By Dave McKee
As the contradictions within capitalism sharpen, and dissent and resistance increase, there is a corresponding increase in aggressiveness and authoritarianism by those in power.
Globally, this is evidenced by increased competition and rivalry among the most powerful economies, leading to an increasingly frantic rush to divide and re-divide the world into “spheres of influence” and a resultant intensification in militarism and war.
Domestically, this is seen in the furthered immiseration of the majority of the population as corporations and their friends in government drive down real wages and working conditions, place limits on labour rights and, increasingly, erode even “bourgeois” democratic norms in order to enforce a social and economic regime which seeks to maximize private profit over all else.
Of course, the two arenas – global and domestic – are linked, and the strategies of the powerful elites are similarly interconnected.
One tactic currently being used to clamp down on people’s growing resistance is the weaponized charge of antisemitism, specifically by equating political and human rights-based criticisms of Israel with hatred of Jews.
Without question, hate is on the rise. It is being whipped up in many different forms – transphobia, Islamophobia, anti-Black and anti-Indigenous racism, misogyny and, of course, antisemitism. In all of its forms, hate must be confronted, exposed and defeated. Governments must be forced to act against hate, and political movements which utilize hate must be isolated and shut down through mass action.
But there is a big difference between hate and political critique. Condemning former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher, for her brutal attacks on workers and unions, is not misogynist. Similarly, opposing Israel’s occupation, apartheid and genocidal assault on Gaza is not antisemitic.
So, why are governments in Canada rushing to label criticisms of Israel as antisemitism, as hate?
It’s a cynical move, designed first of all to divide, disrupt and disperse a growing movement in solidarity with Palestine and, more specifically, against war and genocide. But the purpose extends far beyond that. Weaponizing the charge of antisemitism – by equating it with criticism of Israel – is an effort to restrict democratic rights, specifically criminalizing freedom of expression and freedom of assembly in order to shut down dissent in general.
Need proof? Look at the experience in Toronto, when city council was debating a by-law to restrict the right to protest in support of Palestine. Speaking in favour of this by-law, one long-time right-wing councillor stated that it could (and presumably should) be used to restrict rallies, demonstrations and other assemblies that unions use during negotiations and labour disputes.
Talk about the convergence of corporate interests and authoritarianism!
It’s no coincidence that these moves to limit, and outright strip civil and democratic rights are happening as the labour and progressive movements are in a moment of militancy and growth. How better to attack and weaken a strong union leader fighting for workers’ wages and rights, or a peace activist campaigning against Ottawa’s plan to more than double military spending to $80 billion, or an Indigenous nation marching to demand government action on mercury poisoning of its lands and water, than by accusing them of antisemitism?
Working people have always faced this kind of interference, by which the ruling class tries to divide and conquer them. The cultivated sweeping racism against Chinese immigrants in the early 20th century, the Red Scare of the McCarthy era, the deep-seated anti-Quebec chauvinism that is fostered throughout English-speaking Canada – through these and many other experiences, the working class has had to learn and re-learn the crucial importance of unity and solidarity.
Now is no different. We cannot allow freedom of expression, democratic rights and international solidarity itself to be shut down in the service of war and profit.
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