@thinkfast @ProvincialLady1 I absolutely have empathy for anti-Semitism. I present as white-ish, I have Jewish ancestry (although I don’t know much about who they were, but it was something I found out), multiple people (both Jewish and not Jewish) have assumed I’m Jewish. My two best friends are both Jewish. I was even abused by the parents of one of my friends at school for being Jewish, despite not being Jewish, simply because of how I look!
Even though I present as white-ish, as soon as I explain where my parents came from, and I am “outed” as a secret ethnic minority, I have been on the receiving end of everything from the classic “go back home” (thanks, but I was born here) to being told by a work colleague that my parents must “have a sob story of arriving here on a banana boat” - one of my parents is indeed a refugee, so that was a fun one to navigate.
My two best friends have been my best friends for 15+ years, and something that we first bonded over, time and again, is having to make self-deprecating jokes in order to feel somewhat accepted. Our experiences are very similar.
With all that being said, I am absolutely tired of this concept that all dissent against the Israeli government is as a result of anti-Semitic feelings that have had a chance to take hold.
I absolutely agree that there are racists amongst us, but to suggest that one of the worst humanitarian disasters in recent history, with a disgustingly high death toll of kids and babies, is only being so vehemently criticised is because of latent anti-Semitism requires such cognitive dissonance that I truly find it hard to fathom. That’s without even mentioning the oppression, torture and routine killing and detention of Palestinian kids that came before this.
How can you justify their suffering in your head and call it legitimate?
A little 6 year old kid was stabbed to death for being Muslim in the States. His mum barely survived her wounds. The killer used to be their friend, but listened to a large amount of right-wing talk radio prior to killing a child; his neighbour. There have also been other Muslims killed and hate crimes against Muslims off the back of this. Muslim women who wear hijab are very clearly “marked” and are prime targets for this.
So this is happening to both Muslims and Jewish people. People must unite, rather than turning inwards to only their own community and living with fear. Only those in power will stand to benefit.
I am so sorry people have made you feel shit for being Jewish, but for the vast, vast majority of us, this isn’t that, and if/when those people pop up, we’ll all tell them to fuck off!