The attempt to disabuse the world of antisemitism has been a monumental failure. Despite decades of educational outreach things are the worst they’ve ever been. The hatred against us is at fever pitch and from multiple fronts. The alleged gains that have been made teaching the world about the Holocaust and antisemitism have not been worth the investment of time, energy and resources.
I would say we have nothing to lose because the blood libel is already being used against us. But I do want to talk about the nature of antisemitism, how it's never about the Jews. It's always about projecting the responsibility for a country's or a person's unresolved problems away from anyone who actually should bear the responsibility onto an Other. So one thing I would do is go straight to that. When South Africa accuses Israel of Apartheid, point out that not only does Israel not do Apartheid but that South Africa never resolved their problem. When the US accuses Israel of settler colonialism, ask them how they made reparations for the genocide of Native Americans or the slavery of blacks. And the entire simplistic oppressor/victim logic that has turned Jews into the ultimate oppressor, that has to be exposed as complete horseshit, the premise that as soon as an oppressed minority figures out a way to be successful despite systemic discrimination, that makes them the ultimate oppressor. There are lots of ways to fight back. I doubt the legal system will do much good because laws favor the powerful and now that the oppressor/victim narrative has been institutionalized, the "victim" is now the powerful. But it is pretty important to expose and ridicule and humiliate the antisemites who would have us dead. It is not the only strategy that must be done but it is one strategy that must be done. The thing is, in order to be able to do that, we all need facts at our fingertips. That means we have to research, and that takes time, work and dedication. The mainstream media and our universities just rubber-stamp every Hamas press release, all indoctrination against us, and to be able to fight back we need real facts. So we have to do the work.
I see comments online saying "[JEWISH PERSON] is causing anti-semitism." Fuck you! You already hate Jews and are looking for an excuse to publicly say it.
Jews shouldn't need to constantly prove our humanity as non-Jews threaten us with violence. We don't deserve our humanity because we are "nice" people, we deserve our humanity because we are humans.
Actually I think you're right. I think we're schooled to present ourselves in a certain way 'just in case' reputation wise. But it hasn't made a jot of difference to the outcome. Now when other jewish people in my small circle talk about community relations I cringe. I've felt this for some time. I'm not renewing just for a little while because of life problems but I'll be back. I think Lee you are very brave and If we lived near each other I would bring you cake. xx
I couldn't agree more. I believe that part of the reason that antisemitism is not dying down is because enough Jews are tired of apologizing for living in this world. Instead of accepting the disgusting inaction of world leaders to October 7th, we are continuing to fight our enemies and their "Greek chorus".
We need to be like Israel itself and project strength. Every jewish kid needs to take self defense class, learn how to use pepper spray and stand up for ourselves. If the past few years have taught us anything, it's that we've spent too much time bending over backwards and twisting ourselves into pretzels to help groups of people who could care less about us. We need to stick together and take care of each other. Period. And, get rid of Joe Biden in the US.
I would say we have nothing to lose because the blood libel is already being used against us. But I do want to talk about the nature of antisemitism, how it's never about the Jews. It's always about projecting the responsibility for a country's or a person's unresolved problems away from anyone who actually should bear the responsibility onto an Other. So one thing I would do is go straight to that. When South Africa accuses Israel of Apartheid, point out that not only does Israel not do Apartheid but that South Africa never resolved their problem. When the US accuses Israel of settler colonialism, ask them how they made reparations for the genocide of Native Americans or the slavery of blacks. And the entire simplistic oppressor/victim logic that has turned Jews into the ultimate oppressor, that has to be exposed as complete horseshit, the premise that as soon as an oppressed minority figures out a way to be successful despite systemic discrimination, that makes them the ultimate oppressor. There are lots of ways to fight back. I doubt the legal system will do much good because laws favor the powerful and now that the oppressor/victim narrative has been institutionalized, the "victim" is now the powerful. But it is pretty important to expose and ridicule and humiliate the antisemites who would have us dead. It is not the only strategy that must be done but it is one strategy that must be done. The thing is, in order to be able to do that, we all need facts at our fingertips. That means we have to research, and that takes time, work and dedication. The mainstream media and our universities just rubber-stamp every Hamas press release, all indoctrination against us, and to be able to fight back we need real facts. So we have to do the work.
I see comments online saying "[JEWISH PERSON] is causing anti-semitism." Fuck you! You already hate Jews and are looking for an excuse to publicly say it.
Jews shouldn't need to constantly prove our humanity as non-Jews threaten us with violence. We don't deserve our humanity because we are "nice" people, we deserve our humanity because we are humans.
Machiavelli says in his book The Prince, "it is better to be feared than loved if you cannot be both.
Just like you are advocating here, Lee.
Actually I think you're right. I think we're schooled to present ourselves in a certain way 'just in case' reputation wise. But it hasn't made a jot of difference to the outcome. Now when other jewish people in my small circle talk about community relations I cringe. I've felt this for some time. I'm not renewing just for a little while because of life problems but I'll be back. I think Lee you are very brave and If we lived near each other I would bring you cake. xx
I couldn't agree more. I believe that part of the reason that antisemitism is not dying down is because enough Jews are tired of apologizing for living in this world. Instead of accepting the disgusting inaction of world leaders to October 7th, we are continuing to fight our enemies and their "Greek chorus".
We need to be like Israel itself and project strength. Every jewish kid needs to take self defense class, learn how to use pepper spray and stand up for ourselves. If the past few years have taught us anything, it's that we've spent too much time bending over backwards and twisting ourselves into pretzels to help groups of people who could care less about us. We need to stick together and take care of each other. Period. And, get rid of Joe Biden in the US.
Excellent article Lee.
💯👏 - this manifesto shatters the diasporic illusion.
How do I load Lee's Podcasts onto my Android phone?