In “Does Feminism Have Room for Zionists?”, Emily Shire (ahem) frets anxiously about the uncomfortable ‘intersectionality’ of her feminism and her Jewish ethnocentrism:
On March 8 women around the world will be abstaining from work and rallying in the streets as part of the International Women’s Strike, with the aim of starting an “international feminist movement” that challenges the sexual, physical and economic exploitation of women. The organizers of the wildly successful Women’s March have thrown their support behind the strike, and there are more than 40 rallies, walkouts and events planned across the United States that are affiliated with the international demonstration.
As a proud and outspoken feminist who champions reproductive rights, equal pay, increased female representation in all levels of government and policies to combat violence against women, I would like to feel there is a place for me in the strike.
However, as someone who is also a Zionist, I am not certain there is.
So… I guess that means her Jewish ethnocentrism (towards a different country) is more important to her than the causes of feminism in her own country. Hmm. It’s so tough navigating dual loyalties.
Although I hope for a two-state solution and am critical of certain Israeli government policies, I identify as a Zionist because I support Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state. Increasingly, I worry that my support for Israel will bar me from the feminist movement that, in aiming to be inclusive, has come to insist that feminism is connected to a wide variety of political causes…
For my part, I am troubled by the portion of the International Women’s Strike platform that calls for a “decolonization of Palestine” as part of “the beating heart of this new feminist movement.” The platform also states: “We want to dismantle all walls, from prison walls to border walls, from Mexico to Palestine.”
Implying that mass incarceration is analogous to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is analogous to Donald Trump’s desire to build a wall along the Mexican border is simplistic at best.
There’s no analogy between Israel building a (successful) fence and Trump’s desire (reflecting the opinion of a U.S. majority) to build one? Hmm.
Peeling back the onion, we see that surrounding this quandary is someone lurking in the shadows, an organizer of the march, whose own ‘intersectionality’ proves equally problematic:
The strike was announced in an op-ed at The Guardian, with eight signatories, including Rasmea Yousef Odeh. Today, Ms. Odeh is considered an immigrants’ and women’s rights activist, but before taking on these roles, she was convicted for her involvement in a 1969 bombing of a Jerusalem supermarket that killed two Hebrew University students and an attempted bombing of the British consulate.
Uh-oh. Odeh has lots of leftwing street cred, and a high Diversity Pokemon Points score. Criticizing her, on the mere fact that she was a former terrorist involved in the murder of two Jewish students, is quite difficult for Emily Shire, who is ‘white’.
Can someone get a quote from Bill Ayers or perhaps Barry?
More and more frequently, my identity as a Zionist places me in conflict with the feminist movement of 2017. I will remain a proud feminist, but I see no reason I should have to sacrifice my Zionism for the sake of my feminism.
I love the myriad of ways in which the Left’s identity politics fetish has become a circular firing squad.
