it, or accept
its anti-Jewish status. The first option doesn't seem very likely given that
they've had a year and a half, and so far have done nothing other than shoving
everything under the rug and hoping it all goes away.
In fact, they've been provided with at least two opportunities to act in a
pro-Jewish manner; these were categorically rejected:
- The president of the Israel club (WIPAC) informed the PIRG that it was
looking for co-sponsorship in its hosting of the Irshad Manji lecture. The
theme for the evening was "diversity". She's a feminist lesbian Muslim human
rights advocate. This should be right up WPIRG's alley. Gays and Lesbians of
Waterloo (GLOW) and The Womyn's Centre co-sponsored. Where was WPIRG?
- We've all heard about Mohammed Elmasry. He's the Engineering professor who
stated that all Israelis should be targets of suicide bombers. WPIRG could
have spoken out against him. One would think that they would say something,
especially after he was a prominent speaker at their conference on racism and
war. They didn't make any attempt to distance themselves from the man. It's
really quite shocking.
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