#antisemitism and media

[tonkysexist]

I see that the MCU’s “New World Order” movie is going exactly as terribly as anyone with a brain could’ve predicted.

[thequeeranachronism]

I’m fucking tired of goyim acting like the only way to have a Jewish character in their story is to strip them of everything that makes them Jewish. They don’t have to be religious but our culture is so much more than religion and if you’re going to include us do some fucking research

[whereserpentswalk]

If you see a post that says that Israel is getting away with genocide because it's Jewish, or because Jews are given some sort of special privilege in society due to the holocaust, or because of the position of "privilege" the west gives to Jews, or because our society is "too sensitive" to antisemitism: RUN! Those takes are not coming from a good place.

Zionism is supported by the west despite it being Jewish, not because of it. It's supported due to propping up foreign interests in the region and justifies American imperialism in West Asia. For some it's supported due to the desire to bring about Christian apocalypse.

If someone treats Zionism as being propped up because of some sort of Jewish power in the west they are promoting antisemitism, weather knowingly or unknowingly.

[edenfenixblogs]

For a friend who wanted links to some posts I made about antisemitism, allyship, and how to support Palestine without being antisemitic—which is both possible and easy to do!

How do you know if you’re antisemitic?

How to be a good ally for Jewish people. I responded to a wonderful ask from @faggotry-enjoyer about how to be a better ally and to discuss Israel/Palestine with people who are inclined to distrust Jews due to unexamined antisemitism.

Important post about the dangers faced by Jews as an extreme minority. There are good examples in the reblogs and replies and tags—both of great ways for non-Jews to provide support as well as if antisemites denying their own antisemitism. Therese even one example of ways Jews can and do disagree with each other while remaining respectful without delving into antisemitism OR Islamophobia OR denying the rights and dignity of Palestinians. Jews can do this and so can non-Jews. But that can’t happen if people hate us too much to listen to anything we have to say.

The emotional toll of antisemitism on Jewish people.

Example of the death threats we get that are designed to make us look like bad guys.

If Jews can learn about the Holocaust in detail before we even reach the age of ten, you can and should too.

Don’t trust people who rely on bad sources. People do make genuine mistakes. Here’s an example of bad faith link sharing. Especially when Reblogging things. Even I don’t have time to always check every source in a post. Also, it’s possible that a link seemed legitimate when it was originally posted but the source is either no longer trustworthy or the OP got better at assessing sources. If an error in their original sourcing is pointed out, they should correct it publicly. If they are sharing a link as an OP they should always take time to be as responsible as possible.

There are plenty more posts under my #leftist antisemitism tag to look into about a variety of ways that antisemitism manifests in left wing circles.

Allies, please reblog with any posts you think relevant for a someone new to dismantling their antisemitism.

[bloodfreakcastiel]

this is NOT a safe space for harry potter fans

[honesty-my-policy]

the younger generations have become so soft to how ugly war is. I'm sorry but you guys sound so immature.

and don't try to make excuses that you just don't tolerate it now. if you truly didn't tolerate war or violence like this you'd care about the civil wars or guerrilla warfare going on constantly in places besides what is shoved into your social media feeds

grow up.

[elder-millennial-of-zion]

There was never going to be any form of Jewish self defense that the world would deem acceptable, and there was never going to be any act of anti-Jewish terrorism that the world would deem unacceptable.

There is nothing Israel could ever do to defend itself that wouldn’t be accused of going too far, of being “way beyond self defense.” There is no method of Israeli self defense that wouldn’t be maligned as “genocide.”

Inversely, there is no atrocity that could ever be committed against Jews that wouldn’t be denied/excused/justified. There is no level of violence against Jews, however gruesome, however blatant in its goal of genocide and targeting innocents, however many children and babies are burned alive and kidnapped, that wouldn’t be justified as “resistance,” as something that the Jews must have provoked, as the very least that Jews deserve, as something that the terrorists were driven to and couldn’t possibly be expected not to do.

No act of violence against Jews was ever not going to be called “resistance,” and no response from Israel was ever not going to be called a “genocide.”

The only Jewish country in the world was never not going to be maligned as the worst country in the world.

For fuck’s sake, use some critical thinking skills.

[arunswild]

I feel like one of the problems with social media and this war is that a ton of jewish users come off as being interested solely in, like, antisemitism and antizionism &etc. On a personal level, honestly I don't think I could be less interested in talking about people hating me and wishing I were dead. It's kind of... Not very interesting to me? I have soooo many other intersts. Except, it's kinda important to address this just, like, vaguely terrifying and unsettling and really deeply depressing trend, so I do it.

Basically what I'm saying is leave the jewish people alone we really should be able to have lives that don't involve existential terror.

thx y'all

[mysharona1987]

This was yesterday.

They literally stole the dude’s idea though.

[tonkysexist]

One thing I think people in the MCU fandom consistently fail to understand about the issues with Jewish representation is that it’s not just some “passive” cultural and ethnic erasure, but actively insidious writing choices. The character who is originally Romani and Jewish is being portrayed by a white women and her character is still rife with nasty stereotypes about stealing children and using them in blood rituals. The “mystic witch” stereotype is cool on white women like Elizabeth Olsen and Patti Lupone but, perish the thought, we could cast actual Roma actresses to play nuanced and interesting versions of these characters. Oscar Issac is not just a non-Jew playing a Jewish character. He’s playing a character whose whole background was deeply tied to his judaism. In the show it’s barely a nod. Except for the abusive Jewish mother stereotype. And the part where he threw his kippah on the ground.

It’s not just about Jewish actors (which even if it was that would still be valid) it’s about the MCU actively making antisemitic and racist writing choices.

[zorciarkrildrush]

I think the essence of what drives me crazy about current Enlightened Online Leftist Discourse Regarding My Life Personally And Whether This Time Killing Me Is Morally Correct (as in, commentary about the latest episode in i/p violence) is this:

I want a free Palestine.

I don't personally know a lot of people that don't! They might bristle at the tagline, because it's co-opted by people who do in fact want them dead, but as soon as I lay out why it's in literally everyone's best interest, how a non-free Palestine is horrific both to the people of Israel and to the people of Palestine, how pragmatically ridiculous the occupation of the west bank and the siege upon Gaza are (and I am a very pragmatic person), they get it. And I don't mean I debate people online about it - this, too, is a ridiculous concept - I mean having, time and time again, the deradicalization conversation with my friends, and colleagues, and my family. Obviously not only now - I've always been a very principled and argumentative Jew, ever since I became an adult - and I've been alive for, I don't know, a dozen flashpoints and operations and wars at this point, and I don't stop being argumentative and loud in peacetime either, but especially now.

But that's not what "from the river to the sea" means.

When you, gentle soul from across the sea, echo this slogan, you are either:

By apathy or will, ignoring that the sentiment cheers for the mass expulsion and killing of Jews. Indeed, any non-Muslim present from the river to the sea. This doesn't even begin to cover how even Muslim arabs still will not be safe under Hamas rule - and trust me, I don't care if a Hamas apologist told you different. A victory for Hamas (And we're ignoring the fact they do not have the military capacity for it - I hope you are aware of the privilege inherent to not understanding military conflicts) means exactly that. No "rule by the people". No socialistic, Palestinian utopia to be had, which is a fantasy I'm seeing alluded to a lot recently. Just an extension of the horrific power structure in Lebanon and Syria, where Hezbollah - friends and allies to Hamas - have been playing a tango for decades of both refusing to participate in actual government and betterment of civilian lives, while still draining their resources and controlling them with no real contest. "From the river to the sea" is not a sentiment for freedom fighting - it's a sentiment for a final solution to the people living here who are either Jewish, or for some Very Strange And Weird Reason would rather not submit to Hamas rule. You know - Israeli Arabs, secular and Muslim and Christian, Druze, Circassians, Bahai, take your pick. Their suffering, and my suffering - you know, a person who made the strategic error of being born in Israel while Jewish, which is inherently problematic and not okay of me - don't matter to you. Just the fantasy of an easy, morally correct cleanse of the land.

Are well aware of all of the above! You just don't care. You either smugly chuckle that I, and anybody else who will die, deserve it - or that it's an acceptable loss for the aforementioned fantasy. "Decolonization is an inherently violent process", you'll say to me, chillingly, before implying I have a summer home in Brooklyn I can just retreat to when things get tough. Israel is basically Rhodesia, a very popular blog here mentioned flippantly, so what's the issue with all of those lily-white Jews fucking off back home before the righteous freedom fighters strike them down? Well. This might be the part I urge you to open a book, or even Wikipedia or any god damn thing that will explain to you these upsetting, dense things you clearly struggle with.

It's easy for me to discount islamophobes. Like, very easy. It's very easy for me to discount insane evangelistics who "advocate for me" simply because I'm a pawn in their religious rapture. It's easy for me to fight against Israeli and Jewish fascists - I have been long before this news item came across your feed, as did the insinuations that some civilian deaths are okay, actually.

It's easy for me for me to see promotions for donations to non-political aid in Gaza. It's easy for me to see the sentiment that hey! Palestinians deserve safe, healthy lives. That they have deserved an independent state, and were unfairly denied one, for decades. It's easy for me to see people saying "You know, the Israeli government is shit, actually, and their actions endanger and promote to the misery of innocents". Because that's right! I wouldn't be voting and protesting and donating for all of these sentiments otherwise!

It's not easy for me to see people, who I honestly held in high regard and saw having well thought out opinions on important matters, inadvertently echo the sentiment that my death is acceptable. That a terrorist organization, who rule over their own territory with fear and violence, are righteous freedom fighters, vox populi, only out to establish a free state. Like hey, their manifesto said otherwise, so it must be all there is - right? That Jews are just hysterical, they can easily live elsewhere - ever since that nasty holocaust business everything's fine abroad. Besides, it was just so long ago who even cares stop talking about it. Hamas, Hezbollah, ISIS, the Ayatollahs in Iran, the fucking Islamic Jihad - are not interested in freedom. They aren't, and echoing their slogan tells me you are either ignoring that, or support them anyway. If antisemitic rhetoric, half truths and lies by omission work on you today, they would have in any period of time. I'm sorry this makes you uncomfortable. I'm not, not really.

So finally:

Know what your fucking words mean. Have a cursory glance at the history of the MENA and why it's so fucked, one that doesn't boil down to "The Jews, with American help, rolled into where they don't belong". This isn't even a joke. I've seen this braindead, history-revising sentiment repeated so many times, both online and in actual textbooks, that I feel I'm going insane. So many well-meaning people handwringing and assuring each other that repeating genocidal slogans is fine, that calling the i/p conflict "a simple problem" (which means it has a simple solution, right? Just kill the Jews.) is a well-adjusted and intellectual take. That "only the Zionists should die! The rest will be fine :)" I dare you to say that and also give me a correct definition of what Zionism is. Why I, a Jew that advocates for Palestinian statehood and rights and safety and always have, won't also face the wall in your little fantasy.

Freedom to Palestine. Peace in the middle east, fucking yesterday.

A curse and a plague on those who don't want either of those, and just want to cheer on the death of "the other side".

A curse and a plague upon you, when you tell me, smugly, from somewhere safe and far away, "from the river to the sea".

[mylight-png]

A while ago I was listening to Dara Horn's podcast relating to her book, People Love Dead Jews. Within this podcast she discussed the fact that Holocaust museums tend to center stories that highlight ways in which Jews were just like anyone else, putting secular Jews on a pedestal of sorts.

The podcast went on to make the point that we shouldn't have to be like them to be liked. A Jew in a kippah is just as worthy of being accepted as a Jew in a baseball cap, and to position one, the more assimilated one, as "better" is antisemitic.

This made me think of how movies and shows portray Jews, and I realized a similar pattern of idealizing assimilation is deeply prevalent.

There are two main ways Jews are portrayed in movies/shows that I've noticed that are problematic. (For a narrower scope I'll be discussing American media as I am more familiar with that than most other countries.)

The first kind of Jewish representation is the token Jew. This is the character that the viewer wouldn't even have known is Jewish had the show not casually mentioned them celebrating Hanukkah in passing. This is the character who is entirely the same as any other character. An example of this would be in Ginny and Georgia, where a few side characters are revealed to be Jewish. This reveal occurred only for the purpose of making a Hanukkah episode, and immediately one of the characters says the beginning words to most of our prayers, adding "bitch" at the end. This sort of absolutely blatant disrespect towards the words many of us wouldn't even speak fully in casual conversation is meant to indicate that it's okay to poke fun at our religion. (By the way, it isn't okay. Don't disrespect our religion, thanks.) (And no the actress wasn't Jewish.)

Then there's Ben Gross from Never Have I Ever, a similarly extremely assimilated Jewish character. Instead of making fun of Judaism, however, the show plays into Jewish stereotypes. Ben's dad is a wealthy influential lawyer who works with Hollywood. Come on, there's three in a row there. Ben himself is frequently made fun of for being very short (to an extent not befitting the actor's actual stature), and some of his mannerisms could be described as effeminate. All of these traits play into anti-Jewish stereotypes. The protagonist even says she wishes Ben was killed by Nazis and other than a scolding this isn't made to be the big deal that it is.

These sorts of characters are meant to show how Jews are "just like you!" and pokes cruel fun at the few remaining things that do occasionally set them apart. Yes, secular Jews exist, but the way these shows make fun of their Jewish identities is where the issue arises.

The second problematic representation is meant to make goyim feel good about being goyim. This is specifically done through how Judaism is portrayed in these movies.

A major example of this is the show Unorthodox, in which the plot centers a young girl trying to escape her very observant community. This show directly demonized the Jewish religion, making it appear inherently oppressive and twisted.

While some may argue that the show was merely trying to portray the social issues within the community, there are better ways to achieve this.

The book An Unorthodox Match takes on a similar task with a vastly different tone. The book centers a protagonist joining an equally observant community, but not for a moment does the book, author, or protagonist blame Judaism. The book is very clearly written by a Jew who loves Judaism, and yet it manages to highlight similar social issues to the show without blaming Judaism. In fact, Jewish traditions have a fair share of appreciation in the book!

This sort of media is meant to make the goyishe viewers be grateful they aren't part of those communities, but as a Jewish viewer I felt deeply uncomfortable with the positioning of religious Jews as a negative part of society. This media makes the characters seem like they have nothing at all in common with the goyim around them or the goyim watching the show. It's the polar opposite of the previous example.

The first example is showing Jews as "just like anyone else" until they aren't, while the second example portrays Jews as entirely other. Never have I seen an Orthodox Jewish character side by side with the non-Jewish characters in any other context than the Jewish character envying their non-Jewish peers.

Why is the choice either to be assimilated or othered? Why can we not have an observant Jewish character remind their friends that they can't hang out on Saturday, or maybe they bring their own kosher snacks? Maybe a Jewish character muttering a bracha over their food? Why not make being Jewish an important part of their character without making them self-loathe because of it?

Media almost only ever shows two extremes and neither of those extremes has a positive impact on the perception of Jews.

(There is also a pattern I've noticed with Jews and goyim being cast in Jewish roles and how that corresponds to the character, but that's probably another post for another time.)

[edenfenixblogs]

On the status of my “The Antisemitism Experiment” tag:

So, when something is a straight up experience that someone had, I reblog it and add it to the queue.

When it’s something that’s full of misinformation that I need to fact check and provide sources for, I often put it in drafts until I have the emotional capacity to deal with it. I have never even used the drafts function before starting this experiment. Everything in my drafts is from the experiment.

My Queue currently has 23 items.

My Drafts currently have 828 items.

Not even including the amount of antisemitic stuff I’ve already posted to the queue and removed from drafts, I want all the people who have sent me inbox messages or posted about experiences or felt like I’m not including enough in my queue: I know.

I see you. The amount of insane misinformation we must combat is so unfair. The amount of grace under pressure and distress we must show in order for others to take our suffering seriously is unfair. The amount of misinformation that people uncritically take as fact is so harmful and unfair.

And that’s all JUST the stuff I think is bad enough to be queued. The amount of insane bullshit I see every day is sickening and inexplicable.

This is why we Jews are so desperately asking for IRL visible support from our friends. We know how much antisemitic bullshit is out there. And the fact that non-Jews aren’t talking about it regularly makes us wonder if it’s because you believe it and agree with it.

It’s too ever present. It’s too widespread. And if you haven’t even privately reached out to your Jewish friends to check in or acknowledge their pain proactively, you’re part of the problem. If you’ve actively distanced yourself from Jewish friends, you’ve done more damage than you’ll ever know. And it’s something that should haunt you for a lifetime. It’s something you should learn from. It’s something you need to make amends for.

It’s never too late to reach out to a Jew you care about. It’s never too late to apologize to a Jew you’ve abandoned and to do better by them. Nobody acting in good faith is asking you to stop caring about Palestinian life. All we are asking is for you to care about Jews. Because we are people too.

[spottheantisemitism]

"we need to do a modern remake where Magneto is rwandan or Uyghyur" used to be the refrain and now it's "we need a modern remake where Magneto is palestinean"

and first off no we don't want a modern remake where he's not a holocaust survivor X-men 97 gave us a perfectly good story and people like it even praising how it references the holocaust without being too graphic

and do you really want to talk about which "updated backstory" to give Magneto to be "more with the times" because the answer is there and you are not ready to have this conversation maturely

Might want to stick with what Claremont wrote and keep him and Ashkenazi Jewish and Sinti Romani Holocaust survivor instead of whichever group it's most topical to shift it to

[whitesunlars]

when I said “hey it’s antisemitic to ask a Jew their opinion on I/P before supporting them” they said “well what about checking if people support the KKK” and I will bet good money this person does not walk up to every single white person and ask if they’re in the klan, but they’re certainly okay interrogating Jews.

[toscanoirriverente]