- Global surge in antisemitic incidents following the conflict between Hamas and Israel, affecting Jewish communities in various countries.
- Antisemitic acts range from verbal abuse to physical assaults, often justified by anger over the Gaza conflict.
- In areas like the U.S., Britain, France, Germany, and South Africa, antisemitic incidents have increased several hundred percent compared to the same period last year.
- Official responses vary, with Western authorities generally quick to support Jewish communities, while some countries like China have not taken steps to curtail antisemitic content online.
Media Bias Fact Check (Reuters):
Overall, we rate Reuters Least Biased based on objective reporting and Very High for factual reporting due to proper sourcing of information with minimal bias and a clean fact check record.
If the only thing keeping you from being a bigot is people patting you on the tummy then… you are a bigot.
The issue that has become increasingly apparent throughout this (and any other time people remember that the Palestinians exist) is that: Yes, you can be anti-Zionist (for a range of definitions of “zionist”) without being anti-Semitic. But it is REAL easy to not stop with the former when there is such a strong push to be incredibly careful how we refer to Hamas (the de facto government of Gaza) and Palestine with almost no care being given toward the IDF (and Mossad and Netanyahu) and Israel. Or why the Israelis are in the region to begin with or how much of their demographics are refugees from nearby Arab nations.
Which kind of gets back to the idea of: When your rant is indistinguishable from that of a bigot…
To make it clear: The IDF are horrifying monsters who are actively engaging in genocide. Hamas are terrorists. And this is more or less a war between two countries at this point. But when talking points are “Fuck Israel, they never deserved to be there in the first place. Kick them all out” without even an acknowledgement of WHY they are there (and why “The West” supported them going there in the 40s…)? Well, if it quacks like a duck…
Yeah, this is a great example of why I make an effort to specify the government when criticizing countries. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine? I call Putin and his government evil but never the Russian people at large. China’s genocide of the Uyghurs? I call Xi Jinping and the CCP evil but never the Chinese people at large. Israel’s apartheid state and ethno-religious cleansing? I call Netanyahu and his government evil but never the Israeli people at large (and certainly not Jews at large).
The allure of treating entire demographics or populaces as a monolith and blaming them for the crimes of their government is exactly why genocidal rhetoric is so dang pervasive, and I won’t abide by it.
(Yes, I will also criticize civilians who actively support these crimes, but I make sure to be clear in distinguishing between them and the rest of the civilian population.)
Yeah, it’s basically terrible people shooting at terrible people at the behest of terrible people with tons of civilians (on both sides) having to suffer because of it. And because of how the situation works it’s hard for anyone involved to not get sucked into this maelstrom of hatred.
And to think that there have been a number of times when this could’ve been avoided but hasn’t because the people with the power to do so either didn’t care or deliberately made things worse to further their own interests. (Or tried but were removed from power by more ruthless people.)
It’s a horrible, convoluted, heartbreaking, multicontinental multi-century mess that’s almost impossible to even talk about without wronging someone.
And some assholes take that as an excuse.
This is a war between two terrorist groups not countries
If this is war, then how IDF are monsters? If Hamas is using human shields, then how do you expect IDF can conduct this war? Should they give up because Hamas uses human shields? Should Israel not reacted at all on what Hamas did with Israel civilians, because Hamas uses human shields? Would it only embolden Hamas to repeat the same many times? Is it better to cut out the cancer, which Hamas undoubtedly is, despite of the pain it brings for the sake of the healthy future without Hamas?
These are not rhetorical questions. When I think through them I see no other way than what IDF is doing today - targeting Hamas despite of the use of human shields. It is a bad option, but all other options are either worse or just fantasy.
The IDF have threatened to attack hospitals (and have in the past. Just probably not last week) unless they evacuate under unverifiable claims that Hamas are using those as bases. Which, if true, is the situation where you get troops in to secure the injured civillians.
Similarly, the IDF have made it clear that they watched too much Speed and will “shoot the hostage” regardless of how many human shields Hamas keeps.
And there is the ongoing trend of “Okay, all good Gazan Palestinians should evacuate along these routes. Oops, we bombed those too”
As for “how can a nation at war commit crimes”: Ignoring the concept of a “war crime”, it is well worth looking up what Imperial Japan did in the name of war. Nobody cares about asians so this tends to get forgotten but they really are the poster children for horrific atrocities under the guise of war.
War is inherently barbaric. But the IDF, like many nations, have used this war as an excuse to vent a LOT of pent up aggression.
Their actions.
Special ops not carpet bombing.
Again they are carpet bombing the country. It’s not like hamas have civilians tied to all the buildings.
Israel could have stopped being cunts at any time in the last 60 years. They have intentionally escalated time and time again. They could have sought peace.
Their actions will undoubtedly create a whole new radicalised generation. Every innocent they kill just creates future terrorists. It has literally been going on for decades and will now likely continue on the same. The people won’t forget this.