Thoughts on Antisemitism Within the Intactivist Movement from the Perspective of a Jewish Intactivist
Sometimes I feel like I exist in sort of a unique space. We are certainly a minority, statistically speaking, in either direction one might look. Loudly, proudly Jewish and loudly, proudly against routine infant circumcision. You see, I believe that genital autonomy is a fundamental human right and that the altering of one’s genitals before the age of informed consent is a violation of these rights regardless of assigned sex at birth, country of origin, and religion. At the same time, I am passionate about my existence as a Jewish woman and mother. I do not see any logic in these two sources of pride to clash or counteract each other. I believe they exist harmoniously and that my duty as a Jew to play an active role in kindness and Tikkun Olam includes aspects of social justice, and genital autonomy is a global issue of social justice and human rights.
However, I have experienced and witnessed antisemitism within the movement and I am not interested in being silent about it, least of all at a time in our lives where antisemitic hate crimes are rapidly rising. I’ve pondered writing it out and addressing it many times over the last couple of years that I’ve grown in both my advocacy work and my louder identity as a Jew and have come to realize how badly we need to talk about it. Whether you, yourself, are Jewish in any capacity, or just another Intact Advocate who values and respects people, I want to offer a resource that is valuable when navigating the tumultuous component of this topic.
If you spend some time within the Jewish community you might notice that we are no stranger to the “Good Jew or Bad Jew Test.” Some people need us to express our opinion on the Israel/Palestine debate before they can determine if we are worthy of basic dignity and respect or if they think it’s acceptable to be antisemitic to us. In the intactivist movement, the test is whether or not we are vehemently against circumcision or pro circumcision, or pro parental choice. I - - - believe I have made myself clear on my stance, but to be explicitly clear, I do not support pro parental choice because I do not believe that genital autonomy should - - be a parental choice. The cosmetic and ritual integrity of any individual’s genitals belongs to the individual, period.
Now, as a Jewish woman I have also seen something from the Jewish community that we need to talk about. Some of you have got to stop asserting that to BE anti circumcision is to BE antisemitic. When you say these two things are - equal, you are playing into an antisemitic trope. We are 2% of the global population but 25 to 35% of AMAB (assigned males at birth) are circumcised. When antisimites say that Jews are responsible for circumcision in the world or in the United States, they are being antisemitic, right? So, how are we not playing into that very trope to say that being anti circumcision is antisemitic? We are not responsible for infant (or - any minor globally) circumcision. We are not responsible for routine infant circumcision in the United States any more than we are responsible for tribal circumcision in Africa or cultural circumcision in the Middle East. We are not a minority responsible for corruption, “the media,” banking, or routine infant circumcision.
I think that it is very important to acknowledge that antisemitism and intactivism are two separate entities. I also think it’s important to acknowledge that among specific circles in the activist community people are blatantly antisemitic. They are blaming us for non Jews being circumcised. Even worse, they say - disgusting things about Jews as whole. Blatant antisemitic rhetoric that I cannot stomach to repeat and it is often regardless of the circumcision topic. Some of these people just hate Jews. They don’t just hate us, though, they usually also let that anger and hatred seep into other areas.
People who would bring bigotry in any capacity into our movement of basic human rights are seriously flawed in their logic. Personally, I try to stay away from them and any organization who creates a space for such deplorable ways of thinking. Additionally, I have some advice from advocates who want to be inclusive, especially to Jews:
• Call out Antisemitism when you see it. If you’re not sure if something is antisemitic, try asking a Jew in the community. Preferably one who clearly understands the difference.
• Expose Antisemitism and Bigotry when safely able to.
• Be a good ally. Learn about being a good ally. Listen to Jewish voices within and outside the community of Intact Advocacy.
• If you cannot call out bigotry, at least stop turning the other cheek when you see it. Acknowledge it. Don’t dismiss it or pretend it doesn’t exist because it does.
It’s not a perfect world and it probably won’t be for a long time, if ever. That doesn’t mean we can’t all work together. Being an intact advocate within the Jewish community is something personally important to me. I enjoy encouraging other Jewish people in their choices not to circumcise their children. I enjoy providing religious context to their choices as much as I enjoy providing cultural and medical context to all of the non Jewish people who reject infant circumcision as well! I also - am saddened whenever I see hatred and bigotry, and naturally it upsets me the most to see antisemitism because it personally affects me and my family.
My hope is that by discussing this in detail, we now have a valuable resource for both Jewish people and gentiles to understand the realities of antisemitism in the intactivist movement as well a resource on effectively combating it. We can do better, we can be better, together.
Elana Chava
January 7th, 2020