Why is it so hard to call out anti-semitism

[DemocratSinceBirth]

or homphobia
racism
nativism
xenophobia

...

et cetera?

[hlthe2b]

1. Maybe because of where some "draw the lines"

Conflating bigotry towards Jewish people-- which is obviously abhorrent-- with criticism (however intense) towards Israeli Government has been an increasing issue for some time. I find those who conflate the two as causing tremendous harm to our hope of tolerance and especially distressing when it is Liberal/Progressives doing so. I think the majority of Americans see the former as intensely wrong, while the latter is subject to the same debate as would be criticism (however harsh) of our own Government.

[leftynyc]

2. Calling bibi the corrupt piece of crap

he is isn't a problem for anyone. I do it all the time. Saying people in congress support Israel because they're all about the benjamins or accusing them of disloyalty to their country is anti-semetic. This isn't rocket science.

[CrossingTheRubicon]

5. That's it.

[uponit7771]

20. Maybe there should be an OP on some of the trope, what you wrote doesn't sound like trope unless

... someone know what was behind them.

I can understand someone ratializing a native American name like Red Don does but not stating support for Israel is all about the money.

What is historically behind that?

Thx in advance

[leftynyc]

22. Maybe this will help

A piece from Rahm Emmanuel published in The Atlantic today

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/03/ilhan-omars-dual-loyalty-charge-was-anti-semitic/584314/

[Anon-C]

26. Bookmarked for this!

[uponit7771]

36. +1

[DavidDvorkin]

3. Better to ask why it's so much harder to call out antisemitism on DU than those other hatreds

Why is antisemitism so frequently dismissed on DU as being merely criticism of Israel? There's nothing similar for those other forms of hatred.

[shanny]

6. I'd ask why criticism of Israel is always tagged as antisemitism.

[11cents]

12. It's now impossible to call out antisemitism without getting this response.

Antisemitism has existed in a recognizable form for almost two millenia, and can be summarized as the casting of Jews in a demonic role, literally or metaphorically -- the casting of Jews in the role of existential threat, however that threat is currently conceived. It preexisted the creation of the state of Israel by -- quite a bit. It preexisted Nazism and the Holocaust by quite a bit. It's deeply embedded in the ethos of the Christian west, which is to say it's not just an affliction of outright Nazis -- or outright Trumpists.

"Criticism of Israel" -- or AIPAC -- is not antisemitic. But the rhetoric of "anti-Zionism" often is, to the extent that it conjures an existential threat called "Zionism."

So maybe, I don't know -- listen? Learn? There ARE bad-faith accusations of antisemitism from the right, but the participants on this board are not from the right. And there are Jews here who have something to tell you.

[shanny]

31. Well said. Thank you.

[uponit7771]

19. THIS !!! The conflation is some straight up bull shit

[leftynyc]

23. BULLSHIT

I've been trashing Bibi and the settlement policy for years here and nobody has ever accused me of anti-semitism.

[shanny]

30. bullshit yourself

"Bibi" or "the settlement policy" is not equal to "Israel"

[leftynyc]

34. What are you trying to say?

Those are the controversial things most people complain about. Do you want to attack Israel for their mere existence?

[Behind the Aegis]

28. Always?

A trip to the I/P forum right here at DU will show that isn't even remotely true.

[Celerity]

33. +1

[Dr. Strange]

14. Mostly true, but not quite totally.

I think a bigger part of it might be whose ox is being gored. Some people are less likely to call out antisemitism when it comes from a Democrat. When it's something like homophobia or transphobia, DUers will mostly call it out--unless it's coming from (for example) Joy Reid, in which case you'll see some (not many) people asking if it was really homophobic/transphobic.

[melman]

4. I don't know

How is it possible that calling Catholicism a "death cult" is acceptable here? I don't know but apparently it is.

Imagine if someone said the same about Islam. It would never be tolerated. And rightly so. But about Catholics it's okay.

[11cents]

7. Have you tried alerting on comments like that?

[melman]

8. Yes

And it's still there along with several others like it in the "why are there black spots on people's foreheads" thread.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

9. Someone didn't know it was Ash Wednesday or they were being derogatory?

[melman]

11. Well the thread itself was not derogatory

At least I don't think it was. It seemed like the thread-starter was genuinely curious.


The 'death cult' comment certainly is derogatory. To say the least.

[11cents]

13. Yeah.

It's disappointing that an alert for something like that didn't work.

[ProudLib72]

10. Ash Wednesday

Some people seriously need to take some comparative religion courses.

[MicaelS]

15. Retrograde posted a good post in the other thread.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=11896469

I often wonder how many of the people who dis Catholics for their practices are the same ones who come out vehemently for the rights of Muslim women to wear hijabs or restrictive clothing, or are the first to yell "anti-Semitism" when someone criticizes AIPAC.

It seems some religious practices are open to mockery here (e.g., Mormons and their "magic underwhere", while others are apparently above criticism. My rule of thumb: if you're going to make a remark about some religion, before you post, substitute another group to see if it sounds bigoted. If so, don't post.

Bold, underline, italics are mine.

[kcr]

32. I think it's far more likely the other way around

The Catholic bashers who defend the hijab wearers will also defend the anti-semitism, conflating it with criticism of Isreal.

[theboss]

16. It's easy to call out the other four. A lot of people just don't like Jews.

It's one of the few things that the Extreme Left and Right Wings agree on.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

17. Sigh

[DavidDvorkin]

18. True.

[uponit7771]

21. There should be an OP on what anti Semitic tropes are, I don't recognize them at all and that's my

... ignorance I'll admit I'd like to change.

[leftynyc]

24. This may help

https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/AboutUs/CivilSociety/ReportHC/75_The%20Louis%20D.%20Brandeis%20Center%20_Fact%20Sheet%20Anti-Semitism.pdf

[theboss]

25. Accusing a Jew of disloyalty is a biggee

Being either money hungry or using their money to secretly run the world is another one.

[still_one]

29. You are right, and sometimes it raises its ugly head from a few here also, as evidenced by posts

accusing Senator Schumer and others, of working for the Israeli government, or spewing the LIE that Jewish members of Congress hold dual citizenship

https://www.politifact.com/facebook-fact-checks/statements/2019/feb/25/blog-posting/no-members-congress-dont-have-dual-citizenship-isr/

Hell, Dianne Rheem(sic), PBS, tried to pull the dual citizenship card on Bernie Sanders in 2016.

It isn't subtle at all, and it is amazing how some have convenient memories in this regard

[Behind the Aegis]

27. There are many reasons.

However, one of the biggest reasons is people really hate Jews, even if they don't come out and say it. They also feel Jews are "privileged" and therefore, "calling them out" is a form of "punching up" and not a problem, which is also why non-Jews have ZERO problem "explaining" to Jews what is and isn't anti-Semitism. Of course, when you ask someone what privileges Jews have that others don't no one has a damn thing to say.

[leftynyc]

35. Well put

Some people just simply hate Jews. And think that's okay because of Israel.