didnt read this magazine in over 10 years. cant stand and read their website either anymore for at least last 6 years. sometimes I follow a link, though.*
thats quite the mainstream in german media nowadays.
*edit/ I really cant stress this enough, it has its reason why this magazine is for the last 20 years sometimes referred to as das ehemalige nachrichtenmagazin (the former news-magazine).
I’m not suggesting that, but I also don’t believe that something has to target every Jew to be considered antisemitic.
The issue I find with the phrase anti-Zionist is that some folks take the term as not supporting the actions of the Israeli Government, and some folks take it to mean that Israel, as a state, should not exist. I’m in 100% agreement with the former. I’m also perfectly happy to talk about the latter in a historical and academic context. I do find it problematic as a call to action.
In all honesty, I try to avoid using the phrase altogether at this point, because like I said, nuance.
Pretty much every region of the world in which Jews are represented there are adherents to the concept of anti-Zionism (or as some prefer “non-Zionist”). Reasons are complex and range from opposition to secularism, the belief that Jews betrayed Hashem by leaving the promised land in the first place and that only Hashem can restore them to the belief that Zionism paints a target on the backs of all Jews worldwide as well as simple geopolitical calculus dating back to the foundation of Israel and England’s absconding of responsibility. of course, a lot of these beliefs are overlapping.
The impulse to represent all Jews or Palestinians as a monolith is another well-trod method of dividing people over broad assumptions about their beliefs and dehumanizing their concerns. What really concerns me at this moment is that virtually nobody is even willing to engage in talk of solutions beyond the immediate and reactive.
punk band name in every post™
No, of course I don’t think people outside of Germany don’t understand the complications. But I do think that the situation within Germany is uniquely complicated, and in ways people might not understand, if they lack a nuanced understanding of the history of Germany’s relationship to Judaism since the war. I don’t think you don’t understand that, and I don’t even think Rob doesn’t understand that, but I do think this particular piece doesn’t really do justice to the complexity of the situation.
I keep hearing a lot of concerns about anti-Semitism, which on its own is fair…opposition to what Likud is doing should not spill over into hatred of Jews in general, many of whom are just as opposed to it.
Somehow though the same people never seem to be concerned about Islamophobia, even though the exact same problems mistaking ordinary Palestinians and Muslims for Hamas are rampant. Almost like discrimination isn’t actually the real concern.
But it’s COMPLICATED!
Yeah, sadly that happens far too often to Jewish folks who favor a peaceful settlement with the Palestinians. Thanks for putting up with that ACTUAL antisemitic shit (which you shouldn’t have to!) and for support the rights of Palestinians.
I want to point to Ta-Nehisi Coates’ recent appearance on Democracy Now, and the “it’s complicated” argument often made about what’s happening with regards to Gaza and the West Bank Settlements…
rob’s two paragraphs were about the article, and the german media – not the war. i think it’d be hard for anyone to do justice on the complexity of that situation.
It’s even clearer in Gaza City.
Then why give a pass to Der Spiegel’s editorial staff? Except perhaps to speculate that a well-funded news outlet that doesn’t go to the trouble of getting a direct follow-up comment from someone it implies is anti-Semitic might also not understand the complexities that others (even non-Germans!) can.
I don’t know, I think the war is really simple. Hamas did a major terrorist attack – Israel’s 9/11, it has been called. And like the response to 9/11, Likud is using the opportunity to indulge in all its dreams of war crimes against the population it was already oppressing. And so a whole ton of innocent Israelis are dead, and now an order of magnitude more innocent Palestinians are dead and still dying. And there’s no easy way to straighten it out only because people in charge want the killings.
All the complexity comes from not wanting to see that for what it is, whether it’s trying to blame others for things they didn’t do or excuse participants for things they are doing. If you treat people as people it’s very clear.
Whoah. That was a bullshit article designed for clicks. Full stop. @Gendun not sure your motivation, or perhaps you didn’t notice this was just a hit piece? It’s not a well considered article about the state of anti-semitism.
If you believe Palestinians deserve to be killed it’s because you are a racist.
Weird how that disparity seems to work; almost as if it’s some apathetic concoction of both concern trolling and virtue signaling.
Both Islamophobia and Antisemitism are deplorable blights on the human soul; just as are all belief systems which are rooted in the ceaseless hatred of some demonized “Other.”
FTFY.
No entire group of people “deserves” to be killed, and anyone who thinks they do is a shit excuse for a human being, IMO.
everything you said, for sure.
and it’s just so heart-wrenching because even if the political situation were magically figured out today, nothing can bring back all the people and families who are already gone.
“The German activists say that Thunberg has spent much of her time in recent years in Sweden, mainly because of the pandemic.”
Also, and this is a crazy idea I know, maybe because she’s Swedish.
It seems to me that if the term “anti-semite” is casually applied to anyone who supports a ceasefire or holds up a sign in support of Palestine, then we’ll quickly arrive at a place where the term loses its meaning and people will stop taking it very seriously WHEREVER it is used. It’s a bit like crying wolf.
I mean, shouldn’t the editorial press be more concerned about the very real anti-semitism of certain billionaire social media tycoons? Or perhaps the people who are spray painting swastikas on synagogues.
I absolutely despise the notion that any criticism of the Isreali government is automatically antisemitism. It’s just insane. Yes there are no doubt some antisemites who will find fault in anything Isreal does because of their hate, but that’s not what’s happening here. The idea that a government can be allowed to do whatever they like without criticism merely because that government represents a religion that has been historically persecuted is utterly insane. Saying “You can’t commit genocise” is not on the same level as “You shouldn’t exist”.
