UNREST MAGAZINE

Is Johan Galtung, a leading figure in peace research and peace practice, an anti-Semite? I have known him for twenty years, and I’m sure that he is not. But he has spoken in such a way as to give apparent credence to this charge, which complicates the issue.

The burden of Galtung’s argument is that there is increasing danger that, as the American Empire continues to decline and Western economies deteriorate further, Jews will be seen as the source of these failures and scapegoated as they were in interwar Germany. Johan is in touch with the growing anger and desperation of working-class and middle-class people in the U.S. and in Europe – a state of frustration which is already producing a resurgence of right-wing nationalism and rise of anti-Semitic conspiracy theories, especially in nations in which Jews play a prominent role in the news media, investment banking, and higher education. The cure for this ominous malaise, he thinks, is to solve the structural problems that are impoverishing working people and throwing nations into debt, as well as generating useless foreign wars and interventions. Meanwhile, as an antidote to anti-Semitism, he advocates discussing the Jewish role in society openly instead of maintaining current taboos.
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Judith Bulter’s (2004) Precarious Life, in particular the essay “The Charge of Anti-Semitism: Jews, Israel, and the risk of public critique,” is worthy of reflection in the wake of the flotilla crisis.  Throughout the work Butler attempts to illustrate the vulnerability we face as social creatures dependent upon one another for the maintenance of our health and safety.  Our fear of violence drives us to place a premium on safety while failing to critically investigate the very causes of violence.  Butler focuses in a number of sections on the the anti-intellectualism plaguing the public sphere in the aftermath of September 11, 2001 and the essay is a response to Lawrence Summers (now Obama’s chief economic advisor) on the ease at which being charged as anti-Semitic can lobbed against those who reject Israel’s use of violence. The comments of Helen Thomas and her subsequent retirement are a not so subtle reminder of the potential costs to a person chooses to vent their frustration over this particular conflict.  Thomas’ comments were of little critical or factual value, yet they somehow garnered a more harsh response from the Whitehouse than the actual killing of nine Turkish citizens.  While the substance of her statements was surely poor, her frustration with the situation is certainly justified.  What are we to do when faced with the continued use state violence perpetrated in the name of freedom and security?
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