Language:
English
Year of publication:
2021
Titel der Quelle:
The European Left and the Jewish Question, 1848-1992
Angaben zur Quelle:
(2021) 263-281
Keywords:
Brumlik, Micha
;
Right and left (Political science)
;
Intellectuals Attitudes
;
Arab-Israeli conflict
;
Antisemitism
;
Anti-Zionism
;
Jews Political activity
;
Jewish scholars Attitudes
Abstract:
When talking about anti-Zionism or antisemitism in the New Left the discourse in the past five decades has often dealt with their animus against Israel that can be accompanied by antisemitic stereotypes. Infrequently, scholarly debates turned to leftist intellectuals who fought antisemitic tendencies in left-wing groups or parties. In West Germany, an influential minority of Jewish intellectuals has taken on that role since the 1970s. Micha Brumlik represents a part of these German-Jewish leftist intellectuals. With the aid of his example, this paper will show how left-wing scholars like Brumlik became important observers and critics of antisemitism in the New Left. In a first step, Brumlik’s decision to participate in the student movement will be explained with the aid of a biographical review. Secondly, his first encounters of antisemitism in parts of the student movement will be analyzed with the example of squatting in Frankfurt. Thirdly, the foundation of the left-wing Jüdische Gruppe Frankfurt (Jewish group) as a reaction to the Arab-Israeli conflict will be discussed. Lastly, the positions of Brumlik and the Jüdische Gruppe on the conflict and the increase of antisemitism as a result of the conflict will be examined. Reconstructing Brumlik’s critique of antisemitism in several left-wing groups—a critique that stemmed from an insider—shed light on problems the New Left has had in articulating their critique of Israel. In addition, their disapproval was often voiced in connection with comparisons to the Shoah, which is particularly problematic given the German history.
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