Anti-Palestinian racism: Frequently Asked Questions

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Anti-Palestinian racism: Frequently asked questions

Hello! We are Na’amod, a movement of British Jews seeking to end our community’s support for the occupation, and to mobilise it in the struggle for freedom, equality and justice for all Palestinians and Israelis. We are inclusive and welcoming of all Jews who want to oppose the occupation and adhere to our values.  Na’amod does not take a common position on Zionism, BDS or borders.  We focus on what unites us: our conviction that the occupation is a moral crisis and our determination to end British Jewish support for it. Our values of anti-racism and anti-occupation are deeply entwined.

For the avoidance of doubt, we do not believe the British Jewish community nor its communal leaders are directly responsible for the occupation or the actions of the Israeli government. We do believe, however, that allowing anti-Palestinian racism to go unchallenged in our community prevents us, as British Jews, from fully opposing the occupation and the related denials of rights to Palestinians. 

We choose to address the British Jewish Community through our work because we care deeply for our community – it is our home and our heart. Through our shared identities we feel we can have the greatest impact and unite our community around our common Jewish values, which stand in opposition to racism and hate.

Islamophobia and anti-Palestinian racism share a number of similarities. Both push lies predicated on East vs West; Civilization vs Barbarism; Freedom vs Terrorism; Totalitarianism vs Liberalism. Both are used to divide communities and prevent us from seeing our shared humanity. The Islamaphobic treatment of Palestinians is not only rooted in discrimination and mistruths, it erases non-religious and non-Muslim Palestinians. In short, although both forms of prejudice are closely related, anti-Palestinain racism has its own specific role in upholding the occupation.

We are Na’amod, which means we stand, because we stand against the occupation of the West Bank and (via the blockade) the Gaza Strip. We wish to unite our community in a proud anti-occupation stance. 

We see the occupation as the most pressing and violent issue. As we unite as a community in opposing the occupation, we will be stronger and better able to tackle the problems faced here in the UK and Israel-Palestine.  

As noted in the question above, we are Na’amod, which means we stand, because we stand against the occupation of the West Bank and (via the blockade) the Gaza Strip. We wish to unite our community in a proud anti-occupation stance. 

We are aware of other issues within the Occupied Territories and Israel. We are inspired and informed by the work of Palestinian and Israeli partners and individuals working on these issues. Our focus is ending our community’s support for the occupation, which you can read more about here.

We focus on anti-Palestinian racism as we see it as a major barrier in uniting our community in a true anti-occupation stance. We are part of a broader struggle against racism, patriarchy, classism, ableism, homophobia and transphobia. We stand against antisemitism and Islamophobia with the same determination that we oppose the occupation, because we recognise that all oppression is linked and none of us can be free until we’re all free.

We know our community can rise to the challenge and has done so:

Everyone has a role to play in our shared goal! Here are some ways to get involved:

We have drawn together examples of anti-Palestinian mistruths and tropes you may have heard, to empower us all to call out this hate when we see it – read more here.

Some examples of Na’amod’s work to call out instances of anti-Palestinian racism within the community: