SpaceCowboy,
@SpaceCowboy@lemmy.ca avatar

Because Israel is a Jewish state?

I tend to say Jew when when someone trends towards hating all Israelis, because hatred towards Israel is a common dog whistle for antisemites. After the “It’s ok to criticize Israel” meme went viral, many antisemites did a find and replace on “Jew” and changed it to “Israeli”. Those same antisemitic conspiracy theories most people would immediately denounced by most people before are now commonly spread simply because one word was changed. When I see those conspiracy theories espoused with one word different from the original, I bring it back to the original version. Why would I pretend that I don’t know the intent for these conspiracy theories?

Sometimes it’s important to take what you’re saying and put the word Jew in there. If what you’re saying about Israel suddenly becomes uncomfortable when “Israeli” is replaced with “Jew”, then you should consider more carefully what you’re saying. Someone says “wipe them off the map” they are talking about the ethnic cleansing of Jews after all. Or do you honestly believe that those that want Israel wiped off the map would displace Arab Israelis along with the Jewish Israelis? Come on…

The trick to avoid being a racist is introspection. Some consideration about whether your thinking is being guided by racism every now and then. If it’s uncomfortable to hear your rhetoric being applied to Jews rather than Israelis or “Zionists”, then maybe you should be checking how you’re thinking about things a little more.

If me considering your rhetoric as being against Jews makes you uncomfortable, then good. Your discomfort might lead to introspection.

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