As an American Jew, I’ve kind of gotten numb to the anti-semitism on the right. A Republican politician shook hands with Nazis and posed for a photo with a swastika flag? Must be a Thursday.
What I wasn’t prepared for was the level of anti-semitism on the left. Now, I’ll say right out of the gate that criticizing Israel isn’t automatically anti-semitism. Heck, I criticize Israel quite often. I’m not talking about this. I’m talking about progressives declaring that all Jews are responsible for Israel’s actions. Progressives attacking Jews, Jewish temples, Jewish businesses, Jewish homes. Progressives celebrating the October 7th attack and wishing that more Jews would be killed. And also progressives saying that anti-semitism isn’t happening or that Jews aren’t allowed to complain about threats they are getting because other people have it worse. (Would you tell a friend to shut up about how much their broken leg hurts because you saw a guy on the news that had cancer? Does only the group that has it the absolute worst get to complain?)
I consider myself a progressive so this hurt. I was being told that my life and safely doesn’t matter by a group that I agreed with in the past. I was told that I was personally responsible for something I have no control over and should be attacked for these “crimes” that I committed (again, despite not living anywhere near Israel).
Being attacked by both sides of the political spectrum is scary and leaves me wondering if anyone would stand up should the words and vandalism turn into something worse.
And, as an additional effect, I do want to speak up for the Palestinians, but don’t feel comfortable joining in a group with members calling for violence against me. I just don’t feel personally safe doing so. I know this isn’t all people who advocate for the Palestinians, but it’s a loud enough contingent that I fear for my safety.
I have personally not met any progressives who are antisemitic. Have you noticed any particular demographic of progressives acting antisemitic? Also what region/area are you in as that may have an influence.
I’ve noticed this a lot on Threads. People who are otherwise progressive arguing that all Jews should be held accountable for what Israel does or telling Jews that they aren’t facing anti-semitism. These same people wouldn’t dream of telling a black man that he’s not facing racism, but if it’s a Jew then it seems to be fine with them.
Here’s one of the posts that I took a screenshot of. This was in response to a Jewish temple and Jewish owned bakery in America being vandalized.
The solution is don’t use Threads. That place is a shithole. If that place is knowingly hosting antisemitic material you might as well leave. Plus its a Zuck owned privacy nightmare.
Interesting. I personally don’t use threads/twitter/X as they usually contain a lot of people screaming into the void with too little thought. The picture contains someone equating jewish and zionist which are not the same thing.I think I read somewhere that only 38% of jewish americans are zionist. I agree that vandalizing a zionist given current politics is not antisemitic, but vandalizing jewish buildings would be antisemitic if they are not zionist. I would not support the vandalizing regardless though.
Any vandalism of private property is wrong. First of all, how do you decide who is “Zionist” enough to qualify for vandalism. If I disagree with Israel’s actions, but think Israel has a right to exist, should I be called a Zionist and have my house vandalized? Is this true even if I’m American with no say on what actually happens in Israel?
Secondly, how do you determine who was “Zionist?” Do you think these people are researching their target’s opinions? Or are they simply saying “here’s a Jew, get them”? In France, anti-semites are marking every Jewish owned house/business with a spray painted Jewish star to make it easy to target them. They aren’t limiting this to “people who agree with Israel too much.”
Finally, if you excuse this violence for one set of views, it’s easy to expand it. Say, I don’t qualify as “Zionist” enough because I don’t agree with what Israel is doing. But then, next month, people decide that saying “Israel deserves to exist as a country” is “too Zionist.” Should I be targeted for violence then? (This vandalism included broken windows so I would deem that violence.) Do I need to fall in with a certain group’s opinions or I’m subject to attacks?
If you’re a actively flying the flag of Israel that might be a good sign that you believe in what they’re doing lmao.
And vandalizing the flag itself certainly shouldn’t be viewed as antisemitic, I don’t condone violence against people of any race/nationality/idea unless in self defence but that’s usually on an individual level, you can’t take out what the government of Israel is doing out on people who happen to be Jewish.
Since pretty much every Jewish Temple in America flies the Israeli flag, what you’re saying is that you view every American Jewish Temple as a “justified target” for vandalism. And yet you don’t see that as anti-semitic at all.
Do you support attacking churches as well? Many churches, particularly evangelical ones, provide support to Israel. So would every church be vandalized because someone assumes their position? Or is it just Jewish institutions that get targeted?
You are repeatedly misunderstanding myself and the other user and saying we support violence against jews which we have both stated we do not. You are also equating jews and zionism which are two different things and have far less overlap than you believe. If you are not making your arguements in bad faith, which I suspect you are, you should educate yourself further on the differences.
As an American Jew, I’ve kind of gotten numb to the anti-semitism on the right. A Republican politician shook hands with Nazis and posed for a photo with a swastika flag? Must be a Thursday.
What I wasn’t prepared for was the level of anti-semitism on the left. Now, I’ll say right out of the gate that criticizing Israel isn’t automatically anti-semitism. Heck, I criticize Israel quite often. I’m not talking about this. I’m talking about progressives declaring that all Jews are responsible for Israel’s actions. Progressives attacking Jews, Jewish temples, Jewish businesses, Jewish homes. Progressives celebrating the October 7th attack and wishing that more Jews would be killed. And also progressives saying that anti-semitism isn’t happening or that Jews aren’t allowed to complain about threats they are getting because other people have it worse. (Would you tell a friend to shut up about how much their broken leg hurts because you saw a guy on the news that had cancer? Does only the group that has it the absolute worst get to complain?)
I consider myself a progressive so this hurt. I was being told that my life and safely doesn’t matter by a group that I agreed with in the past. I was told that I was personally responsible for something I have no control over and should be attacked for these “crimes” that I committed (again, despite not living anywhere near Israel).
Being attacked by both sides of the political spectrum is scary and leaves me wondering if anyone would stand up should the words and vandalism turn into something worse.
And, as an additional effect, I do want to speak up for the Palestinians, but don’t feel comfortable joining in a group with members calling for violence against me. I just don’t feel personally safe doing so. I know this isn’t all people who advocate for the Palestinians, but it’s a loud enough contingent that I fear for my safety.
I have personally not met any progressives who are antisemitic. Have you noticed any particular demographic of progressives acting antisemitic? Also what region/area are you in as that may have an influence.
I’ve noticed this a lot on Threads. People who are otherwise progressive arguing that all Jews should be held accountable for what Israel does or telling Jews that they aren’t facing anti-semitism. These same people wouldn’t dream of telling a black man that he’s not facing racism, but if it’s a Jew then it seems to be fine with them.
Here’s one of the posts that I took a screenshot of. This was in response to a Jewish temple and Jewish owned bakery in America being vandalized.
The solution is don’t use Threads. That place is a shithole. If that place is knowingly hosting antisemitic material you might as well leave. Plus its a Zuck owned privacy nightmare.
Interesting. I personally don’t use threads/twitter/X as they usually contain a lot of people screaming into the void with too little thought. The picture contains someone equating jewish and zionist which are not the same thing.I think I read somewhere that only 38% of jewish americans are zionist. I agree that vandalizing a zionist given current politics is not antisemitic, but vandalizing jewish buildings would be antisemitic if they are not zionist. I would not support the vandalizing regardless though.
Any vandalism of private property is wrong. First of all, how do you decide who is “Zionist” enough to qualify for vandalism. If I disagree with Israel’s actions, but think Israel has a right to exist, should I be called a Zionist and have my house vandalized? Is this true even if I’m American with no say on what actually happens in Israel?
Secondly, how do you determine who was “Zionist?” Do you think these people are researching their target’s opinions? Or are they simply saying “here’s a Jew, get them”? In France, anti-semites are marking every Jewish owned house/business with a spray painted Jewish star to make it easy to target them. They aren’t limiting this to “people who agree with Israel too much.”
Finally, if you excuse this violence for one set of views, it’s easy to expand it. Say, I don’t qualify as “Zionist” enough because I don’t agree with what Israel is doing. But then, next month, people decide that saying “Israel deserves to exist as a country” is “too Zionist.” Should I be targeted for violence then? (This vandalism included broken windows so I would deem that violence.) Do I need to fall in with a certain group’s opinions or I’m subject to attacks?
If you’re a actively flying the flag of Israel that might be a good sign that you believe in what they’re doing lmao.
And vandalizing the flag itself certainly shouldn’t be viewed as antisemitic, I don’t condone violence against people of any race/nationality/idea unless in self defence but that’s usually on an individual level, you can’t take out what the government of Israel is doing out on people who happen to be Jewish.
Since pretty much every Jewish Temple in America flies the Israeli flag, what you’re saying is that you view every American Jewish Temple as a “justified target” for vandalism. And yet you don’t see that as anti-semitic at all.
Do you support attacking churches as well? Many churches, particularly evangelical ones, provide support to Israel. So would every church be vandalized because someone assumes their position? Or is it just Jewish institutions that get targeted?
You are repeatedly misunderstanding myself and the other user and saying we support violence against jews which we have both stated we do not. You are also equating jews and zionism which are two different things and have far less overlap than you believe. If you are not making your arguements in bad faith, which I suspect you are, you should educate yourself further on the differences.
https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2021/05/21/u-s-jews-have-widely-differing-views-on-israel/