This is exactly the problem, @AOC - that you're spending more time being horrified by predictable outcomes instead of connecting the dots. When the entire narrative of anti-Zionism becomes “criticism of Israel, which is not antisemitic,” but is invariably followed by near-daily violence against Jews, we have to ask whether what we’re witnessing really is criticism, or rather, a pretext to smuggle in demonization of an entire community without objection. So let’s talk about what criticism is and what it isn’t. What it is: challenging policy, strategy, leadership, or military decisions. What it isn’t: - Blaming Israel for all the world’s problems, including climate change - Hyper-focusing on one state to construct the illusion of a singular, unparalleled evil, and outstretching that evil to every human embodiment of it - Casting every act, every policy not as a state action, but a “Jewish” action, and holding all Jews accountable for it. If Jews are responsible for climate change, don’t be surprised when Jews are killed every time the weather changes. If Jews are responsible for global famine, don’t be surprised when Jews are killed every time a mouth goes unfed. If Jews are responsible for the world’s problems, don’t be surprised when Jews are killed because the world had a bad day. Oh, but I forgot, it’s not Jews, it’s “Zionists,” right? You may think that concealing Jew hatred behind its contemporary mutation—“anti-Zionism”—creates the illusion of separation in your intellectual and activist spaces—and maybe it does—but unsurprisingly, the bullet never seems to know the difference. Maybe because the bullet tells the truth you refuse to confront. The truth is that the world is not challenging Israel’s policies, it’s challenging Israel’s existence. The reason that Israel’s existence must be challenged is because it symbolizes the sovereignty of a community that no longer serves its role as perpetual scapegoat. So it isn’t good enough to criticize Israel’s policies, which provides an opportunity to cure. Instead, every critique must tie Israel’s existence to a greater “Jewish problem.” It converts a war to a Jewish war, a military strategy to a Jewish strategy, a blockade into a Jewish blockade, and if the war is perceived as immoral, it is not evidence of the immorality of war, but the immorality of Jews. This is what's hidden behind "criticism of Israel," and it's dishonest to pretend it isn't happening everywhere, all the time. This is precisely what has animated historic antisemitism: the collective moral attribution of guilt to the Jewish people, and it doesn’t happen with any other group. What the CCP does isn’t attributed to a “Chinese problem,” what Putin does isn’t “proof of Russian indecency.” If a high-powered record executive exploits a musical artist, it’s proof of the nature of high-powered record executives. If a Jewish high-powered record executive exploits a musical artist, it’s proof of the nature of Jews. See how that works? It's never "criticism" of an individual’s character, but an indictment of a collective Jewish personality. Why? To keep the collective under eternal persecution. The scapegoat upon which to project every ill, bother, or pain that we’d rather not take accountability for. In the final instance, global Jewry become trapped inside a tautological loop of violence where every outcome is used to justify the premise: Antisemitism rises → blame placed on Israel → blame fuels more antisemitism → more antisemitism is proof that Israel is to blame. Rinse and repeat. The infinite feedback loop makes everything a Jewish problem, Jews pay the price for it, and that price is not evidence that it’s wrong to make everything a Jewish problem, but proof that everything—including antisemitism—really is a Jewish problem. See how that works? So how do we end this? How do we get out of the matrix? It starts by switching “I’m horrified” every time another act of predictable violence occurs, with “I’m listening.”
See Tweet