NASW at a Crossroads: Time to call out Antisemitism and Effect Change

Antisemitism is described as, "anti-Jewish racism" it operates in multiple ways, 
can be intentional or unintentional, and expressed in coded language, and in 
conspiracy theories. 

As I wrote last week, The National Association of Social Workers (NASW) does not appear to adhere to its own Code of Ethics; a set of standards that guide the professional conduct of social workers.

It is distressing to report that NASW leadership has displayed antisemitic behavior and allows its members to also engage in antisemitic actions towards their Jewish colleagues.

With over 120,000 members, NASW is the largest membership organization of professional social workers in the world.

In May, NASW posted a benign statement on social media regarding Jewish Heritage month; something they do for every minority group. Within minutes, the post was overrun with antisemitic and anti-Zionist comments (see image above).

Multiple messages from Jewish members asking for support were met with silence. NASW did nothing to moderate or respond. No follow-up statement was issued. No protection or sense of community was offered.

It’s hard to tell which is worse but NASWs own platform, MyNASW may even surpass the vitriol pictured above. It is the blame and lack of compassion that I find so alarming. A Jewish member posted on MyNASW that he couldn’t sleep and was feeling anxious following the murder of the young couple at the Jewish museum in Washington, DC. He was met with silence.

Another Jewish member wrote that the field of social work is rife with antisemitism. She was met with a response from a non-Jewish member that this couldn’t possibly be true because she wasn’t antisemitic. That same member used obtuse messaging to mock Jewish members who attempted to explain Jewish history and our lived experience.

All of the situations described above are antisemitic according to the IHRA working definition of antisemitism; a definition adopted by the United States and Canada numbering among the 45 countries who have also done so.

As we can see, antisemitism in social work is often coded as slurs about Zionists and Zionism. Since 90% of Jews identify as Zionists, meaning they believe in self-determination and statehood for the Jewish people in their ancestral homeland then, Zionist = Jew.

Social work anti-oppression frameworks exclude Jewish identity as we don’t fit into into a rigid binary of simplified racial categories. This effectively erases the complexity of who we are as a people and also constitutes antisemitism.

The statement also did not explicitly mention Jews at all. It referenced ‘people who are Jewish, Israeli, Muslim or Palestinian’ and cited statistics about antisemitic incidents, but it never said the word, ‘Jews.’

Language matters and when an organization is willing to name other communities but defaults to vague generalities when it comes to another, the message is clear; Jewish pain can only be acknowledged if it’s paired with someone else’s.

By citing antisemitism and Islamophobia, NASW followed a familiar institutional pattern seeking to appear neutral while avoiding clear acknowledgment of the unique Jewish experience. This kind of both-sides framing again functions as a form of erasure as it diminishes the singular nature of antisemitism reinforcing the idea that antisemitism is too politically fraught to address on its own terms.

In 2020, in the wake of George Floyd’s murder (2020), NASW published: NASW Calls for Social Work to Dismantle Racism in the United States in which they stated: “We have certainly made mistakes, but we are also a group of professionals committed to helping, lifting up, and advocating for oppressed and marginalized groups of people and fighting injustice in society. Social workers have an ethical duty to dismantle racism, both personally and professionally, and to demonstrate what it means to be antiracist.”

Now, five years later we are at another crossroads. Jewish people in the United States have been murdered and set on fire, Jewish schools and synagogues must arrange and pay for their own security to ensure community protection, Jewish people are not physically safe in the United States. If that isn’t a call to action I don’t know what is.

Here are my recommendations for NASW:

1. Embrace and uphold the IHRA working definition of antisemitism
2. Include Jewish history and antisemitism in the social work curricula and as part of cultural competency training. I have a great book recommendation for you.
3. Include Jews in the social work anti-oppressive framework as an indigenous people because that’s what we are. If that is too formidable a task then agree to tie all antisemitism, anti-oppressive and anti-racist initiatives together.

It is never ethical or good social work practice to discriminate against a targeted and endangered minority group. Now is the time to adapt and adopt a true anti-oppressive framework. NASW, we know you can do better.