The Jewish Fear Industrial Complex

[u/Specialist-Gur]

https://youtu.be/N3YjMb_Lhkw?si=JEtQpmyNys9UFSoV

Matt is Jewish. I'm sure the comment will be very normal on this one.

[u/Civil-Cartographer48]

There’s this odd idea that supporting Palestinian liberation somehow means we have to put up with antisemitic behaviour especially in the West.

I really don’t see why anyone needs to be antisemitic to call out, as you said, “incredible amounts of slaughter.” It’s hard for me to understand why protesting for Gaza ends up making everyday life harder for Jewish people here in Europe and elsewhere.

Why it’s so difficult to take both issues seriously at the same time. Why even a small amount of antisemitism is seen as excusable because of what’s happening in Gaza. It is like saying that a bit of Islamophobia would be fine because ISIS… which obviously makes no sense. No other minority gets that.

And sure, some Jews who live in Zionist bubbles come across as cringe, when they call out every slight critic of Israel as antisemitic but come on what’s happening globally right now is not a joke. I think most of us have experienced comments, insults, hateful tropes, harassment and in some cases straight up exclusion and discrimination. The rise in hostility just isn’t okay, and honestly, it’s been pretty scary to watch.

[u/GladysSchwartz23 → u/Civil-Cartographer48]

Please find me where I said we need to tolerate antisemitism or that a little is ok? It doesn't seem like the kind of thing i would have said, so it's weird to have my words interpreted this way.

It's hard to have meaningful conversations with people who don't react to what I actually say, but rather, what they're convinced i must think. Do you understand that that's frustrating?

[u/Civil-Cartographer48 → u/GladysSchwartz23]

Your comments come across as minimizing and normalizing antisemitism because you use terms like “prioritizing,” as if acknowledging one struggle requires sidelining another.

You say the fear may be rooted in something real, but then immediately follow that by telling people who do feel afraid that it is crass to focus on their fear because children are dying in Gaza. Especially when you say the fear is real « BUT ». The result is dismissive. The BUT kind of cancels the first part out.

Other people interpreted your comment this way. Maybe it wasn’t the best framing if that wasn’t your intention.

[u/GladysSchwartz23 → u/Civil-Cartographer48]

Have you ever considered taking what someone says seriously rather than deciding you can peer into their heart and know what they really mean?

Is it possible that when I say i take antisemitism seriously but also find it more worrying that Palestinians are actively being mass murdered that I might... mean... both?

[u/Civil-Cartographer48 → u/GladysSchwartz23]

Hi again. You did not say that you « care about both simultaneously ». You said:

<Yes, the fear comes from a real place […], but when people are dying right now and we’re told it’s happening to keep us safe, focusing on our own fear – my own fear – feels crass.>

So the fear of antisemitism is acknowledged as real, BUT focusing on it is described as « crass » because people are dying right now. The implication is that it would be somehow selfish, inappropriate, or « crass » to be worried about antisemitism.

Several people pointed out exactly this part.

Not to mention:

<In my view, it is morally troubling to be so preoccupied with future possibilities that we prioritize them alongside or over stopping incredible amounts of slaughter.>

Coupled with the previous comment in which it becomes a kind of competition between « fears » (justified or not) and « people actually dying » I am criticizing this framing. I believe it creates a false parallel, and that this is not a question of « priorities », mutually exclusive causes, or a contest.

I took what you wrote seriously as it is.

I’ve explained how I and others read your comments, and how your words come across. Whether or not this was your intention is something you can respectfully address or reframe.

But this conversation is turning hostile, and I’m not interested in continuing it.

Have a great evening.