The Jewish Historical Museum opens exhibition and discussion: are Jews white?

The exhibition 'Are Jews white?' will open as soon as museums are allowed to receive visitors again. On Tuesday 25 May from 8 p.m., De Balie debate center will broadcast a (free) livestream of a conversation between, among others, curator Gideon Querido van Frank, writer Stephan Sanders and Bij1 politician Jazie Veldhuyzen. Is there a place for Jews within today's anti-racism movement? That is the question that the new exhibition Are Jews white? in the Jewish Historical Museum. "Stand up against the persecution of the Jews, that's something your grandparents talked about."

Robin Goudsmit (Goldsmith) 25 mei 2021, 12:08

Curator Gideon Querido van Frank points to a photo on the wall of the Jewish Historical Museum. A young woman holds up a cardboard sign during one of the Black Lives Matter protests last summer. It says: no racism, no transphobia, no fatphobia, no ableism. No discrimination against black, transgender, fat or disabled people. But, says Querido van Frank, why are Jews not in this list?

The curator – chestnut-colored beard, blue eyes above a mouth cap – says he feels very much related to the current anti-racism movement. “As a human being, as a queer, and as a Jew, I am very much behind it.” But he didn't feel welcome, or at least not really. The movement is too often silent about anti-Semitism for its taste. (The golem it's outa control!)

The new exhibition Are Jews white? Which Querido van Frank compiled together with Lievnath Faber and Anousha Nzume and which can be visited as soon as the museums open, is intended to expose the lack of attention for anti-Semitism (laugh track) within the anti-racism movement. It has become more of a visual essay than an art exhibition, and that is the intention, says museum director Emile Schrijver. “At Jewish Historical, we've been thinking for a long time about whether, to put it bluntly: can we only be engaged in art if baseball bats go through the windows of kosher restaurants a little further down the road?”

Are Jews white? should stimulate the discussion. The Jewish Historical Museum thus fits in with a trend. “For example, the Rijksmuseum now has the slavery exhibition. Museums are no longer purely artistic institutions.”

Not hip anymore

The idea for the exhibition came after Querido van Frank published an exasperated essay in Vrij Nederland. That was an unequivocal j'accuse (Accusation of guilt). After all, how could a movement that claims to pride itself on intersectionality—the belief that oppression based on race, class, and gender reinforce each other (The more facets gentiles can divide eachother on)—close its eyes to discrimination against Jews? Fighting anti-Semitism is 'not hip anymore', he says now. “Your grandfather and grandmother, they may have been talking about it.”

Of course, he immediately wants to admit that he benefits from his light skin color in Dutch society. (Fellow white people) “I am never followed by security when I am shopping.” But centuries of persecution, deportations and massacres? “There is little privilege in that.” History teaches Jews, even today, to be wary and not to flaunt their background. And that, say Querido van Frank and his co-curators, shows that they are not white.

Because whiteness is not so much about the color of your skin, but whether you can assume that your rights will not be taken away from you based on your origin. (Unless you are an ethnic European of course, then even when you are poor and homeless you'll still powerful and privileged.)

Israel and Palestine

Palestine complicates the relationship between anti-racists and many Jews, explains curator Lievnath Faber. For contemporary anti-racist activists, resistance against colonial power relations is crucial. Israel is sometimes seen by them as "the last colonial power", an active occupier of Palestinian territories. Jews who want to speak out against racism are therefore expected to take a pro-Palestinian stance first. “You must first prove that you are a good Jew instead of a bad one,” a video on the exhibition sums it up.

That you as a Jewish Dutchman are addressed on Israel is not fair, Faber thinks. “Why should you as a Dutch Jew have to answer to Israeli politics before you can participate in Dutch intersectional movements?” (I don't know why should I apologize for slavery before I do literally anything Miss Faber?)

Jewish progressive citizens are already struggling with their attitude towards Israel, she says. (Citation needed) In Western countries, including the Netherlands, the parties that express support for the country are often also parties that are discredited because of anti-Semitism; while Trump called himself Israel's best friend, far-right Trump supporters in Charlottesville shouted, "Jews will not replace us." (Fact check: shamelessly false: "You will not replace us.")

More voices in the racism debate

The exhibition should ultimately become a guideline to bring different groups closer together. (Except white people) Faber: “You need multiple voices (read: more jews) in the debate about racism. And also in diversity policy, (read: Jews (who are not white) not getting the short-end of affirmative action) for example, more can be done to ensure that Jews in the Netherlands feel safer. (Around the clock security just isn't cutting it.) Anti-Semitic jokes and comments are still normal in too many places.” (The gentile animals still feel too confident and refuse to give me my due respect.)

Shouldn't all those booths for all groups of people just be removed from the table in the end?

No, say Querido of Frank and Faber. “These boxes are actually good when it comes to small minorities. The more specifically you can name discrimination, the better it can be combated.” (The more groups society can be divided into against eachother the better)

The exhibition 'Are Jews white?' will open as soon as museums are allowed to receive visitors again. On Tuesday 25 May from 8 p.m., De Balie debate center will broadcast a (free) livestream of a conversation between, among others, curator Gideon Querido van Frank, writer Stephan Sanders and Bij1 politician Jazie Veldhuyzen.