Mumsnet is getting worse

[LondonMummer]

Seriously. Is it the same few people just name changing or is it really this toxic in the UK? There is so much poisonous Jewish hatred on here. I'm not talking hatred of Israel, just vile antisemitism on so many posts now.

I truly think I have to step away before I lose faith in humanity. Why does MN seem to attract so many hateful posters? Maybe it's the anonymity.

I can't keep calling it out. Im exhausted and actually deeply disturbed by it now.

now I think we are well and truly back in my DFs time, because it’s absolutely getting increasingly unsafe to be obviously Jewish in public.

I think what's making it feel so overwhelming is just how quickly things have escalated! For me, it feels like the antisemitism of the Cor**n years was the dress-rehearsal so I've been aware it's been simmering away for a while but honestly, it feels like so much has changed in just a matter of weeks.

I’m an American Christian and just wanted to say that I am also appalled by the antisemitism that has bubbled up since the terrorist attack and to voice my support for my Jewish brothers and sisters.

It is bad here too, but the worst of it seems to be on university campuses and among the far left politically. It feels more mainstream on MN.

Shalom.

Agreed. It feels like the 'civilised' (oh, the irony) world has uncloaked its hatred of Jewish people and I hadn't appreciated it had been wearing any outerwear in the first place.

@etmoietmoietmoi Unsettled is definitely the right word for how I’m feeling at the moment. I’d rather not live in interesting times.

My family is Mizrahi/Sephardi/Ashkenazi and the Mizrahi side of the family always used Jew/s rather than Jewish so maybe it’s about what we’ve grown up with? I think they were all so used to it being thrown about all over the places where they’re from that they were all a bit “eh” about it. I do shudder when I see/hear it used pejoratively because it feels rancid and I don’t actually think non Jewish people should use it in any context really.

It is like we could see it is like we could see it slowly happening but non Jews couldn't in general

They are seeing it now but it has come as a surprise to them and they don't in general know or understand how to stop it. Plus some obviously don't want to stop it.

All very surreal and shadows of are ancestors feel closer or something.

So glad my grandmother isn't alive. Which is an odd thing to say but this would all have been too much for her.

@MissConductUS Thank you.

All very surreal and shadows of are ancestors feel closer or something

Yes @Trulywonderful

You’re welcome. I think the U.S. has closer ties to Israel than the UK and a larger proportion of Jewish citizens. I am from New York, which has a large and vibrant Jewish community.

The WSJ had a spot on editorial tonight about the situation. This link should bypass the paywall.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/israel-hamas-jews-pogroms-russia-u-s-europe-germany-anti-semitism-1a74109c?st=ge22ktrmwuk9vh0&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

@MissConductUS I love NY, been many times 🙂.

This bit really stood out in the article

."...anti-Semitic violence on the streets of Germany. They too often went unchecked by police, prosecutors and politicians who didn’t understand the menace, sympathized with the offenders, or merely felt overwhelmed by the scale of the danger"

Regards the words Jew/Jews I was reading some posts about the conflict on a different site. One poster was talking about ‘Palestinian men, women and children’ and in the same sentence ‘Jews’ which I kind of felt was a dehumanising term and typified their feelings about Jewish people as a huge homogeneous mass. It just seemed a stark difference in describing people. I was going to pull them up on it (Possibly a bit petty of me) but comments were disabled because the discussion had got so heated and nasty.

Not petty of you at all. It sounds like it was deliberately done to dehumanise Jews

Hamas themselves use this tactics as did the nazis. Supporters of Jew hate on here like to dehumanise Jews. After all once non Jews start excepting that they can get away with treating Jews badly.

However it sometimes feels like too stressful to argue with every idiot poster on some threads.

Wonder if I could get funded to do a PhD with the working title of 'The War in the Middle East: A Mumsnet Response, 2023'.

Not sure of a chapter outline yet but early contenders are: 1. Excuse my Ignorance 2. Highway to the Gray Zone 3. More Breaking News from Instagram 4. It's not Antisemitic to Criticize Israel (or I'm Living in Fear of Being Labelled Antisemitic) 5. Why DO people hate you. Conclusion: Be Ashamed of Yourselves

You are on to something there

You could add:

I haven't seen any antisemitism on the middle eastern threads'. This being said by some of the worst offenders.

Yeah that one's a classic - I haven't seen any antisemitism so it can't be happening! (AKA I have no idea how to recognise it anyway and I don't actually care to find out).

There's a brand new thread popping up every 5 minutes it seems, often started by the same OP. It's starting to feel a bit sinister and not about actual compassion for people in Gaza. I mean, I'm sure many posters are genuinely concerned about what's happening, but there's a cohort with an agenda. Was there this many threads when Ukraine was invaded?

I'm not Jewish and I don't want to elbow in here, but I hope it's ok to write a quick post sending my solidarity and just to say I can see what's happening on Mumsnet at the moment and it horrifies me. I could say a lot more but will try to be restrained, just feeling so upset tonight in particular, I've seen some posts that make me boil with anger and feel quite ill. I'm so sorry for what the Jewish community is having to deal with.

@ProvincialLady1 Your words are genuinely appreciated, thank you.

I think you need to add a chapter 4.5 to cover the Whataboutery Olympics.

Covid, lockdown, Israel and G last conflict, Plus the Ukraine suddenly all the idiots, nutters, anti- west and racists came out to play. It wasn't as intense or personal as the last few weeks though. However covid was very taxing on here, some posters were posting really dangerous misinformation or anti West properganda.

I know this is hard but it feels like the worst offenders have pretty much pissed off most of mumsnet with their multiple threads with emotional blackmailing titles. Then dodgy sites and links etc. I get the impression that people have become wise to these tactics. So are just hiding the middle eastern board.

The idea that this is going to be lasting for months is hideous but I would rather live in a country with free speech than Iran, Russia, Gaza, Afghanistan, China etc. Therefore this is the prize we have to pay for free speech. Doesn't mean we can't call out crap though.

Oh yes this definitely

Yes! You can actually see some posters becoming increasingly skilled at it

I'm not Jewish, but you have my full support. I have been sickened by so many antisemitic posts, both here and on other social media. So many people seem to just fit the idea of the useful idiot - they have no idea of the nonsense they're spouting - but there are others whose absolute virulence scares me.

Thank you to all of you for continuing to speak up, although I wish it wasn't necessary. We are here to support you.

You also need a chapter entitled "But that's not really anti-Semitism though, is it?"

Chapter proposals I ‘d like to add are: I Just Don’t Like Zionists, The Lost Art of Reading Comprehension, and Misinformation, Denial and Repetition: A Winning Strategy.

In good news, I had a lovely message yesterday from a Muslim Palestinian friend (living abroad, thank goodness).

"I hope you're doing alright in all of this. I want you to know that we pray for the safe release of the hostages everyday ❤️ Jewish people are our brothers and sisters. They are not to blame for this mess."

What a lovely message from your friend Wibble. I follow an organisation on Facebook called Standing Together which is made up of Israelis and Palestinians who promote unity and are working hard to look after and help each other in any way they can during this nightmare. There are people trying their hardest to get past ‘us and them’ and focus on basic humanity and fundamental rights and needs. I’m trying to hold on to that and use them as inspiration. Daniel Barenboim a co-founder of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, put out a beautiful statement earlier in the month.