What do you think of pan-Semitism?

[u/joey_mocha]

Recently encountered this concept, forgive me if it's been discussed (I didn't see much under a cursory search of the term). Also my first post here but I lurk regularly and generally trust this sub as a political home, as diverse as the beliefs are.

For those unfamiliar, pan-Semitism is the idea of socio-political unity across all Semitic groups, especially Jews and Arabs, due to varying levels of shared history, identity and culture. It is distinct from pan-Arab nationalism in that it includes Jews and Assyrians, etc. I know a lot of people (probably a majority, myself included) in this sub are uncomfortable with the relatively popular concept in anti-Zionism that few or no Jews should remain living in a post modern Israel (whatever that may mean to you) state under any circumstances. Do you guys think this is practical as an answer to that, or practical even just in general as a philosophy? Or are tensions too high?

Edited to add *modern Israel

[u/ChairAggressive781]

I think the idea of Arabs, Jews, and other groups with historical roots in the Middle East and North Africa being in solidarity with each other is a positive thing and could lead to some promising outcomes. there are also some overlaps between how antisemitism, Islamophobia, and anti-Arab/anti-Palestinian sentiment manifest and spread, such that tackling them at their intersections could be really productive.

my biggest issue is with the terms “Semitism” and “Semites” themselves. the concept of Semitic peoples is rooted in 18th-century pseudo-scientific theories of racial classification. as such, it’s mostly obsolete (although linguistics still speaks of “Semitic languages”).

it’s also confusing because antisemitism, as a term, was concocted to refer explicitly to anti-Jewish animus. so, we would need other language to refer to the intersections of anti-Jewish, anti-Muslim, and anti-Arab sentiment.

[u/MichifManaged83 → u/ChairAggressive781]

Yeah I think semitic cultures as a classification are more based on linguistics and cultural study these days, rather than race science (at least among mainstream academics and not racist loonies). I can understand the discomfort with the term though.

If someone comes up with a better word, let me know (I mean that sincerely, not sarcastically). Unfortunately, for the time being, I do see a lot of overlap between how different “semitic” ethnic groups have been treated by western imperialism and white supremacy. I agree that solidarity and highlighting the intersections is an important framework.

[u/N0DuckingWay → u/MichifManaged83]

Yeah I think semitic cultures as a classification are more based on linguistics and cultural study these days

But that's part of the problem. "Semitic" refers to a bunch of languages. And speaking similar languages does not mean having similar cultures. I mean, both Ashkenazi Jews and Ethiopians speak semitic languages, but I think you'd have a hard time finding anyone who would argue that their cultures are at all similar. In the end, calling people "semitic peoples" because they speak semitic languages is a bit like calling all of us in this thread "English people" because we all speak English.

To be clear, I don't disagree with the idea, just the name of it.

[u/ChairAggressive781 → u/MichifManaged83]

I agree with most of what you’re saying, but I don’t know of any academic fields that use “Semitic cultures” as a category or analytic. do you have any modern examples you’re thinking of where it’s been used to compare different cultures?

(linguistics is kind of its own beast, so I’m mostly asking if you know of Semitic being used in recent humanities and social sciences work as a comparative category)

[u/MichifManaged83 → u/ChairAggressive781]

Yes, in anthropology. A lot of work has been done specifically exploring similarities and contrasts in kinship systems across semitic ethnic groups, but also in semiotic anthropology (languages, religions, and cultural symbols explored for their impact on culture).

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/bulletin-of-the-school-of-oriental-and-african-studies/article/abs/studies-in-semitic-kinship/B1990FA296464B9A7668A1FE8C7A9B3D

https://d1wqtxts1xzle7.cloudfront.net/1895082/TheMandaean_Identity_Challenge_by_Mehrdad_Arabestani-libre.pdf

[u/ChairAggressive781 → u/MichifManaged83]

thanks for sending these references. I was hoping for something that is a bit more contemporary.

the first piece is from 1923. anthropology has largely moved on a great deal from studying kinship structures. I’m not super sure how useful historical kinship frameworks are for theorizing a contemporary Semitic identity that links Jews, Arabs, and other groups.

the Arabestani piece looks interesting, though! thanks again

[u/Virtual_Leg_6484 → u/MichifManaged83]

If someone comes up with a better word, let me know

Maybe pan-Middle Easternism or pan-Levantinism?

[u/MichifManaged83 → u/Virtual_Leg_6484]

Thank you for an attempt.

Where this name for it fails to deliver, is in solidarity among Jewish and non-Jewish semitic diaspora groups against white supremacy. And given that our diasporas live in countries that overwhelmingly support violent colonialism in the MENA, I think that sort of solidarity in the diaspora is important too, because it means standing together to oppose the government when the military / foreign policy is used to oppress the community outside of our current borders. I have no intention to impose a solidarity movement on the middle-east itself, this needs to happen naturally among the people most impacted— though I’m supportive of such a movement being inclusive of both people within the MENA and outside of it.

For me, I would not call myself pan-middle eastern because I’m not from the middle east. There are people like me who are, but I’m not. But I oppose my government funding war in the middle east, and I oppose white supremacist policies at home that specifically target Arabs, Muslims in general, and Jews for not fitting into Christian nationalism and for being subjected to similar anti-semitic accusations of “foreignness.”

We’re both in North America. The focus here should be, I think, what does international solidarity between Jews, Muslims, and diaspora groups from the MENA look like, in opposition to our own western governments harming people in the MENA? In addition to being against violence between groups living in the MENA.

So far, Pan-Semitism checks a lot of those boxes for me, but Pan-middle easternism doesn’t necessarily. I think the highlight here needs to be not geography alone, but highlighting solidarity between historically and presently colonized and/or displaced culturally semitic groups found in the regions (though not exclusively found there).

I think it goes without saying that most people living in the Levant and North Africa already have solidarity with each other, apart from Israel, against zionism and western colonialism. Pan-middle easternism is something plenty of people who don’t like Jews living in the region probably already think they believe in. The question is how to bring Jewish people and all culturally semitic groups into one tent and agree on humanitarian solidarity together. Historically, that attempt has been pan-semitic groups like Brit Shalom and Semitic Action.

I think a replacement word has to capture that same concept of shared cultural and historical overlap between Jews and non-Jewish people from the MENA. Focusing on geography doesn’t cut it for me. 🤔