should we address the casual antisemitism on MN?

Wow, this is an unedifying read.

Op- can mumsnet do more about anti semitism?
P - yeah but circumcision is wrong
P- I'm anti circumcision not anti Semitic
P- I've never seen it.
P- yeah and Israel is wrong
P - yeah Jews shouldn't have a homeland but I'm not anti Semitic.
Op- oh erm ok. I was talking in general but...

Op - can we talk about racism against, say, Japanese?
P- yeah but whaling is wrong
P - I'm anti whaling but I'm not anti japanese.
P- I've never seen it.

Anyways, to answer op, There was a thread where a poster said her daughters best friend told her that Isis were all Jews etc etc. the usual conspiracy shit. At least two or three posters thought op was over the top in her worry. They said this kind of thinking is widespread, no big deal.

On another thread, posters concerned about european Jews are dismissed- pah, it's not as bad as gaza.

Not direct anti semitism, and they werent deleted. However it does. indicate a certain mind-set. I've been on mumsnet a long time and I think it's new here but it reflects the new rise of anti semitism in the uk.

I doubt mumsnet can do much more really.

In rl, we need more mixing, education, outreach, hate speakers to be caught and punished.

Of course it's possible to strongly oppose Israel's military actions without being antisemitic, but the truth is that plenty of anti-Zionists conflate this, with varying degrees of self-knowledge."

Many Zionists use accusations of anti semitism as a means of shutting down debate and silencing any criticism of the behaviour of the Israeli government.

"MN has quite a few anti-religious posters and some will seize upon any discussion to "other" those with faith."

1. There is nothing wrong with being anti religion
2. Religion should not be used as an excuse/explanation for doing something that in any other context would be unacceptable.

"And having been here for over 14 yes I can honestly say I haven't seen much anti Semitism at all. I do find the Israel threads very difficult simply because people's views are very entrenched and sometimes I find my mouth dropping open at the injustice of accusations or views attached . Whilst debating a political situation is fine these threads do sometime turn a bit sinister and it is very easy for an antisemit to hide in an anti israel cloak and start usimg more questionable language and arguments as a debate goes on particularly where there is an imbalance of opinion and no challengers."

Yes, this is my perspective too. Of course it's possible to strongly oppose Israel's military actions without being antisemitic, but the truth is that plenty of anti-Zionists conflate this, with varying degrees of self-knowledge.

I think this of both the real (UK) world, and mumsnet.

I remember reading an article (probably in the Fail) about so called "Beckys". This was back in the late 1980s.

From what I remember, the term was used to describe young women from North London who were Jewish and from comfortable, close knit, middle class families.

Mind you, there were quite a few names in those days to describe stereotyped people - Sharon and Kevin from Essex, etc.

OP, MN has quite a few anti-religious posters and some will seize upon any discussion to "other" those with faith.

And having been here for over 14 yes I can honestly say I haven't seen much anti Semitism at all. I do find the Israel threads very difficult simply because people's views are very entrenched and sometimes I find my mouth dropping open at the injustice of accusations or views attached . Whilst debating a political situation is fine these threads do sometime turn a bit sinister and it is very easy for an antisemit to hide in an anti israel cloak and start usimg more questionable language and arguments as a debate goes on particularly where there is an imbalance of opinion and no challengers

Listen, as a Jew I can say that beck is not such a bad term . In fact it's a bit of a reluctant compliment as becks were always pretty , well groomed and usually popular . I agree that the word must have come from someone Jewish as its really north west London slang and use of the word doesn't really travel outside the Jewish community well

FGM is not analogous to circumcision. The first is a hate crime, the second is not. Whatever one feels about the rights or wrongs of the circumcision of babies for religious and/or cultural reasons, to liken it to the horror of FGM is to grossly minimise the struggles of survivors of the latter. Please think for a moment about what survivors of FGM are living through, before you conflate the two acts.

Is this a name created by Jewish people for Jewish women would you say?

As I guess I would say because 'Wendy' can be applied to any woman whereas 'Bec' can only be/is applied to Jewish women.

It's because it's a stereotype of Jewish women. Specifically Jewish women.

Hmm, but it's fine to use the name "Wendy" to refer to a person who is a sly, friend stealing bully? As is so often done on MN. What's the difference? Serious question.

Never heard that expression. Wouldn't know it's offensive.

No, as in, she's a beck, short for Rebecca, who is a girl who is a bit of a princess. It's expanded somewhat so that being a beck is identified by mannerisms, clothing, aspirations etc.

As in Glenn Beck? Famous anti Semite?

Seriously baffled now. I think I might go to bed.

I have never seen anti Semitic comments on this site. If I did I would report.

I see plenty of antagonistic posts about Muslims which I report.

I see people expressing their opinion on circumcision which they are free to do.

But the casual bigotry towards Jews mentioned in the op has quite clearly passed me by.

Short form of Rebecca.

I thought we were talking about a singer who won some awards and then seemed to disappear off the radar. Nothing to do with Jewish princesses at all.

We can just type the word "beck" can't we ?

I am not applying it to anyone, so shouldn't be deleteworthy

Is there a way that someone can post the word concerned without being deleted?

The poster who used the term deliberately used it as a personal attack on the OP.

The thread in question wasn't about circumcision but posters turned it into one.

Several people on that thread questioned what the word meant - I had never heard it before, used in that way, and I have Jewish friends and have worked for Jewish employers - imo it's not something that most people would instantly recognise