Antisemitism—Not Russian Trolls—Was the Downfall of the Women’s March

A recent Sunday New York Times piece declared that Russian trolls were to blame for the collapse and subsequent failure of the Women’s March. The piece was a dangerous distraction from the real problem: The downfall of Women’s March Inc. was the irrefutable antisemitism of its leadership.

The antisemitic rot at the core of Women’s March, Inc. leadership was a Russian propagandist’s dream. To exploit the fissure and exacerbate our already-existing polarization, all they had to do was tell the truth.

Hoping to keep social justice coalitions together to advance shared progressive goals, American Jews have long stayed silent in the face of antisemitic, anti-Zionist abuse from our fellow activists. But while the first Women’s March was a watershed moment in American political history, it was also a watershed moment for American Jews: We decided not to tolerate the bigotry, nor to compromise our Jewish identities in order to belong. I founded a new organization, Zioness, to send the message that standing for progressive causes no longer means checking our Zionism––a core component of our Jewishness––at the door. Along with other Jewish and allied organizations, we successfully demanded new leadership at Women’s March, Inc.

For The New York Times, five-and-a-half years later, to try to delegitimize those efforts is for the “paper of record” to perpetuate the extreme gaslighting of so many American Jews. Why would the Times ignore the pain of millions of people who felt we had to choose between protecting our bodily integrity and autonomy as women, and our safety and sovereignty as a Jewish people?

That foreign governments exploit and stoke divisions in U.S. domestic movements is not new information, and there are infinite ways for the Times to cover stories of Russian cyber activity––indeed, they have done so on countless occasions since 2016––without minimizing or whitewashing the overt, destructive antisemitism that pervaded Women’s March, Inc., from the top, since its inception.

Would the paper run a Sunday Times cover story about Russian bots amplifying David Duke or Richard Spencer in an attempt to minimize the threat of white nationalism in America? Would they try to resuscitate the image of anyone who trafficked in gross stereotypes about any non-Jewish minority community? Or would they recognize that a bigot, even one targeted by bots, was still a bigot? Why should the answer be any different when the victims are Jews?

The same forces driving The New York Times’ whitewashing of the problem are the forces that have been gaslighting Jews in progressive spaces for years. This is why Zioness exists: to create a community and an activist home for the vast majority of American Jews who are deeply committed to the fight for social, racial, economic, gender and environmental justice here, in the United States, in the country where we live and vote, and where the policies enacted affect our bodies and our lives. We refuse to relinquish our commitment to the liberation and freedom of our people in order to support the liberation of other persecuted and marginalized communities and intersecting identities.

We refuse to relinquish our commitment to the liberation and freedom of our people in order to support the liberation of other persecuted and marginalized communities and intersecting identities.

Some see it as a provocative message. We see it as the embodiment of our collective progressive and Jewish ideals.

The Jewish community has overwhelmingly embraced what Zioness offers: the opportunity to stand fully and authentically as progressives and Zionists. Our work training and activating Jewish women and allies brought out Zionesses in 34 American cities in 2018 Women’s Marches, and before the last Women’s March, in January 2019, Zioness hosted more than a dozen diverse progressive leaders, including courageous local Women’s March founders, in Los Angeles, Washington D.C. and New York City. Those leaders stood staunchly in solidarity with Zioness and the Jewish community, fighting hate while simultaneously mobilizing a truly intersectional, truly progressive movement for women’s equality. Nationwide, we empowered and inspired progressive Jews and our allies to show up, boldly and proudly as committed activists for reproductive freedom, equal pay, universal healthcare and affordable child care.

Our foreign adversaries will continue to exploit the fractures in the American left. The only way to overcome such a significant vulnerability is to confront the hate within our movement, strengthening the left in our urgent fight against domestic white supremacy and theocratic nationalism.

We must condemn those attacks against Women’s March, Inc. leaders that were overtly racist, Islamophobic and misogynistic. We can, and must, do that while also condemning the poisonous antisemitic bigotry they themselves attempted to institutionalize.

Antisemitism is a metastatic and corrosive force that has recently consumed political parties like the British Labour Party and the Canadian Green Party. It has deeply divided domestic justice movements including Women’s March, Inc., the Movement for Black Lives, Sunrise Movement and the Dyke March. Calling out this antisemitism, especially after first trying to call it in, is not “right wing” behavior. It is necessary to protect the integrity of our movements and the potential of our coalitions to achieve true and lasting progress.

The New York Times is doing a serious disservice to all those who have worked to heal the rifts in our movement and all those who are victimized by the threat of white supremacy in America. We in Zioness have seen how much can be accomplished when we show up fully and authentically to pursue progress. Progressive Jews do not have the luxury of staying home or of ceding social justice spaces to bigots. This is our ideological home, and we will not allow antisemites to control the space.

Zioness is proud to continue our work with progressive partners fighting for a more just, more equitable America. You will see us at Women’s Wave rallies in early October. You will see us helping to register and protect voters this fall. And we hope to see you join us in our fight against the threats to our movement: those from enemies foreign and domestic, and those within our own coalitions. It is time for the strong, united, progressive front we all demand and deserve.

Amanda Berman, Esq. is the founder and executive director of Zioness.