Dear baba,
We met for the first time on Monday. It was tough, but ever since oct7 ive been wanting to reach your heart. SIG president. Swiss Jewish baba. Seco Deza role model, leader, teacher, father.
You started with your mission statement: President of SIG, mission to represent swiss jews, preserve Jewish life, combat antisemitism. You state israel and swiss jews not the same. You dissociate yourself from the actions of the Jewish state.
You defend israel's right to exist. Since 1948. Unconditional. Non-negotiable. As it is. As it was.
14 months after October 7. 45’000+ innocent humans killed by Israels bombs. mentioned in a sidenote. blamed on hamas.
This was the moment when the students interrupted your speech. I wanted to record what they had to say. Your security prevented me but allowed others to proceed. Part of me wanted to walk out in solidarity. Part of me wanted to stay to hear what you have to say. Perhaps meet. So I did.
You proceeded with a ppt slide presentation on antisemitism. Examples you listed include: questioning the legitimacy of the Israeli state, describing israel as a racist/apartheid state, comparing Israeli actions to nazi crimes, accusing Israel of committing comparable crimes (holocaust/genocide) to chanting the slogan “from the river to the sea Palestine will be free”. You accuse me of being an antisemite. You accuse me of hating you. Jews.
I pause here. All the pain from a lifetime of violence buried and oppressed for years come up at once. An entire history of you are not allowed to talk about it. It didn’t happen. They never existed. They are migrants. They could live somewhere else. You’re exaggerating. It’s her. Their. Your fault. that the kids of gaza are dieing. Nakba SIG nie passiert, erfunde, erloge, übertribe relativiert. Du bisch en Judehasser, Antisemit. Each time I cry shout out loud when mama gaza bleeds. What you said was the magnifying mirror of the violence you’ve inflicted on me, for years, and still, despite gaza, refuse to see.
cher baba. il faut q’on parle. tu m’accuse d’etre antisemite. je t’accuse de la violence contre moi mes soeurs et freres arabes musulmans chretiens juifs unis pour la vie. Je t’accuse d’etre complice dans le genocide de gaza.
Perhaps I should start that my definition of violence expands beyond the physical sphere. It entails curbing my freedom to speak. Denying my story, history, ancestry, right to exist, right to travel live breathe where I live, right to resist when I can’t breathe. It includes slandering my name my integrity my essence humanity when I cry and shout as gazas mamas babas children burn die starve drown in a sea of 45'000 bullets n rocks killed by the rage of the violent white man who fails to see me for who i am.
What makes it hard for me to talk to you about it is that I think you know. The new historians, hannah ahrendt, b'tselem, the apartheid state. You’ve been there many times. Zurich telaviv bengurion airport eretz israel checkpoints green light. You know about Gaza. West Bank. Same flight different roads rights. Apart, walled, not frei. What separates you and I is that I’m on the other side of the wall. You know I exist. You know im innocent. But you say im guilty for being there, you refuse to acknowledge my existence, my rights, my freedoms. And you’re actively hurting me. no ceasefire. no unrwa. no hamas. no right to life. resist. die. chalas.
Dear baba. You’re hurting me. You’re hurting us. Please stop. Why do I keep repeating these words. It’s because ive been suffering from your violence for so long. Each time I brought it up you refused to acknowlege my pain suffering talk. After oct 7. Gaza. I can’t hold take it no more. It’s time to stop the violence. Cease the fire. Heal. Now. Please.
Dear baba. Violence occurs in every family. I’m your son. Your my father. Always will be. Ismaili. achi. brother. The first step after violence is. Truth. Hear my story. Hear their stories. Hear our stories. Hear your story. Reconcile. Heal. I hereby invite you to hear mine. Ours. An invitation to learn about our identity, culture, rites and traditions, food, essence, fears and wounds. We are on the same boat, intertwined interconnected in faith life death, lets make a beginning to a fresh start. Sail to a dawn of jewish arab love, empathy, solidarity, formed in spain disrupted by the rage of the unhealed white european man, ending en lengau vilna warsa shoa nakba gaza. A snapshot of every moment in history tells it all: United we thrive, divided we fall.
Who: SIG president and chosen friends/colleagues/family. Me. Arab Muslim Palestinian swiss migrant friends/colleagues/family.
Where: We would love to invite you to our home. But happy to meet at a place that feels more convenient to you. A place where we would be both safe and comfortable. Able to be vulnerable and honest. To each other. And to ourselves.
When: As soon as your time allows. Gaza is burning. We are here.
Thank you for reaching out. Looking forward to your response. Shabbat shalom Achi. Frere. SIG President. Friend.
Teymour
Artivist. Son. Human. Mensch.
Zurich, 20 December 2024
Annex I: List of antisemites according to your IHRA SIG definition (incomplete):
Me. my family, friends, community. Every palestinian human being. Every human who sees them, their plight, their endless suffering. Every human who speaks acts to end it. Amnesty International. Human Rights Watch. B'Tselem. South Africa. Nicaragua. Belgium. Ireland. Colombia. Libya. Egypt. Cuba. Mexico. Spain. Türkiye. Chile. Maldives. Bolivia. >25 percent of american jews. >40 percent of american jews <40. Gabor Rae Daniel Mate. Masha Gessen. Candice Breitz. Deborah Feldman. Nan Goldin. Marek Edelmann and a rising tide of jewish european american swiss western israeli citizens scholars artists academics workers mothers fathers sons daughters voices of awakening conscience. Every single human who empathized with a child born in gaza. Philippe Lazzarini. Carla Del Ponte. Micheline Calmy-Rey. Ruth Dreyfus. The International Court of Justice (ICJ).
Annex II. Definition of antisemitism according to your IHRA SIG definition (excerpts of SIG PPT presentation uzh 16 dec 2023).
Erschheinungsformen von Antisemitismus können sich auch gegen den Staat Israel, der dabei als jüdisches Kollektiv verstanden wird richten. Allerdings kann Kritik an Israel, die mit der an anderen Ländern vergleichbar ist, nicht als antisemitisch betrachtet werden.
Beispiele zur Veranschaulichung (2)
Das Aberkennen des Rechts des jüdischen Volkes auf Selbstbestimmung, z.B. durch die Behauptung, die Existenz des Staates Israel sei ein rassistisches Unterfangen.
Die Anwendung doppelter Standards, in dem man von Israel ein Verhalten fordert, das von keinem anderen demokratischen Staat erwartet oder gefordert wird.
Beispiele zur Veranschaulichung (3)
Das Verwenden von Symbolen und Bildern, die mit traditionellem Antisemitismus in Verbindung stehen (z.B. der Vorwurf des Christusmordes oder die Ritualmordlegende), um Israel oder die Israelis zu beschreiben.
Vergleiche der aktuellen israelischen Politik mit der Politik der Nationalsozialisten.
Das kollektive Verantwortlichmachen von Jüdinnen und Juden für Handlungen des Staates Israels.
Gemäss dieser Definition könnte vieles, was wir heute erleben als antisemitisch bezeichnet werden.
1. From the river to the sea Palestine will be free.
2. Forderung einer Kriegsführung ohne zivile Opfer.
3. Israelis töten absichtlich Kinder.
4. Die Israelis tun den Palästinensern dasselbe an, wie die Nazis den Juden (Genozid, Holocaust)
5. Israel ist ein Apartheid-Staat
6. Aufruf der Hamas, alle Juden zu töten. Alle Israelis sind Besatzer. Alle Juden sind mitschuldig.
Versuch einer alternativen Definition von Antisemitismus. «Jerusalemer Erklaerung» von 2021 die Folgendes ermöglichen will.
1. Antizionismus/die Existenz eines jüdischen Staates in Frage zu stellen.
2. Double Standards: Von Israel höhere Standards zu verlangen.
3. Israel mit Nazi-Deutschland, Apartheid-Südafrika, Rassismus, Terrorismus oder Kolonialismus gleichzusetzen.
4. Zum Boykott von israelischen Produkten, Künstlern, Wissenschaftlern, Politikern, Handelsbeziehungen, militärischer Zusammenarbeit.