r/JewsOfConscience • u/AutoModerator • Aug 28 '24

AAJ "Ask A Jew" Wednesday

It's everyone's favorite day of the week, "Ask A (Anti-Zionist) Jew" Wednesday! Ask whatever you want to know, within the sub rules, notably that this is not a debate sub and do not import drama from other subreddits. That aside, have fun! We love to dialogue with our non-Jewish siblings.

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u/PlinyToTrajan Non-Jewish Ally (Jewish ancestry & relatives) Aug 28 '24

In the real, practical politics of my local community, how can I "yes, and" concerns about anti-semitism? Yes, anti-semitism must be addressed, but so must the fact that many local residents are advancing a genocidal politics.

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u/ArmyOfMemories Jewish Anti-Zionist Aug 28 '24 edited Aug 28 '24

If it's any consolation, I do not accept the notion that it has gone up exponentially.

The ADL's data went up drastically once they began adopting IHRA and conflating pro-Palestine activism with antisemitism.

Jewish Currents also audited the ADL's 2023 data and found, in a worst-case scenario, that it was only 56% unambiguously accurate. A significant chunk of the data was pro-Palestine slogans. The ADL also made a lot of lazy mistakes in the data. At the same time, an academic is quoted as believing the real levels are actually higher - but there's not enough elaboration or data presented to back that theory up. The academic does make some understandable/common sense observations though.

I also do not experience antisemitism in my daily life. I see it often online but I also see tons of other hate.

I see much more Islamophobia and anti-Palestinian hate on Reddit than I do antisemitism.

And lastly, I think there is a difference in the discourse around this issue depending on one's politics.

I'm an anti-Zionist and my focus is on raising awareness about the genocide. I do not accept the Establishment claims about an epidemic of hate on the Left and I do not accept the IHRA definition.

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u/PlinyToTrajan Non-Jewish Ally (Jewish ancestry & relatives) Aug 28 '24

That's very helpful, thank you. Albeit it paints a dismal picture -- the true reason for the enormous amount of current official concern about anti-semitism has little to do with anti-semitism (as there's no dramatic increase in anti-semitism), but has to do with aggrandizing Israel (the modern state, not the scriptural / spiritual concept) and stifling dissent. As someone not Jewish-identifying, I find it very hard to push back, because any effort to "address anti-semitism" even if executed problematically or costing significant resources feels politically untouchable especially as I live in an area with a lot of Jewish, Zionist residents.