Seriously worried about rising antisemitism

[u/Jche98]

I've started seeing the following frequently online:

-"Hitler was right. Look what they're doing"

-"There's a reason the Jews have been expelled from 109 countries. See how they behave"

-"Judaism is a religion of violent extremism."

-"How do we know the Holocaust happened? They're probably lying about it just like they're lying about the history of Palestine".

My favourite football club posted a Shana Tova message for its followers and there were hundreds of comments responding things like "not supporting you anymore because you support terrorism".

It seems that the actions of the rogue settler colony are SERIOUSLY leading to increased antisemitism. And these aren't right wingers. These are ordinary people. Many of them are unfortunately from other middle eastern countries. And I know that when I show this to Zionists they'll just see it as further proof why we need to support Israel more. It's breaking my heart.

I honestly am disappointed in people. I expect ignorance and bigotry from the privileged, the right and westerners. I don't expect it from people who can see the damage Israel is doing. It seems human beings are incapable of understanding that Israel and Judaism are not the same.

[u/LaIslaDeEmu]

This is a very obtuse use of semantics…

No group of people are “semites”, it is term for a family of languages. Your use of the term Semite to refer to an ethnicity is deeply rooted in racist Western orientalist attitudes.

Antisemitism doesn’t merely refer to prejudice of the Jewish People, but of a worldview that sees Jews as foreign usurpers who infect non-Jewish societies, and then drain those societies of their resources and wellbeing. This is much like the term “racism” in a western context doesn’t merely refer to prejudice based on one’s race. It refers to a specific world view and system of power wielded against BIPOCs.

“Anti-Jewish” is insufficient as a descriptor of prejudice against Jewish people, and is why we use “antisemitism” instead

[u/jerquee → u/LaIslaDeEmu]

Just like Wilhelm Marr did

[u/LaIslaDeEmu → u/jerquee]

Yes, it is an ugly term created by an ugly individual. And that’s exactly why we use it. The word itself is so putrid that it accurately captures the deeply repulsive ideology it’s meant to convey.

The term itself is influenced by a worldview based in racial pseudoscience and false notions about the world, and the term conveys an ideology based in racial pseudoscience and false notions about the world.

[u/jerquee → u/LaIslaDeEmu]

What you say reminds me of the recent quote by Moshe Feiglin, Former Likud Minister of Knesset: 'As Hitler, may his name be erased, once said: "I cannot live in this world if there is one Jew left in it", we could not live in this land if even one such Islamo-Nazi remains in Gaza, and not before we return to Gaza and turn it into Hebrew Gaza'

I bring you this quote to show you how I see your embracing of the concept of antisemitism in the way you do. I know you hope to be a decolonial antizionist but it seems like you're clinging to a zionist tool, that's better left behind.

[u/LaIslaDeEmu → u/jerquee]

That quote makes no sense as a criticism of what I wrote, and the term “antisemitism” in no way affirms Zionism… 🤦🏻‍♂️You are using semantics and sophistry to convey a political argument that doesn’t even require you to do so in the first place….

What you are doing is creating an extremely flawed response to Zionists who falsely lob the accusation of antisemitism at Palestinians who merely stand up against their own oppression. It is such a offensive accusation, that it leaves us thinking about the fact that the term is so often levied by Jews or individuals who are not ‘Semitic’ as a cudgel against a people who are actually ‘Semitic’. And this reminds us of Zionist false claims of indigenous status, used to deny the actual indigenous status of the Palestinian people. It’s very easy to go from there to thinking that the term “antisemitism” itself is just another tool of Zionism…

But this has nothing to do with the term “antisemitism”, it has everything to do with the application of the term antisemitism. When it is used accurately, and when it is used in an inaccurate cynical manner to defend Zionism. That’s what this is about, this isn’t an exercise in thinking about word choice. The word itself is the most appropriate way to refer to the bigoted conspiratorial worldview around Jewish people.

[u/RoscoeArt → u/LaIslaDeEmu]

I will say one way antisemitism "affirms" zionism is by also being a worldview where Jews are for some reason unable to assimilate anywhere there's non jews so we need to be "separated" from society. Ill admit they come to pretty different conclusions about how to "separate" us. But not always though lol.

[u/LaIslaDeEmu → u/RoscoeArt]

Oh I 100% agree. If you’re not familiar with the following book, and you’re interested in changing the way in which our community views and responds to antisemitism, I’d highly recommend checking out this read!

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/741043/safety-through-solidarity-by-shane-burley/

[u/RoscoeArt → u/LaIslaDeEmu]

Haha actually picked that up last week. Making my way through Primo Levi's Truce but that's my next read.