For the last third of my life, I’ve been involved online pretty extensively, and I’ve never hidden my identity as a Jew in that time.
During that time, I’ve watched the antisemitic rhetoric get worse, and more hateful, and just… more. With the coming of Trump’s Administration and the vindication of the Alt-Right, I have the feeling of standing on a beach getting whacked by wave after wave… and the tsunami is coming.
So I’m starting this thread for two purposes: To act as a central spot on this forum to post links about antisemitism so that people can educate themselves on it, and to have discussions on those points.
For context, this is a classic variation on the Blood Libel. This is literally something that stretches back to the Medieval era, and yet people still believe it.
Another week, another round of bomb threats against Jewish Community Centers in the US. This is the new normal under Der Trumper. But, of course, we can’t call the attackers antisemites unless we can prove that they aren’t “just joking”.
One of my best friends just told me that half of her great-grandparents are buried in that cemetery. She’s afraid to call her aunts and uncle to find out if they’ve been desecrated or not.
Specifically the mezuzah was vandalized. Let me explain why this is a big deal. A mezuzah is the small scrollcase (specifically the scroll inside of it) on the doorpost with specific portions of the Torah written on it, including the Name of God. Going back to the Ten Plagues aspect, this is the whole “mark upon the doorposts” tradition, and, from a sociological perspective, they are very much identity signifiers and amulets of protection.
So, by vandalizing them, the attackers are stating: “We know what you are, we know where you live, and this won’t protect you.”
I feel like that’s a perfect segue into a discussion of the Blood Libel. Because, while I know that you intended that as a joke, as pointed up above, it is literally a millennia-old libel that Jews drink the blood of gentiles in our rituals.
Yep! It’s still alive and well, even after a thousand years. The Russians still believe in it, among others, and the imagery is constantly invoked in various political cartoons.
A conversation between me and my Dad when I was little, after my dad clued me in on anti-Semitism:
Me: So why do people hate the Jews if they never did anything wrong?
My dad: Ah, because they see them as ‘the Christ-killers’.
Me: But Jesus was a Jew.
My dad: ¯\__(ツ)__/¯
Then there was that one Sunday when we’re driving home from church and I tell my parents that our Sunday school teacher told us that the only way into Heaven is through Christ and that this meant if you were a Jew who didn’t acknowledge Christ’s resurrection then you were going to hell.
My dad: “Well, what do you think?”
Now, we have Jewish friends. The family we knew in Chicago, we went to their son’s bar mitzvah (quote from me afterwards: “Wow, the Jews really know how to party.”). My dad’s GP was Jewish. For all I knew, at least one of my teachers was Jewish. These were good people, dammit.
Me: "I think if you’re a good person then you’re just as welcome into heaven. I don’t think God would send good people to hell."
My dad: (turns to my mom and smiles)
That anti-Semitic beliefs like ‘blood libel’ have persisted for a godforsaken millennium just blows my mind. Really. I didn’t even know about that particular one until this thread.
