Photo Credit: Kai Mesman-Hallman

This podcast—led and produced by Dylan Compton—examines our session with Jewish AntiFa Berlin. As the organization notes in “The Chutzpah Bites Back,” “In many areas of the left in Germany, the Jewish left is under attack. This is not unique to us. Our comrades, Palestinians, migrants and others who speak out against Israel’s policies of colonization, occupation and dispossession are being attacked even more forcefully. Recognizing this, and understanding the clear connection between things, we discuss ourselves and our position in this text. We, Jewish leftists, especially immigrants from Israel, are systematically subjected to violence from the German left, and particularly from people who claim to love Israel. We are dealing with attempts of delegitimization, demonization, exclusion and even pathologization. Violence and bullying on the ideological level translates into harassment in everyday life. There are increasing cases of rejection from workplaces on the basis of having too “radical” left views, exclusion from community spaces, online and offline threats, cancellations of movies, performances and lectures, verbal attacks and even a physical attack once. Beyond this, we know that elements on the left are cooperating with workers at the Israeli embassy and various “Hasbara” (propaganda) organizations. This might sound conspiratorial, but it should be reminded that spying against left-wing organizations has been the declared and official policy of the State of Israel for many years.”

Photo Credit: Professor Heidi R. Lewis

Dylan is a junior at Colorado College. This fall semester, he studied in Germany with Colorado College’s Lüneburg Program, organized by the German Department. On campus, he is part of the Bridge Scholars Program, QuestBridge, and the Graduate School Exploration Fellowship. Dylan majors in Religion and International Affairs, and has completed a Chinese language minor. He is interested in studying the intersection of religion and political narratives, and hopes to become a professor.

Photo Credit: Professor Heidi R. Lewis

Joining Dylan in his discussion about the session are Anna Balaguer—a Boulder, CO native and junior at Colorado College majoring in Classics and minoring in German and Philosophy, and Elsa Godtfredsen—a Seattle, WA native and junior at Colorado College majoring in Biology and minoring in Creative Writing.

NOTE: The featured image photo credit also belongs to Professor Heidi R. Lewis.