SEATTLE — A well-attended Militant Labor Forum here Jan. 6 featured a panel discussion on how to effectively fight Jew-hatred and defend Israel’s right to exist in the wake of the murderous Oct. 7 Hamas pogrom against Jews in Israel.
“We need to get out the facts about what happened on Oct. 7, and to correct misinformation. We need to continue to remind people what Hamas did,” Randy Kessler, a leader of StandWithUs Northwest, told forum goers. “Every week we are learning new things. Hamas still holds a hundred hostages, and we count each day.”
Kessler explained the first rally the Jewish community organized turned into a confrontation with groups opposed to the existence of Israel as a refuge for Jews. “We are not aiming to disrupt others’ free speech,” he said, “but we intend to get out our point of view.”
StandWithUs Northwest has joined with other organizations in the Jewish community to hold eight more public rallies since then, he said.
David Solovy, another organizer of the series of rallies and a veteran of the Israel Defense Forces, spoke, saying he was glad when he heard the Socialist Workers Party reaches out in support of Israel’s right to exist. He said that antisemitism “in the name of socialism” has been growing in Seattle.
“We need to create a left that knows the truth and is honest. I’m here to learn — this is quite a bookshelf,” he said, referring to the books by SWP leaders and other revolutionaries on sale there. He encouraged people in the audience to subscribe to the Militant.
“Many people at the rallies are surprised to learn that there are socialists or communists who support the fight against Jew-hatred,” said Jacob Perasso, speaking for the Socialist Workers Party. “But in fact this is part of our continuity going back over a century. The Bolshevik Revolution led by V.I. Lenin in Russia not only ended anti-Jewish pogroms that were common under the czar, but encouraged the revival of Jewish culture.”
Israel’s war to defeat Hamas is key to opening up political space to allow Jewish, Palestinian and other workers to join together in struggles in the interests of all working people, Perasso said.
“We see a sharp rise in antisemitic attacks since Oct. 7, but our experience is that Jew-hatred is not growing in the working class,” he added. When party members introduce the Militant in workers’ neighborhoods and on the job, we find working people abhor the Oct. 7 massacre.
“The increased resistance of working people in recent years bodes well,” said Perasso. “Working people and the unions will inevitably struggle not only on an economic level, but also a political one — which includes fighting against Jew-hatred.”
A lively discussion followed the presentations. Some participants reported that just hours before the forum hundreds shut down the most traveled freeway in Seattle for several hours, calling for a “permanent cease-fire” in Gaza — a move that would allow Hamas to rearm and attack Jews in Israel again. The action sparked anger from working people.
Over 40 people participated in the meeting, including more than a dozen who had never been to a Militant Labor Forum before.