Tribal exemption: when movements protect their own

A new Substack piece by Dan Jacobs looks at a pattern Socialists Against Antisemitism has been warning about for years: antisemitism isn’t kept alive only by committed antisemites. It’s kept alive by coalitions that decide certain versions of it are tolerable, provided the speaker is “useful” to the cause.

The article describes a simple routine. First minimisation: it’s a joke, a misunderstanding, a one-off. Then deflection: the real issue is free speech, smears, Islamophobia, the establishment, purity tests. Then absorption: the person stays in good standing, because exclusion would cost the movement numbers, money, identity or status.

Israel has become a moral filter that sorts what gets condemned and what gets excused. Parts of the right wave away conspiracy-coded talk about ‘globalists’ or shadowy elites. Parts of the left wave away ‘Zionist’ conspiracism and dual loyalty insinuations. Each side becomes expert at spotting the other camp’s antisemitism, and strangely blind to its own.

SAAS exists to break that pattern on the left, without minimising what happens on the right. Standards only work when they’re consistent.

Read the full article here: https://danjacobslondon.substack.com/p/tribal-exemption-how-left-and-right