IN 2019, AN NJ HASIDIC RUN BODEGA WAS TARGETED FOR BEING JEWISH. 6 PEOPLE WERE KILLED.
I really hate to be that guy, because I have never typically been that guy.
I have mostly been the one to yell that AIPAC and conservative Jews are using claims of anti-Semitism to push a heinously murderous agenda in Israel, not to mention, conservative policies here at home. ( And, I have been vocally appalled by particular idiots— such as Alan Dershowitz--who claims to speak for all Jews.) In the main, I believe this characterization of charlatanism tends to be the case, but, as indicated elsewhere, I have seen a genuine creeping anti-Semitism online, and in real life, and unwittingly, even among some pro-Palestinian activists ( who do things like protest Jewish cancer wards). I have also seen certain people exploiting the very real suffering of the Palestinians in order to push their own fascist, Christian nationalist, agenda: folks such as MT Greene and Tucker Carlson, who are being crowned as heroes by some misguided doofuses.
IF ZOHRAN MAMDANI RECOGNIZES THAT JEWISH FEARS OF VIOLENCE ARE JUSTIFIED, WHY IS IT SO HARD FOR OTHERS AROUND HERE?
I have been met with some interesting responses to an earlier post I made about this. The responses are well meaning, I think, but dangerously wrong. I think part of the confusion comes from the martyr complex among some of my tribe. I am far more cynical about this shit than many. I mean, sure, yes, compared to the horrors in Gaza, being treated to well-worn anti-Semitic tropes and conspiracy theories, is NOT of the same caliber. On the other hand, stuff like this, and this, as well this stuff here, should sicken us, and cause us serious concern.
I also part company with fellow Jews and others, who blame the global spike in anti-Semitism on the actions of Bibi Netanyahu. I mean, Israel is certainly not helping anyone on any side, but to blame acts of anti-Semitism on the machinations of a foreign actor, is to steer sole responsibility for these acts away from the direct perpetrators themselves. In effect, this could give a justification for further attacks on innocent Jews. Do you see how problematic that idea is? I believe that if Israel were never a thing, anti-Semites would have to invent it. How do I know this? Well, because I read fucking history, that’s how.
FUCK YES, I WISH WE COULD “REPLACE” YOU.
What makes this doubly infuriating is the fact that the Jewish population is a minuscule one 0.2% of the global population ( slightly more than the Palestinians themselves), and despite our outsized presence in certain areas of visible culture and commerce we are not running the world. There are historical reasons for this. We are not some all powerful cabal that “runs” the US government, despite the continued slanderous inference that we somehow are. BTW, If we truly are in control of the government, then clearly we don’t know what the fuck we are doing.
The notion that Israel is NOT a proper democracy has been often mentioned. Fair point. But neither are many of the Islamic states that surround it. These are not exactly hotbeds of liberty and human rights : just ask the Kurds. I bring this up not to engage in a pissing contest, but because, again, Israel is being rendered as some exceptional evil in the history of the world. We need to be specific: the real evil here is authoritarian right-wing nationalism, statist and non-statist ( Zionism is but one variant of it, but it has many faces, and resides in many guises). People wonder why I identify as an anarchist, well, it relates exactly to this question. Did I mention I detest all flags and national pride parades/displays? ALL OF THEM. And religions, generally speaking, are not serving humankind, unless we can make up a new one that has some functional application to our current mess. I miss Michael Brooks, a journalist and activist against the occupation, who asked us to hate unjust systems, not people.
