Standing Against Antisemitism

Statement Opposing Antisemitism Within The Genital Autonomy Movement

April 28, 2022

Introduction

We, the undersigned, are disturbed by a rise in antisemitic expression within the genital autonomy movement. Especially in this era of rising hate crimes against Jews, we must be vigilant against allowing such ideas to proliferate within our movement.

We strongly believe that criticizing the practice of penile circumcision DOES NOT, in and of itself, constitute antisemitism. And we also believe that any incorporation of antisemitic expressions into such criticisms undermines the genital autonomy movement. It gives people of good faith reason to reject our cause while supplying people of bad faith with ammunition to use against us.

Jewish people are as capable of expressing antisemitism as non-Jews, and while it’s fairly straightforward to identify certain generalizations about Jews or Judaism as bigotry, it can sometimes be tricky to identify an expression as antisemitic. To help our movement better avoid antisemitism, we offer a working definition and examples.

Our definition and examples are designed to be useful to people within the genital autonomy movement and are by no means comprehensive. People of good faith can sometimes disagree about what constitutes antisemitism, but there is a consensus about a certain set of ideas and we will limit our examples to these.

Working Definition

Antisemitism is a longstanding form of bigotry that targets Jews and Judaism. Like other forms of bigotry, it paints a group of people with negative, sweeping generalizations. Antisemitism consists of anti-Jewish beliefs, attitudes, and actions. It can be manifested in words, visual images, and deeds. Antisemitism can be direct, indirect, explicit, or coded.

Some examples of statements that DO NOT express antisemitism:

1.  “It should be illegal to cut the genitals of any child, male, female, or intersex for non-medical reasons.”
2. “The circumcision of Jewish babies for religious reasons violates the baby’s right to bodily integrity.”
3. “Jewish babies feel pain and some Jewish babies grow up to be Jewish men who are angry that they were circumcised.”
4. “Some Jews have been influential in the promotion of circumcision, and some Jewish organizations have fought legislation designed to protect infants from penile circumcision.”
5. “Metzitzah b’Peh is a dangerous religious practice that puts Jewish infants at risk.”
6. “Many Jews associate circumcision with Jewish identity.”

Some examples of antisemitic statements related to penile circumcision:

1. Blaming the Victim
   “The historical persecution of Jews was a reasonable response to their practice of circumcision.”
2. The Myth of Jewish Power
   “The Jewish people manipulated the United States into adopting the practice of circumcision.”
3. The Dual Loyalty Accusation
   “Jewish critics of circumcision who speak out against antisemitism can’t really be committed to ending the practice of circumcision.”
4. The Conspiracy Theory of Control
   “The Jews control the media, the medical establishment, and the legal system and are pulling the strings behind the scenes to perpetuate the practice of circumcision.”
5. The Mischaracterization of Metzitzah b’Peh
   “Metzitzah b’Peh constitutes cannibalism, vampirism, and pedophilia.”
6. Defamatory Essentializing
   “Judaism embodies systemic pedophilia.”

Conclusion

While all human beings make mistakes, we are not forever defined by those mistakes. Even those within our movement who at times have fallen into the trap of perpetuating antisemitic attitudes, or who simply have failed to confront antisemitism when it has occurred, are encouraged to approach the cause of genital autonomy with as great a commitment to respecting the diversity and value of all human beings as they bring to the cause of genital autonomy itself.

There is no room in our movement for antisemitism or any other form of bigotry. The work of protecting children from genital cutting is just too important to allow such hatreds to derail all our efforts. We have a moral duty to speak out against antisemitism within the genital autonomy movement. We believe that doing so, now more than ever, is imperative both for the health of our movement and for the betterment of our society.