Should I be offended at Jewish jokes?

[DuchessOfDisaster]

Two of my FB friends run a comedy page - one of them is a professional comedian. Old school type, mother in law jokes and so on. One of them regularly posts Jewish jokes. There are never any racist, sexist, homophobic or ableist jokes or jokes about Muslims. But he posts Jewish jokes, often about Jewish mums, Jews being mean and tight, etc. I have to be honest - some of them are funny though I don't comment nor call him out. I am Jewish. Am I letting the side down?? I actually don't feel offended. I don't really care much. But should I? As one of those tiresome overused social media phrases goes "you are part of the problem" Am I?

If you're not offended, then you're not.

Do either of them have Jewish heritage? I think it's ok to poke fun of your own religion/ethnicity/sex but not other people's.

@Camomila

Do either of them have Jewish heritage? I think it's ok to poke fun of your own religion/ethnicity/sex but not other people's.

Not AFAIK. One is part Greek, the other is English.

I'm jewish....I think it's offensive, especially the "jokes" about being mean. I've heard plenty of Jewish people joke about Jewish mothers though but in an affectionate, lovable way...I don't mind that. Lots of cultures joke about their own stereotypes.

If I knew non Jewish people who were joking about Jews being tight/mean, I wouldn't keep them in my life

Jewish people telling Jewish jokes = fine.
Non-Jews joking about Jews being mean = not fine at all.

That sort of joke makes me uncomfortable. I'm not part of a joked-about minority so I don't think it's OK to laugh at others in that way. There are plenty of other comedy topics - it's not necessary to go down the route of racism or anti-semitism to get a laugh.

No need to make such jokes unless they’re Jewish themselves

@Camomila

Do either of them have Jewish heritage? I think it's ok to poke fun of your own religion/ethnicity/sex but not other people's.

I agree with this.

I don’t think it’s ok at all, and I’m not Jewish.
Just like I don’t think it’s ok to make jokes about out middle aged women, and the perpetuation of the ‘Karen’ thing really annoys me.
These people are gaining money etc at other people’s expense.

If you’re not offended then you can’t make yourself be

Definitely no longer acceptable

I'm Jewish and would consider this antisemitism and therefore racist. I would also think this if I weren't Jewish and certainly wouldn't remain part of any online group where this tripe was peddled in the name of 'comedy'.

'Old school' jokes are generally taking the piss out of one group or another, albeit rarely white English men. It's not my type of humour at all.

The difficulty for you, if you laugh at some, do you have a right to object to others? That would seem hypocritical. I'd be thinking about whether any of it really sits comfortably with you, and what are the other non 'joke' opinions these people might hold.

Not ok. I expect they have no idea how such "jokes" originated?

I am not Jewish but my late father was. There is a Jewish comedy tradition with a certain style. My father loved it. A few years ago BBC4 showed a series of "Old Jews Telling Jokes" which was so funny and I'd love it to be repeated. I see no problem in Jewish comics telling jokes ridiculing parts of their culture. The problem is where non Jews tell Jewish jokes that unpleasantly stereotype them.

Why are you friends, even FB friends, with someone who dislikes you because of your ethnicity? Never mind being offended...

You can't make yourself be offended. But jokes about Jews being mean / tight is perpetuating a stereotype that is anti Semitic. I'm quite shocked that comedians still roll out this shit on in this day and age.

I see no problem in Jewish comics telling jokes ridiculing parts of their culture. The problem is where non Jews tell Jewish jokes that unpleasantly stereotype them.

Am Jewish and agree with this.

Try rephrasing that with a different minority:

I see no problem in Chinese comics telling jokes ridiculing parts of their culture. The problem is where Europeans tell Chinese jokes that unpleasantly stereotype the Chinese.

I’m more interested in why you don’t find it problematic that a professional comedian is perpetuating anti-Semitic stereotypes, OP. Why is that ok in your view?

I'm Jewish and I'd find that offensive. And I'm not at all offended by quality comedy around the richness of Jewish culture. Friday night dinner for example is brilliant. But mother in law jokes? Jokes about Jews being mean? Pathetic. He needs to come out of the 70s if he wants to make it in comedy. Incidentally I'm quite aware of how Jewish I sound, saying jokes are fine as long as they're of an acceptable quality!

@SomethingNastyInTheBallPool

Jewish people telling Jewish jokes = fine. Non-Jews joking about Jews being mean = not fine at all.

This ^

Joking about your own religion = fine
Joking about someone else's = not fine

I think the problem arises when jokes go from the general to the specific.

If people consistently make jokes about jews being mean, many will believe these are based on reality, and when people joke that you are mean, then it is hurtful.

So, although being thick skinned is good, I think you need to point out the inherent racism in this type of humour.

Yes.
It's offensive. Anti semantic attacks are on the rise throughout the world.
These low level attacks enable stereotypes and it feeds into the growth of anti-Semitism.
Facebook is a pit of hell and I think anyone still on it is an idiot.

@Coffeeonmytoffee

Yes. It's offensive. Anti semantic attacks are on the rise throughout the world. These low level attacks enable stereotypes and it feeds into the growth of anti-Semitism. Facebook is a pit of hell and I think anyone still on it is an idiot.

Why am I an idiot? I don't use Facebook for racist bollocks I use it for picture sharing with family and friends, to see what we are all up to eat. For support groups etc