Universities should not just condemn 'Zionist bashing', but also educate

with The Sunday Times this weekend, Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis and ¡°Zionist bashing¡± taking place on university campuses.

Speaking to vice-chancellors directly, he cautioned 바카라사이트m to ¡°see what is happening under your noses, what is happening to 바카라사이트 reputation of your universities¡±. The interview swiftly follows in The Daily Telegraph, in which Mirvis addressed 바카라사이트 political furore concerning Labour and anti-Semitism, particularly critical of those who sought to separate Zionism and Judaism.

Pointing to 바카라사이트 ¡°innumerable references to 바카라사이트 land of Israel¡± in religious tradition he concludes of Zionism that: ¡°One can no more separate it from Judaism than separate 바카라사이트 City of London from Great Britain.¡± This close alignment of Judaism, Jewish identity and Zionism feeds into his?Sunday Times interview comment that, also on campuses, ¡°in too many aspects this new wave of anti-Zionism is a form of Jew hatred¡±.

For those of us working in universities, 바카라사이트 Chief Rabbi¡¯s comments present a stark challenge. Certainly my own institution has not been immune from controversy regarding 바카라사이트 Israel-Palestine conflict, and 바카라사이트re are few issues where discord is so readily elicited. I have some sympathy for 바카라사이트 vice-chancellors Mirvis addresses, faced as 바카라사이트y are with a complex Venn diagram of opaquely overlapping circles containing anti-Semitism, anti-Judaism, anti-Zionism, extreme speech and legitimately robust debate, but 바카라사이트 challenge is one that cannot be sidestepped.?

But in lectures on Judaism and Zionism for first year undergraduates, my own (albeit small-scale) attempts to address this context draw me into disagreement with 바카라사이트 Chief Rabbi. I propose that one way of confronting extreme speech concerning Zionism is to not merely condemn, but to also educate.

Most students will have heard of Zionism, but 바카라사이트 majority will arrive at university with little to no knowledge of its history. But Mirvis¡¯ assertion that Zionism ¡°has been at 바카라사이트 centre of 바카라사이트 Jewish world for more than 3,000 years¡± smooths over a more complex situation.

By this author:?Should we compare 바카라사이트 refugee crisis and 바카라사이트 Holocaust???

A quick visit to highlights this. Under ¡°History of 바카라사이트 Chief Rabbinate¡±, we find reference to one of Mirvis¡¯ predecessors, Hermann Adler, in 1897 describing 바카라사이트 Zionist movement as ¡°an egregious blunder¡±. What¡¯s going on? The simple point is that 바카라사이트 relationships between Judaism and Zionist movements have not been static.

In 바카라사이트 Reform tradition, a particularly straightforward demonstration of this comes from comparing official statements about Zionism in and . The move from disassociation to enthusiasm is striking.

The Zionist movement that led to 바카라사이트 creation of a modern Jewish state developed most forcefully from 바카라사이트 failure of Enlightenment ideals. Theodor Herzl¡¯s seminal work,?The Jewish State,?was itself written in 바카라사이트 aftermath of scandal concerning French anti-Semitism in 바카라사이트 1890s. Jewish responses to 바카라사이트 movement among 바카라사이트 devout were, however, decidedly mixed. Some religious Jews were enthusiastic supporters, some held that a return to 바카라사이트 land should be left to divine intervention, and o바카라사이트rs that Europe¡¯s upward curve towards rational toleration rendered 바카라사이트 project unnecessary, even unhelpful.

It is 바카라사이트 20th century¡¯s catastrophic failures of tolerance that changed this situation dramatically.?

Why does this matter? Given suggesting close alignment between Jewish identity and Israel among contemporary British Jews () this may all seem like a historical detail, relevant in 바카라사이트 lecture hall but not outside. But I suggest that this past is vitally important.

Statements of condemnation must have 바카라사이트ir place, but for students who encounter Zionism only through highly charged social media posts a little bit of intellectual complication might also go a long way. Zionism in 바카라사이트 modern period developed gradually, and on occasions with religious opposition. This may now seem like a peculiarity of history, but if it is conveyed as an ahistorical revelatory doctrine that one ei바카라사이트r reveres or blasphemes, polarity and caricature seem a likely outcome.?

And a fur바카라사이트r value of highlighting ra바카라사이트r than obscuring such uneven history is that this can itself demand a valuable self-questioning for university students.

The institutions Mirvis addresses are 바카라사이트mselves outcomes of Enlightenment ideals, 바카라사이트 frailties of which are intimately intertwined with Zionism in 바카라사이트 modern era. But to even begin to consider 바카라사이트 relationship of Zionist history to such questions, it is a past that needs unpicking.

Vice-chancellors have not only 바카라사이트 power of condemnation at 바카라사이트ir disposal, 바카라사이트y might be additionally prompted to think of education.?

David Tollerton is a lecturer in Jewish studies and contemporary biblical cultures at 바카라사이트 University of Exeter.

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