GAPS Commitment to Countering Group-Focused Enmity and Discursive Reductionism
The Hamas attacks on 7 October 2023, the Israel-Gaza war, as well as their many discursive instrumentalisations have resulted in widespread questionings of solidarity among different actors dedicated to what we perceive as the shared aims of overcoming injustice, inequality and oppression. As scholars of anglophone postcolonial studies in German-speaking countries, we are particularly concerned by the resurgence of antisemitism in the public sphere and by the sweeping charges of antisemitism against our field.
GAPS condemns the brutal Hamas attacks on 7 October 2023 and is horrified by the numerous victims claimed by the attacks and the ensuing warfare in Gaza. We oppose all kinds of group-focused enmity. We oppose antisemitism, and we consider antisemitism to be incompatible with our understanding of postcolonial studies. At the same time, we oppose generalised and one-sided suspicions as well as their instrumentalisation in forms of discrimination such as anti-Muslim racism. We believe that in order to counter antisemitism and anti-Muslim racism, reductionist explanations and attributions are insufficient and indeed counterproductive.
As an academic association, we strive to contribute to processes of differentiation, discussion, and dialogue. In order to do so, we have decided to introduce formats in which to facilitate a process of critical self-reflection about what it means to do postcolonial studies in German-speaking countries. These include organising further discussion meetings and public roundtables on the relationship of anti-antisemitic and antiracist scholarship in German-speaking countries and beyond, and a renewed focus on the role of anglophone Jewish and Arab/Middle Eastern literatures and cultures in envisioning peaceful futures. As we are intensifying our work on these projects, our compassion lies with the victims of violence and war.