Just watched @ElicaLeBon discuss mimetic theory and its connection to antisemitism.
It hit deep.
So I’m breaking it down here for anyone who’s ever asked:
Why are Jews so often the target, no matter the century or setting ?
🧵 A thread on mimetic rivalry & the #Jews:
#Israel
Mimetic theory:
Humans don’t desire things on their own - we imitate what others desire.
This leads to mimetic rivalry.
We don’t just want something, we want it because someone else wants it.
And then we want to remove them from the picture. Cont
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3/
When mimetic rivalry escalates, societies find a scapegoat to restore unity.
Someone to blame.
That scapegoat must be close enough to resemble “us”… but different enough to reject.
For centuries, that “someone” has often been the Jew.
Jews are mimetically envied because they often succeed, without power, without numbers, without assimilation.
They’re the minority who thrive.
Admired… then resented.
Imitated… then, scapegoated.
In Christian Europe:
• The Hebrew Bible was adopted but Jews were condemned.
• Jewish moral law was mimicked but Jews were blamed for “killing God.”
• Resilience sparked admiration but triggered rage.
Imitation → rivalry → scapegoating. Cont
The cycle:
1.Imitate the Jew (morality, success, tradition)
2.Feel inferior or threatened
3.Blame the Jew for societal breakdown
4.Expel or persecute the Jew to “purify” the group
5.Repeat
That’s why Jews have been blamed for:
• Plagues
• Economic crashes
• Controlling banks, wars, media
None of it needs to be true.
It just needs to FEEL true enough to justify the scapegoating.
Today’s version:
• Israel is envied for strength & unity → called “colonizer” or “apartheid.”
• Jews are 0.2% of the population → blamed for “controlling the world.”
Success + distinct identity = perfect mimetic target.
Even the far-left mimics Jewish moral frameworks:
Justice.
Liberation.
Exile.
Then they turn on Jews to cleanse their guilt and prove allegiance to “the cause.”
It’s not activism, it’s a very old pattern that we’ve seen before and why we are so alarmed now.
Girard said:
“The victim is guilty because the crowd needs them to be.”
That’s mimetic antisemitism.
It’s not at all about what Jews do.
It’s about what others PROJECT ONTO THEM Then, they can destroy.
Until the 🌎 recognizes the mimetic engine behind antisemitism, we’ll keep chasing symptoms.
It’s not just hate !
It’s rivalry disguised as justice.
And it ends, always, with the scapegoat bleeding.
Big thanks to @ElicaLeBon for speaking this truth so clearly. It really helped me to explain it.
If you want to understand the why behind modern antisemitism, from conspiracy theories to Gaza chants, get her book on mimetic theory.
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