What Happens When We Speak About Palestine In Aotearoa?

Justice for Palestine and Alternative Jewish Voices carried out a survey to counter the confusion of surveys on antisemitism published in 2022. In the New Zealand Jewish Council’s Survey, the Council deliberately used the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism with examples (IHRA WD) that purposely confuses opposition to Zionism with hatred of Jews. That survey labelled those who held human rights views similar to groups such as Amnesty International as being antisemitic. The IHRA WD has no legal standing in New Zealand and it has been observed in other countries that its use results in a chilling effect on speech/writings concerning Palestine/Israel. We oppose its use in New Zealand.

Justice for Palestine and Alternative Jewish Voices today released the findings of a survey to get more information from advocates of Palestinian rights on how they fare in talking/writing about Palestine. The survey asked respondents to cover a three-year timeframe. There were 43 valid responses to the quantitative and qualitative survey that was open from 5 December 2022 to 4 January 2023.

Our survey has uncovered the extent to which activists for Palestinian rights are being falsely accused of antisemitism to silence their voices. The survey identified the chilling effect of these false claims and found that some people experienced significant harms to their health, wellbeing and sense of identity. The most serious impacts were felt by those of Arab descent and non- or anti-Zionist members of the Jewish community.

Our question on the nature of antisemitism made it clear the New Zealanders who speak up for Palestinian rights understand the nature of antisemitism. They are being accused of antisemitism for statements about the actions or history of Israel, and only very rarely for comments related to Jews or Judaism. That almost a quarter of our respondents were Jewish and shared this perspective is significant.

Key other findings include:

• Most respondents (86%) had witnessed accusations of antisemitism when other New Zealanders spoke about Palestinian rights
• The two top contexts for the accusation of antisemitism occurred most in face-to-face encounters (62%) and social media activity (55%).
• The most frequent types of comments attracting accusations of antisemitism were comments on aspects of the actions of the Israeli state, politicians, police or military forces (93%), comments on the history of Palestine/Israel (66%), comments on the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement and comments on Zionism (both at 48%). Only 2 respondents had been accused for speaking about Jews or Judaism.
• 31% indicated that they had felt threatened in response to accusations.
• In the qualitative responses to accusations of antisemitism, most respondents felt there was a negative emotional impact.

The full survey report can be accessed at: https://ajvnz.files.wordpress.com/2023/01/ajv-j4p-survey-report-final-ver.pdf

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