#antisemitism is in vogue here in the US under the guise of "anti-zionism". Goes to the much older idea that Jews don't belong anywhere and should be thankful for their existence barely being tolerated.

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/02/jewish-anti-semitism-harvard-claudine-gay-zionism/677454/?gift=Wyf-5OzbrcU8eE-2Wqvm1b5UO1wVIVd2fuM61lHJWhM

3. I encourage lay people to speak with clergy if they are not certain where the clergy stand on antisemitism. The healthiest way to go about this is to give them some warning about what the conversation will involve, like “I’d like to set up a time to talk about hate and antisemitism, and what our congregation should be doing about it.”

[7/7]

2. Lay people need to hear and to know where their clergy stand on issues of hate. If it is Christian clergy, the people really need to know where the clergy stands on antisemitism. People will often assume that the clergy in their congregation are incapable of harboring hate. That should not be assumed; the clergy need to be clear through consistent words and actions where their hearts are.

[6/7]

1. When a collective body of some sort has oversight of clergy (i.e. in their education and training, and in issues of reprimanding) it is a good thing. Not having that oversight is dangerous, because that one voice often becomes immune to any legitimate criticism. Are these bodies always perfect? No, they aren’t. But at their best, these bodies prioritize people’s safety, which is of fundamental importance. (I can expound on this more if someone wants.)
[5/7]

Pastor Nakagawa was wrong in this act and his attempts to sugarcoat it are misplaced, deceiving, hurtful, and unconvincing.

What are some lessons we can take from this incident, especially those of us who are involved in the life of a congregation?

[4/7]

And if you want to read the statement from the conference where the pastor has served, here is a link.

https://www.calpacumc.org/news/statement-regarding-rev-mark-nakagawa/

[3/7]

I’ll have some comments below.
If you want to jump to a news source, here is a link.

https://www.cbsnews.com/losangeles/news/jewish-woman-says-she-caught-neighbor-in-act-of-drawing-swastika-on-her-groceries/

[2/7]

An antisemitic incident from December has surfaced this week. A retired United Methodist pastor was caught on camera marking a Jewish neighbor's groceries with a swastika.

#antisemitism #TWIAS

[1/7]

This article does a tremendous job at explaining the context of the antisemitism that is seen today, and why many of those who spread it do so unknowingly.

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/02/jewish-anti-semitism-harvard-claudine-gay-zionism/677454/?gift=Wyf-5OzbrcU8eE-2Wqvm1b5UO1wVIVd2fuM61lHJWhM&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share

When I bring up antisemitism in the US and Canada, I've been told "What about the Palestinians?"

When a person brings up hate crimes against themselves and someone else says "What about ___", the blank is, at best, irrelevant, especially when it's about actions of a government halfway across the world.

Hate is not zero sum, and if you really believe that none of us can be free until everybody is free, then start acting like it.

obvz i've been thinking a lot lately about antisemitism. and i think our world has an antisemitism problem that's so prevalent that most folks don't even see it happening. the fish don't know it's wet, type of thing.

well intentioned white culture (and elements of other cultures that have been colonized by whiteness) only thinks that it's antisemitism if people are waving nazi flags and burning crosses, (and tbh in the last few months/years have normalized even those types of antisemites).

this year, one of the most important books i've read was called White Women, about racism and colorism and whiteness and white supremacism. one of the takeaways from the book was "stop being surprised about how vile racism is, that only serves whiteness." I'm currently operating with an analog philosophy towards antisemitism, more or less like "stop being surprised at how thoroughly antisemitism permeates society."

WAKE UP. This toot should get to everyone on Mastodon. I may be the only Israeli this active here - where massacre denial blooms like a flower with teeth. YES IT HAPPENED. Can't believe this is in doubt - my family member is kidnapped and my friends and family are all grieving dead loved ones, all dead on the 7th of October. Whole families burned alive. And NO #ISRAEL DID NOT DO IT. #Hamas did. You are gaslighting me in one of the hardest times in my life. Stop denying the massacre. Do better.

@colinrosenthal What you are criticizing is not clear to me. Is it something pertaining to the quoted X conversation? Or are you looking for a general statement from me about the war and the people? (If the latter, I didn't bring it up in this thread because I've expounded on it previously.)

This is an example of how right-wing antisemitism is willing to ride the coattails of left-wing antisemitism. For individuals who are on the left; it would serve you well to learn more about left-wing antisemitism, because at this moment it is feeding the right’s antisemitism.
[7/7]

I can’t unpack everything that is going on here. In a nutshell, Orange is clearly equating a handful of right-wing hot topics with Israel, and he quickly makes the false assumption that Blue is Jewish for making a comment that quite frankly barely passes as pro-Israel.
[6/7]

Finally, Orange seems to reference the population of Israel as being gay and addicted to drugs. The final sentence comes across as a threat to Jews, even though Blue is not one.
[5/7]

Both of these men live in America, as stated in their X profiles. Blue has never claimed to be Jewish, let alone Israeli, yet Orange apparently assumes that Blue is Israeli. Orange also tosses in an abortion reference, equating it to genocide.
[4/7]

So Blue is stating that the military actions done by Israel don’t amount to genocide, which is true. You and I can be critical of their tactics and policies, but here is why no one should label it as such: https://www.adl.org/resources/backgrounder/allegation-israel-commits-acts-genocide
[3/7]

This exchange took place on X.

A little bit of context: both individuals are somewhat public figures, but not by much. The first individual (i.e. Blue) used “you” in his first tweet to address the general population.
[2/7]