Today the Electronic Intifada published an article with numerous allegations against Yachad which are not true. We chose not to respond or engage directly to the journalist who has published the piece as we do not believe they are acting in good faith. Yachad was accused of ‘threatening’ the Balfour Project if they did not cancel an event which was platforming the rapper Lowkey. This isn’t true. What we did do, was flag to members of the Balfour Project that there are significant concerns about Lowkey from within the Jewish community. Lowkey is not an expert on Palestine – but a provocateur best known for using antisemitic tropes and perpetuating anti-Jewish conspiracies. We are a Jewish organisation, this is a natural concern for us to raise, or indeed for anyone to raise if they are concerned by antisemitism. We didn’t ask them to cancel event, neither did we make any threats or comments related to our engagement with the Balfour Project. This is simply false.
The accusation that we are part of the ‘Israel lobby’ – is a well-known dog whistle – suggesting that any Jewish group that does not fall in line to a very particular narrative, or raises concerns around antisemitism, is part of a conspiracy. It is almost laughable that the Electronic Intifada wishes to attack Yachad for opposing Palestinian rights – we invite people to look at our long record of raising awareness of the occupation in our community and advocating against the occupation and for justice for Palestinians. The Electronic Intifada has yet again proved how little it cares about antisemitism and to what extent it should not be seen as a serious publication or a reliable source.