Antisemitism
I thought we beat that 75 years ago
The mainstream news tells me that antisemitism is on the rise. It's not just the statistics, it's obvious from the outrageous attacks on synagogues that are all too common. Antisemitists break bread with Trump and Trump complains that Jews don't support me enough "Look what I did for Israel! he whines. I don't get no respect" Personally, I've criticized the zionist treatment of the Palestinians. I think it's an ongoing crime. For that I've been called antisemitic. I'm not. The Jews I know don't support the zionist project in Israel.
Recently I read this article at the CBC news website:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/antisemitism-jews-victims-hate-1.6677276
I quote:
" . . . are among a number of Jewish community members who say the non-Jewish community has been too silent regarding antisemitic incidents. And that tepid response, particularly from progressive groups, some suggest, comes from a misguided view that Jews are part of the white privilege and should not be seen as oppressed."
Basically, I think this is disinformation or gaslighting. The thesis is that progressives don't care about antisemitism because Jews are rich.
The evidence is that all of the mainstream media are full of disapproval and condemnation whenever one of these antisemitic atrocities occur.
Trump is not a bright man. His daughter and her husband and his grandkids are Jews.
He sits smiling proudly while Ye basically calls for the final solution of killing all Jews.
The public reaction to that has been pretty strong.
There is an old movement called BDS which calls for boycotting and divesting investment in israel and sanctions against Israel until they stop their horrific treatment of Palestinians. The zionists call that antisemitism. It's raising hatred against Jews.
I'd say that the zionist treatment of Palestinians raises hatred of zionists and not all Jews are zionist.
The people painting swastikas on synagogues are antisemitic. They are not objecting to a particular thing that Jews do. They are expressing hatred of Jews. They are nuts. And hatred of Jews just because they are Jews is historically pretty common. That's not me.
I'll be honest. I get annoyed when people try to associate me with right wing extremists by calling me antisemitic. I'd rather they talk to me about the abuses that Palestinians have faced.
Also though, I'm not surprised that antisemitism is rising dramatically. I associate it with the decline of religiosity across the world. That decline has meant that more and more people look to science and reason to solve problems rather than dogma and dictates. Authoritarians hate that.
A centuries old trope that is re-emerging around the world - all our problems are caused by rich Jews who rule the world. Just do what I dictate and I'll fix it up saith the strongman.
We know that isn't true.
But it's the sort of trope that plays well in social media echo chambers where outrage attracts eyeballs to ads.
I've encountered antisemites personally a few times. It's never a pleasant experience. They have this kind of mad dog stance that threatens violence at the least provocation. Yelling is involved. You just have smile away. This makes them hard to reason with.
But hey - there is a pattern here. From my perspective that's a common tactic on the right these days. Attacks on synagogues are carried out by the same sorts of nuts who attack lgbtq nightclubs.
What do you think?
I present regular philosophy discussions in a virtual reality called Second Life.
I set a topic and people come as avatars and sit around a virtual table to discuss it.
Each week I write a short essay to set the topic.
I show a selection of them here.