Graffiti defaces a Los Angeles Jewish neighborhood and its famous deli

[jlw]

Originally published at: Graffiti defaces a Los Angeles Jewish neighborhood

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[anon61221983]

@jlw

To say “Free Gaza” is not a hate crime; it is a call for an oppressed people to be free. To say “Israel’s only religion is capitalism” may not be incorrect, and disagreement with a corrupt government is certainly not hate.

@jlw

Spray painting on a mural honoring the history of the Los Angeles Jewish community is probably anti-semitic. Spray painting stuff around places of worship and in a traditionally Jewish neighborhood seems intended to scare Jewish folks, which is very anti-semitic.

Also…

@jlw

Israel and Judaism are not the same things. Hamas and the Palestinian people are not the same things.

I really wish that some people could work a little bit harder to hold all these ideas together in their heads at the same time. Dehumanization of anyone here isn’t helpful, but it’s not remotely helpful to attack people who are not directly involved in the current series of events…

[anon23281680]

@anon61221983

it’s not remotely helpful to attack people who are not directly involved in the current series of events

I think for most of these people, the war is just an excuse. They’ve always been antisemitic but now they have a cover under which to express that and still tell themselves they are not. Same for the people attacking Muslims and people they think are Palestinian.

It’s alarming to me how much hate has just come crawling out of the woodwork. Hate for Jews and hate for Muslims. Hate for random brown people who might be Palestinian. It’s especially alarming to see people who claim they believe in diversity and equality start in on the classic antisemitic patterns

[orenwolf]

@jlw

Israel and Judaism are not the same things. Hamas and the Palestinian people are not the same things. It is possible to be Jewish or Palestinian and just want the suffering to end, and not to wish harm or fear on anyone.

Fucking right.

[gracchus]

Clandestine protestors

AKA “cowards.”

Unless they’re asking to free Gaza from the scourge of Hamas, but then they’d have chosen the wrong neighbourhood to make their statement.

Israel and Judaism are not the same things. Hamas and the Palestinian people are not the same things. It is possible to be Jewish or Palestinian and just want the suffering to end, and not to wish harm or fear on anyone.

Thank you. I would also add that Israel and Likud are not the same things, any more than the U.S. and the GOP are. I wish more people understood all this.

[anon61221983]

@anon23281680

I think for most of these people, the war is just an excuse.

Yeah absolutely the case… their antisemitism and Islamophobia pre-existed this particular conflict…

@anon23281680

It’s alarming to me how much hate has just come crawling out of the woodwork.

It really is… is that all these people have to hang onto? Just, how can those people live with themselves? Maybe that’s it - they can’t so they find some “other” to lash out at… It gives them a cause and makes them feel a part of something…

[gracchus]

Or maybe it’s “economic anxiety”. /s

[anon61221983]

[Otherbrother]

I’m familiar with that mural (and the deli) and was relieved to see in the article that the graffiti was on the black portion of the wall just below the mural, so it was quickly painted over with no damage done to the mural itself.

(Goes without saying that this was absolutely inexcusable either way, but I’m just glad the damage wasn’t as bad as I first feared.)

[catsidhe]

@jlw

Israel and Judaism are not the same things. Hamas and the Palestinian people are not the same things. It is possible to be Jewish or Palestinian and just want the suffering to end, and not to wish harm or fear on anyone.

(Cartoon: Hate is hate)