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1/ Some more thoughts on anti-semitism and the left, since last time the internet was shockingly warm-hearted and open.
This time, I want to talk about how conflicted I, a (comparatively) left wing (((Jew))), feel when those whose politics I like are dragged for anti-semitism.
This time, I want to talk about how conflicted I, a (comparatively) left wing (((Jew))), feel when those whose politics I like are dragged for anti-semitism.
2/ Let me say right off that this thread is not going to parse the legitimacy or accuracy of anti-semitism accusations.
In my previous thread () I spoke at length the criticism of Israeli policy vs anti-semitism debate. Won't repeat here.
In my previous thread () I spoke at length the criticism of Israeli policy vs anti-semitism debate. Won't repeat here.
3/ Instead, I'd like to talk a bit about why anti-semitism allegations against those on the left, be they @IlhanMN or @jeremycorbyn, make me feel so conflicted, and where I end up on them.
This is exclusively my take, and I speak for no other Jew.
This is exclusively my take, and I speak for no other Jew.
4/ The attention paid to left anti-semitism or other discrimination does, to me, feel disproportionate to that paid to similar sins on the right.
The President of the United States said those marching with people chanting "Jews will not replace us" were very fine people.
The President of the United States said those marching with people chanting "Jews will not replace us" were very fine people.
5/ In that context, the furor over the foreign policy statements of @IlhanMN, a freshwoman Representative, must seem incredibly unfair to her and her admirers (of which, in all honesty, I am one).
6/ I see three broad drivers for an imbalance in coverage.
First, in the pundit universe, anti-semitism (or sexism, or racism) on the left empowers the right-wing pundit class whataboutism and centrist pundit "pox on both their houses" narratives. Both love that.
First, in the pundit universe, anti-semitism (or sexism, or racism) on the left empowers the right-wing pundit class whataboutism and centrist pundit "pox on both their houses" narratives. Both love that.
7/ Second, the media considers exposing hypocrisy a raison d'etre. The far right calling African immigrants parasites is abhorrent but kind of on-brand at this point.
The media treats anti-semitism on the left as shocking hypocrisy and racism on the right as Tuesday.
The media treats anti-semitism on the left as shocking hypocrisy and racism on the right as Tuesday.
8/ Third, the media lives in terror of bias accusations and quests endlessly for chances to prove 'balance' in coverage.
By turning the volume up to 12 every time a left wing person steps out of line, they can compensate for all those times they reported on Trump or Farage.
By turning the volume up to 12 every time a left wing person steps out of line, they can compensate for all those times they reported on Trump or Farage.
9/ I'm very aware of these three factors, and yet as a Jew I still get disproportionately nervous when the left starts flirting with anti-semitic tropes or language.
This despite admiring and supporting all the left has done for equality and inclusion.
This despite admiring and supporting all the left has done for equality and inclusion.
10/ At the heart of my concern, as always, is othering.
Jewish integration into pre-Nazi Germany was deep. Some of the Jews who died choking in the dark in 1943 were so German they only found out they were Jewish from those who would later murder them.
That stains the psyche.
Jewish integration into pre-Nazi Germany was deep. Some of the Jews who died choking in the dark in 1943 were so German they only found out they were Jewish from those who would later murder them.
That stains the psyche.
11/ No matter how deeply embedded we are in a community, how embraced and central to its daily life, a small voice at the back of our minds whispers that it could all change in a heartbeat.
It whispers, and it warns us to watch for the signs.
It whispers, and it warns us to watch for the signs.
12/ And unfortunately for my leftyness, the sign we look for most is anti-semitism and its tropes breaking containment.
We as Jews have long resigned ourselves to forever enduring the hatred of the skinheads, the nationalists, the religious fanatics and the racial purists.
We as Jews have long resigned ourselves to forever enduring the hatred of the skinheads, the nationalists, the religious fanatics and the racial purists.
13/ We don't take it lying down, but we fight it the same way one fights hearing about the lives of the Kardashians... with grim determination and because it is the right thing to do.
We have no expectation of final victory or lasting success.
We have no expectation of final victory or lasting success.
14/ We endure and we push back, but we do not panic because we are in good company and they are not. Because they scream, and no one listens.
The horror sets in when suddenly, our company doesn't feel so good, and their listeners grow legion.
The horror sets in when suddenly, our company doesn't feel so good, and their listeners grow legion.
15/ We get nervous.
When the left, which abhors discrimination or prejudice in all its forms, finds a permission structure to discriminate and pre-judge us.
When the viral conspiracy videos about bloodlines on the right are joined by Zionist infiltrator screeds on the left.
When the left, which abhors discrimination or prejudice in all its forms, finds a permission structure to discriminate and pre-judge us.
When the viral conspiracy videos about bloodlines on the right are joined by Zionist infiltrator screeds on the left.
16/ Humans are tribal creatures, with a natural yearning to create an 'us' to rally around and a 'them' to guard against.
People of color, homosexuals and others I speak to describe feeling like guests in the tent of 'us,' welcomed and embraced but still other.
People of color, homosexuals and others I speak to describe feeling like guests in the tent of 'us,' welcomed and embraced but still other.
17/ By contrast, as a Jew I generally feel fully part of 'team us,' with my heritage treated more as curiosity than point of difference.
Yet, on some genetic level, I remember twas not always thus. That the unpalatability of anti-semitism in polite society is new... and fragile.
Yet, on some genetic level, I remember twas not always thus. That the unpalatability of anti-semitism in polite society is new... and fragile.
18/ Even as I cringe as storms are brewed in teacups and media vultures dive in vast disproportion and on those who otherwise fight for equality and against racism with their every breath... a small and conflicted part of me is glad.
Here and no further, I think. Never again.
Here and no further, I think. Never again.
