Is joint anti-racist activism possible?
I recently reviewed a book by Israeli writer Marcelo Svirsky on joint Arab-Jewish activism in Israel-Palestine. Svirsky argues that the only way to achieve decolonisation in the region is to construct a collaborative struggle against the settler-colonial state. He brings several examples of such joint projects, including campaigns to overturn ethnically segregative housing policies in the Galilee (where Israeli Palestinians are not allowed to build a house in Jewish villages), Arab-Jewish bilingual intercultural schools, and a Palestinian soccer team with Israeli Jewish players.
In recent years there have been many such collaborative campaigns, with Jews and Arabs working shoulder to shoulder in the occupied Palestinian territory protesting against infringements by settlers and the security forces. In addition, for the past two years Israeli Jews have campaigned for social justice within Israel itself covering issues such as diminishing welfare entitlements, the lack of sufficient social housing, and the growing gap between rich and poor.
Sadly, the two campaigns have not been linked, even though many individuals protest both for social justice within Israel and for Palestinian rights, many realising that there is ‘no social justice in an occupying society’.
The collaborative campaigns Svirsky writes about are inspiring, but Palestinian writers have recently criticised the very possibility of joint struggles, insisting that Israeli Jews who join in them enjoy privileges even if they are targeted by the same rubber bullets or tear gas.
It made me think about the role of indigenous Irish citizens in the anti-racist struggle. I have written before about Frantz Fanon’s idea that the ‘lived experience’ of the racialised should lead the anti-racist struggle. Only those who are targeted by state racism know its meaning. Thus Travellers, migrants, asylum seekers, members of minority religions or undocumented labour migrants are the only ones who truly understand the experience of racism.
But where does this leave their supporters, and what role should they play? Palestinian critics say that ‘there is no such thing as a joint struggle’ and that radical Israelis should concentrate on changing their own society and dismantling the colonial state. Another issue is understanding and naming privilege and power relations. In this, discussions of internal power relations within groups engaged in campaigns for social justice – even when members enjoy the benefits of citizenship – are part of the struggle.
More to the point, do the issues of race and racism play any role in recent Irish campaigns against house repossessions, debt repayment and welfare cuts? It seems to me that the connections between various campaigns are not being made and that the issues of race, racism and migrant rights are not being addressed.
Furthermore, as the funding landscape is becoming narrower and narrower now that The Atlantic Philanthropies is withdrawing and the Government has cut financial support to the equality sector, the competition between indigenous and migrant groups is becoming even fiercer. If in the past, Dier Tong of the Africa Centre could say bluntly that “you say you want to hear our voices, yet compete with us for scarce funding” – now even this scarce funding is unavailable.
I would suggest that indigenous anti-racist activists need to make further efforts to follow the lead of the racialised. They know what needs to be done, but at the same time must continue to raise the issues of race and racism which recession Ireland no longer wants to hear.
Dr Ronit Lentin is head of the MPhil in Ethnic and Racial Studies at the Department of Sociology at Trinity College Dublin. Her column appears fortnightly in Metro Éireann
