Chapter 1 Foreword Chapter 2 Acknowledgments Chapter 3 Introduction Chapter 4 Historical Roots of... more Chapter 1 Foreword Chapter 2 Acknowledgments Chapter 3 Introduction Chapter 4 Historical Roots of Children's Rights in Europe and the United States Chapter 5 Wendy and Peter Pan: Exploring the Concept of the Child Chapter 6 United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child: Developing International Norms to Create a New World for Children Chapter 7 Psychology and the Rights of the Child Chapter 8 Rights of the Child: A Philosophical Approach Chapter 9 The Promise of Rights for Children: Best Interests and Evolving Capacities Chapter 10 Creating the Child, Constructing the State: People v. Turner, 1870 Chapter 11 A Child-Centered Jurisprudence: Reconciling the Rights of Children and Parents Within the Family Chapter 12 The Right to Be Heard: The Child as a Legal Person Chapter 13 Child Advocacy in the United States and the Power of International Human Rights Law Chapter 14 Children's Rights in the Curriculum Chapter 15 Children's Studies and the Human Rights of Children: Toward a Unified Approach Chapter 16 Appendix: United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) Chapter 17 Suggestions for Further Reading Chapter 18 Index Chapter 19 About the Contributors
In the immediate aftermath of the murderous attack on the offices of Charlie Hebdo, millions of p... more In the immediate aftermath of the murderous attack on the offices of Charlie Hebdo, millions of people rallied round the slogan ‘Je suis Charlie’. The slogan conveyed a simple message: either you are in favour of free speech and the right to offend or you are against. This essay offers a critique of the slogan and its message. The first part raises and discusses the problem of framing: what, fundamentally, was the Paris attack about? The middle section discusses a blog that I posted at the time, also written in the heat of the moment. This segues into the third and final part, which examines the language of rights, freedom of expression and the meaning of the word ‘offend’. The conclusion drawn is that the slogan ‘Je suis Charlie’ is an obstacle to thinking through the issues raised by the Paris attack.
In Black Skin, White Masks, reflecting on "the Jew and I", Frantz Fanon tells the following anecd... more In Black Skin, White Masks, reflecting on "the Jew and I", Frantz Fanon tells the following anecdote: "It was my philosophy professor, a native of the Antilles, who recalled the fact to me one day: 'Whenever you hear anyone abuse the Jews, pay attention, because he is talking about you.'" Fanon adds: "And I found that he was universally right-by which I meant that I was answerable in my body and in my heart for what was done to my brother." 1 Santiago Slabodsky recalls this passage in Chapter 1 of Decolonial Judaism. Fanon's views were more complex than might first appear (a point to which I shall return). Nonetheless, as Slabodsky says, his words testify to "the history of suffering and resistance that connects Jews to other colonized peoples." 2 This connection, which Slabodsky makes convincingly, is the historical basis for the enquiry he pursues in his groundbreaking and thought-provoking book. However, this connection is complicated and the complications, along with the profound ambiguities to which they give rise, have a crucial bearing on the project to which his book is a kind of prolegomenon; or so I shall argue. Decolonial Judaism ends by putting this project in the form of a question: "What are the conditions according to which one could undertake a Jewish decolonial reading of the geopolitical scene?" This essay gives the beginning of a response to this question. Slabodsky's question is about the present and future. His book is intended to prepare the ground for this enquiry by casting an eye back to the period between the 1940s and 1980s, when a number of prominent Jewish thinkers tried to formulate a Jewish decolonialism based on the commonalities between "modern Jewish experiences," especially in Europe, and the experiences of non-European peoples colonized by European powers. In the same period, however, there was "a historical turn" affecting Jews: their "ultimate integration into Western society." The West, ancient incubator of anti-Judaism and the cradle of modern antisemitism, now "portrays itself as the protector and liberator" of the Jews. This is both an oversimplification and an over-generalization. On the one hand, Slabodsky's
ABSTRACT The predicament faced by Muslims today, either in the United Kingdom specifically or in ... more ABSTRACT The predicament faced by Muslims today, either in the United Kingdom specifically or in the West more generally, is often compared with the predicament faced by Jews at some point in the past. Muslims, it is suggested, are the new Jews. Klug's article homes in on one element in this view, the claim that Islamophobia is the new antisemitism, and considers the analogy between them. An introductory section sketches the political context, after which Klug focuses on logical or conceptual issues. The two middle sections contain the core of the analysis: consideration of the two terms ‘antisemitism’ and ‘Islamophobia’ in relation to the concepts they denote, followed by an examination of the concepts as such. Certain conclusions are drawn about both their general logic and their specific logics. The final section returns to the political context and, via critique of a thesis put forward by Matti Bunzl, discusses the uses of the analogy. Klug argues that the question we need to ask is not ‘Are Islamophobia and antisemitism analogous?’ but ‘What is the analogy worth?’ The value of the analogy lies in the light it sheds on the social and political realities that confront us in the here and now. Does it illuminate more than it obscures? These things are a matter of judgement. Klug leans towards asserting an analogy between antisemitism in the past and Islamophobia in the present, within limits.
For Theodor Herzl, Zionism, in the sense of a political movement to establish a sovereign Jewish ... more For Theodor Herzl, Zionism, in the sense of a political movement to establish a sovereign Jewish state, offered the only workable solution to the problem of antisemitism. Some commentators today speak of a 'new antisemitism'. They claim, first, that there is a new wave or outbreak of hostility towards Jews that began with the start of the second Palestinian intifada in September 2000 and is continuing at the present time. Second, and more fundamentally, the 'new antisemitism' is said to involve a new form or type of hostility towards Jews: hostility towards Israel. This is the claim under discussion in Klug's paper. The claim implies an equivalence between (a) the individual Jew in the old or classical version of antisemitism and (b) the state of Israel in the new or modern variety. Klug argues that this concept is confused and that the use to which it is put gives a distorted picture of the facts. He begins by recalling classical antisemitism, the kind that led to the persecution of European Jewry to which Herzl's Zionism was a reaction. On this basis, he briefly reformulates the question of whether and when hostility towards Israel is antisemitic. He then discusses the so-called new form of antisemitism, especially the equation of anti-Zionism with antisemitism. He concludes by revisiting Herzl's vision in light of the situation today.
This article sets out to retrieve a concept of diaspora-deeply rooted in Jewish tradition but som... more This article sets out to retrieve a concept of diaspora-deeply rooted in Jewish tradition but somewhat eclipsed in the Jewish imagination today-in which dispersion is understood as exile and return is deferred to 'the end of days'. The argument is developed via a conversation between David Grossman and Amos Oz in 2003, in which Grossman reflects on the question 'Are we a people of place or of time?' Pursuing this question leads to a passage in Isaiah in which the prophetic author refers to Zion as Beulah. Beulah is Zion under the aspect of hope, Zion as the prospect of redemption, the end of exile in the here and now.
Chapter 1 Foreword Chapter 2 Acknowledgments Chapter 3 Introduction Chapter 4 Historical Roots of... more Chapter 1 Foreword Chapter 2 Acknowledgments Chapter 3 Introduction Chapter 4 Historical Roots of Children's Rights in Europe and the United States Chapter 5 Wendy and Peter Pan: Exploring the Concept of the Child Chapter 6 United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child: Developing International Norms to Create a New World for Children Chapter 7 Psychology and the Rights of the Child Chapter 8 Rights of the Child: A Philosophical Approach Chapter 9 The Promise of Rights for Children: Best Interests and Evolving Capacities Chapter 10 Creating the Child, Constructing the State: People v. Turner, 1870 Chapter 11 A Child-Centered Jurisprudence: Reconciling the Rights of Children and Parents Within the Family Chapter 12 The Right to Be Heard: The Child as a Legal Person Chapter 13 Child Advocacy in the United States and the Power of International Human Rights Law Chapter 14 Children's Rights in the Curriculum Chapter 15 Children's Studies and the Human Rights of Children: Toward a Unified Approach Chapter 16 Appendix: United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) Chapter 17 Suggestions for Further Reading Chapter 18 Index Chapter 19 About the Contributors
In the immediate aftermath of the murderous attack on the offices of Charlie Hebdo, millions of p... more In the immediate aftermath of the murderous attack on the offices of Charlie Hebdo, millions of people rallied round the slogan ‘Je suis Charlie’. The slogan conveyed a simple message: either you are in favour of free speech and the right to offend or you are against. This essay offers a critique of the slogan and its message. The first part raises and discusses the problem of framing: what, fundamentally, was the Paris attack about? The middle section discusses a blog that I posted at the time, also written in the heat of the moment. This segues into the third and final part, which examines the language of rights, freedom of expression and the meaning of the word ‘offend’. The conclusion drawn is that the slogan ‘Je suis Charlie’ is an obstacle to thinking through the issues raised by the Paris attack.
In Black Skin, White Masks, reflecting on "the Jew and I", Frantz Fanon tells the following anecd... more In Black Skin, White Masks, reflecting on "the Jew and I", Frantz Fanon tells the following anecdote: "It was my philosophy professor, a native of the Antilles, who recalled the fact to me one day: 'Whenever you hear anyone abuse the Jews, pay attention, because he is talking about you.'" Fanon adds: "And I found that he was universally right-by which I meant that I was answerable in my body and in my heart for what was done to my brother." 1 Santiago Slabodsky recalls this passage in Chapter 1 of Decolonial Judaism. Fanon's views were more complex than might first appear (a point to which I shall return). Nonetheless, as Slabodsky says, his words testify to "the history of suffering and resistance that connects Jews to other colonized peoples." 2 This connection, which Slabodsky makes convincingly, is the historical basis for the enquiry he pursues in his groundbreaking and thought-provoking book. However, this connection is complicated and the complications, along with the profound ambiguities to which they give rise, have a crucial bearing on the project to which his book is a kind of prolegomenon; or so I shall argue. Decolonial Judaism ends by putting this project in the form of a question: "What are the conditions according to which one could undertake a Jewish decolonial reading of the geopolitical scene?" This essay gives the beginning of a response to this question. Slabodsky's question is about the present and future. His book is intended to prepare the ground for this enquiry by casting an eye back to the period between the 1940s and 1980s, when a number of prominent Jewish thinkers tried to formulate a Jewish decolonialism based on the commonalities between "modern Jewish experiences," especially in Europe, and the experiences of non-European peoples colonized by European powers. In the same period, however, there was "a historical turn" affecting Jews: their "ultimate integration into Western society." The West, ancient incubator of anti-Judaism and the cradle of modern antisemitism, now "portrays itself as the protector and liberator" of the Jews. This is both an oversimplification and an over-generalization. On the one hand, Slabodsky's
ABSTRACT The predicament faced by Muslims today, either in the United Kingdom specifically or in ... more ABSTRACT The predicament faced by Muslims today, either in the United Kingdom specifically or in the West more generally, is often compared with the predicament faced by Jews at some point in the past. Muslims, it is suggested, are the new Jews. Klug's article homes in on one element in this view, the claim that Islamophobia is the new antisemitism, and considers the analogy between them. An introductory section sketches the political context, after which Klug focuses on logical or conceptual issues. The two middle sections contain the core of the analysis: consideration of the two terms ‘antisemitism’ and ‘Islamophobia’ in relation to the concepts they denote, followed by an examination of the concepts as such. Certain conclusions are drawn about both their general logic and their specific logics. The final section returns to the political context and, via critique of a thesis put forward by Matti Bunzl, discusses the uses of the analogy. Klug argues that the question we need to ask is not ‘Are Islamophobia and antisemitism analogous?’ but ‘What is the analogy worth?’ The value of the analogy lies in the light it sheds on the social and political realities that confront us in the here and now. Does it illuminate more than it obscures? These things are a matter of judgement. Klug leans towards asserting an analogy between antisemitism in the past and Islamophobia in the present, within limits.
For Theodor Herzl, Zionism, in the sense of a political movement to establish a sovereign Jewish ... more For Theodor Herzl, Zionism, in the sense of a political movement to establish a sovereign Jewish state, offered the only workable solution to the problem of antisemitism. Some commentators today speak of a 'new antisemitism'. They claim, first, that there is a new wave or outbreak of hostility towards Jews that began with the start of the second Palestinian intifada in September 2000 and is continuing at the present time. Second, and more fundamentally, the 'new antisemitism' is said to involve a new form or type of hostility towards Jews: hostility towards Israel. This is the claim under discussion in Klug's paper. The claim implies an equivalence between (a) the individual Jew in the old or classical version of antisemitism and (b) the state of Israel in the new or modern variety. Klug argues that this concept is confused and that the use to which it is put gives a distorted picture of the facts. He begins by recalling classical antisemitism, the kind that led to the persecution of European Jewry to which Herzl's Zionism was a reaction. On this basis, he briefly reformulates the question of whether and when hostility towards Israel is antisemitic. He then discusses the so-called new form of antisemitism, especially the equation of anti-Zionism with antisemitism. He concludes by revisiting Herzl's vision in light of the situation today.
This article sets out to retrieve a concept of diaspora-deeply rooted in Jewish tradition but som... more This article sets out to retrieve a concept of diaspora-deeply rooted in Jewish tradition but somewhat eclipsed in the Jewish imagination today-in which dispersion is understood as exile and return is deferred to 'the end of days'. The argument is developed via a conversation between David Grossman and Amos Oz in 2003, in which Grossman reflects on the question 'Are we a people of place or of time?' Pursuing this question leads to a passage in Isaiah in which the prophetic author refers to Zion as Beulah. Beulah is Zion under the aspect of hope, Zion as the prospect of redemption, the end of exile in the here and now.
This book presents a fresh approach to the question of the historical continuities and discontinu... more This book presents a fresh approach to the question of the historical continuities and discontinuities of Jew-hatred, juxtaposing chapters dealing with the same phenomenon – one in the pre-modern, one in the modern period. How do the circumstances of interreligious violence differ in pre-Reformation Europe, the modern Muslim world, and the modern Western world? In addition to the diachronic comparison, most chapters deal with the significance of religion for the formation of anti-Jewish stereotypes. The direct dialogue of small-scale studies bridging the chronological gap brings out important nuances: anti-Zionist texts appropriating medieval ritual murder accusations; modern-day pogroms triggered by contemporary events but fuelled by medieval prejudices; and contemporary stickers drawing upon long-inherited knowledge about what a "Jew" looks like. These interconnections, however, differ from the often-assumed straightforward continuities between medieval and modern anti-Jewish hatred. The book brings together many of the most distinguished scholars of this field, creating a unique dialogue between historical periods and academic disciplines.
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