Thread by @mishtal

The straw man of the left

"criticism of Israel is not antisemitic"

They're right it is not. But it is the straw man of racists and I am surprised the left - which claims to be 'anti-racist-savvy' - allows this stupid phrase to flow so easily in their mainstream

Lets' not talk about Israel because people's brains implode when you do. Let's talk about racism against black people.

"Arresting someone who is black is not racist"

It is clearly a straw man. A meaningless phrase that might be used by racists as a way of defending racism.

Structural racism and discrimination isn't all about the end result. It is not about the criticism of Israel or the arrest of the person who is black.

You can freely criticise Israel if they do something wrong just as police can freely arrest a black person who commits a crime.

But what if a police officer only ever arrested black people. What if a lot of the time it was on trumped up charges and what if they always found a way to blame black people for whatever was happening. What if the people they stopped for a search were always black?

What if we approach that racist police officer caught with his trousers down and they say-

"arresting someone who is black is not racist"

Would any real anti-racist be fooled by that ridiculous straw man?

1. Criticising some actions of Israel is not antisemitic.
2. Always finding a way, no matter the event, to bring Israel into the conversation, make up stories and point fingers at them for the world's problems is clearly antisemitic.

Spotting #Antisemitism really is this simple.