What is out of bounds

[DemFromMem]

Over the last few days there have been numerous discussion threads on the latest flair up in the Middle East conflict. There are, not surprisingly, heated discussions on the situation.

A number of posts have made accusations that our Congress or the White House are controlled by Jews. I just came across a post noting that Jewish domination in world affairs led the UN to approve the resolution creating Israel in 1947.

This is anti-Semitism of the most classic type. Maybe non-Jews at DU don't know much about the history of anti-Semitism, but accusations of Jews having too much power, along with claims of being Christ killers, have been the basis of pogroms and genocides. Jews are extremely sensitive to these types of claims so even if you don't mean to be offensive, that is what your words are doing.

[displacedtexan]

1. I've noticed a lot of "out-of-bounds" accusations this week.

I was accused of being out of bounds in a Snowflake Baby thread.

So it's not just threads about the ME crisis.

I think we are all so passionate about this devastating week of terror,
the war on science, and our embarrassing president that we cross lines
in writing that we would never cross in direct discourse.

I'm not excusing the behavior, but I see where it may be coming from.

Peace is a word that needs to be screamed this week, IMHO.

[atreides1]

2. Anit-Semitism is a form of Racism

"A number of posts have made accusations that our Congress or the White House are controlled by Jews."

I don't believe that Congress or the White House is controlled by Jews, but there is evidence that politicians on both sides of the aisle support what Israel is doing, some because they believe in it, and others purely for political reasons. But even you have to admit that AIPAC has more connections with the US Congress then CAIR does.

The accusations of Jews having power goes back to the middle ages, and the myth has been perpetualed
ever since. Anti-semitism is wrong, it is a form of racism and should be fought at all times.

[Violet_Crumble]

3. Was this originally posted in GD?

Or have you just decided the I/P rules don't apply to you?

[acmejack]

4. You are running around here using that accusation liberally!

I suggest you need to restrain your sensitivity just a bit, the mere mention of AIPAC is not equivalent to anti-semiticism. They do wield a tremendous amount of clout in our Government, these are facts. These are not slurs against you or any other group of people, these are impartial statements of truth as it exists. To say that people can not express their opinions about situations as they perceive them to be, just because of the heritage of the players involved is frankly baffling and presents quite a conundrum.

[jonnyblitz]

5. do you think jewish lobbyists should be exempt from scrutinity

while other lobbyists get scrutinized? do you feel that websites that list donor amounts are straight from the protocols? You need to learn nuance and quite blurring the lines between legitimate oversight and accusing people of claiming there is a hidden international jewish conspiracy to control the universe. Lobbyists give politicians money for a reason and if you think the congress people don't (as molly ivins would say) dance with those who brung them" then I do believe you are a bit naive. I doubt those contributions would continue if they didn't have some sort of influence. Is this straight from the Protocols?

I know quite a bit about the history of antisemitism, I understand the sensitivity you must have because of history and I also know when people use that slur to shut down debate. Norm Finkelstein wrote a few books about it, I believe.

thankfully plenty of jewish folks "in the know" that don't buy the standard bullshit spin of things many of you try to promote write books to educate the rest of us. blame them.

[Finder]

6. I am afraid it is human nature to blame groups they do not belong to...

or understand. Whether it is Freemasonry, Jews, Commies, Catholics, Atheists, Gays, Feminists, etc...

Rational debate is the solution, not censorship or attacking others with labels. That is for talk radio.