Well, imagine how I felt today when I was scrolling through a left-leaning blog which is usually pretty reasonable in its stances about most things, and I saw this:
You can click to enlarge to full size, if you must -- I can barely stand to have such a monstrosity posted here even at small scale.
The intent is very clear. Never mind that Israel, in its current conflicts, continues to go to almost absurd lengths to minimize enemy civilian casualties, such as telephoning ahead to warn them before terrorists in their areas are attacked -- things that no other country on Earth does. Never mind its restraint in response to October 7 -- the largest mass murder of Jews since the Holocaust, involving the mass rape, torture, burning, and so on and so on of entire families, entire towns, atrocities unmatched almost anywhere in modern times. Never mind that the Gaza "casualty figures" uncritically parroted by our mass media come straight from the Gaza "health ministry", which is part of Hamas -- that is, they are merely jihadist propaganda. Never mind that Israel has a better human-rights record than almost any Islamic country. Never mind that a nation armed with hydrogen bombs, which could easily just wipe out those who seek to destroy it, has maintained that self-restraint and an internal democracy including full participation by millions of Arab citizens, for decades, in the face of a relentless jihadist campaign of murder by every available means, openly aiming at the total annihilation of Israel and its people. Never mind all that. Never mind the truth. The Jewish state is the Devil itself.
This is literal demonization. It's like something out of the minds of those who launched the pogroms of centuries past. As a comment on the post where I found this said, it's an image that would be right at home in the pages of Der Stürmer.
Even people like Trump and Vance have repudiated Mark Robinson for posting statements like "I'm a black Nazi" and for wishing that slavery were still legal so he could "buy a few". And we rightly condemn them for implicitly coddling neo-Nazis at Charlottesville or associating with people like Laura Loomer. This is no different. Yes, people have a right to express Nazi-like, Jew-hating opinions, but decent people also have a right, and a duty, to reject them when they do so. We must stop accepting people who post things like this as members in good standing of the left, just as a right wing worthy of any respect could not accept Loomer, Robinson, or others who speak and believe as they do, as members in good standing.
And this is all the more urgent in the face of the horrifying reborn Nazi movement now festering in our country's streets and campuses.
I will say it: If you post things like this or consider them acceptable, then I do not want you, you are nothing to do with me, I do not accept you any more as a fellow leftist or as a fellow human being. We have to draw the line somewhere. This is light-years beyond it.
Well said, my friend. I could not agree more.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the support.
DeleteCompletely agree with you on this.
ReplyDeleteOctober 7th was, for me, an inflection point. I truly thought that the atrocities committed by Hamas on that day would be seen for what they were. Imagine my horror to see, mere hours after the attacks, tweets praising Hamas. The next day there were the "pro-Palestine" rallies where speakers expressed joy about the attacks. Since then, the tsunami of antisemitism that has crashed on us has made me wonder if I have gone mad, or if it's the world around me that has.
The fact that an image like this can be posted on a site that is supposed to be reasonable is bad enough. What is worse is how the antisemitism is now accepted by many, or even justified, with some declaring that no, it isn't antisemitism, it is instead "anti-zionism".
Of course, MLK had the best response to this nonsense:
"When people criticize Zionists, they mean Jews. You are talking antisemitism."
Of course it is perfectly fine to criticize the government of Israel--but there is a line drawn between criticism and antisemitism, and as we have seen over the past year, quite a few have gleefully crossed it. I can't even look at the updates from the site Medium anymore because most writings posted there just reek of antisemitic nonsense.
Like you said--this is literal demonization. It's precisely what the Nazis did in Germany and to think that it has returned and is being done by those who claim to be "progressive" is enough to make one throw up.
Apologies for the long rant, but I really needed to get this off my chest, especially with the upcoming one year anniversary of the October 7th massacres.
Marc: Thanks. I had more or less the same reaction last October, but I never wondered if I was going mad, because I always knew some of the world was mad all along. There were the pogroms, and the Holocaust. People did those things. This is just the same mentality taking a slightly new form.
DeleteThe "progressives" embrace the evil of Jew-hatred more fervently than the anti-Semites on the right, who usually at least show some signs of embarrassment or efforts to hide what they're saying if it gets too much attention. I think it comes from the preening, self-righteous self-assurance of virtue that animates them. "We're progressives! We're on the right side of history! Nothing we do can be evil!"
They don't represent us, though. Never mistake those who make the most noise for the majority. Two members of "The Squad" were taken down in primaries this year, though the rejection of a sitting Congressperson is rare and difficult. We will beat this thing.
I welcome your rational comment, and have nothing against length. I too am not looking forward to the anniversary -- who knows what Hamas, and its groupies in the West, will do. But they will again reveal themselves for what they are.
I can completely understand you feeling that way. Well said.
ReplyDeleteThank you. I will continue to call out even regardless of the label it wears.
DeleteObviously, I'm not a huge supporter of religious traditions, but on October 7th I will be planting a small fruit tree in memory of one of the young lives extinguished by terrorists
ReplyDeleteIf that is supposed to be a/the devil in the graphic why does it have a belly button?
ReplyDeletePliny: I think that's a good, life-affirming gesture, religious or not.
ReplyDeleteIf the person was someone close to you, I'm sorry for your loss.
Stu: Because anti-Semitic propagandists are dumb? Actually that picture looks to me like it could be "AI".
"We must stop accepting people who post things like this as members in good standing of the left, just as a right wing worthy of any respect could not accept Loomer, Robinson, or others who speak and believe as they do, as members in good standing."
ReplyDeleteWell said.
Thank you. I do feel very strongly about this. There are plenty of things to attack the right wing for, but we need to take out our own garbage too.
DeleteAs a liberal, I have been horrified at the path that the extremists have headed down. From trans ideology, anti-Israel propaganda, and defunding the police, I am almost afraid to call myself a liberal any more. Common sense and decency, as well as knowledge of history and current events are completely lacking. Is this because nefarious factors have funded these lunatics and they've passed it down to well-meaning, useful idiots who get all their news from Tik-Tok? I've stopped following many blogs that I used to read religiously because they've supported some of these ridiculous trends and wonder where my compatriots are. Yours is the only one that I agree with the most. I've had to stop my daughter from following the Trans infection as well as the Israel situation. In fact, I made her cry when I told her about October 7th, but she HAD to know what was going on. I can see Trump winning because of these issues, but the Democratic party still can't get a clue. I don't want to live in a Trump dictatorship that would be as bad as Gilead for everyone except straight, white males. So how do we stop these fools?
ReplyDeleteLAB: First, my apologies for the delay in approving your comment. I'm currently working, so there are delays in anything blog-related on weekdays.
ReplyDeleteSociety is a kaleidoscope of varied groups -- so, inevitably, what we think of as "the left" and "the right" are both uneasy coalitions of many different groups, not homogenous. There's little obvious connection between, say, trans ideology, feminism, and the union movement, but they've all ended up being considered part of "the left". Unfortunately some of the radical nuts have managed to bamboozle more mainstream and popular liberal groups into a sense of misguided solidarity with them. The idol of "intersectionality", which makes a performative necessary virtue out of supporting any and all ideologies that manage to get their noses under the "left" umbrella, leads to suspicion and abuse toward those who question the crazy stuff. For example, I think most serious people know that men can't become women and that police are necessary (if in need of reforms), but they've been made to feel disloyal and perhaps intimidated if they speak out about it. I know I get supportive e-mails from people who say they wouldn't feel comfortable or safe agreeing with me publicly.
Jew-hatred has been entrenched in the West (and the Middle East) since early medieval times, and it keeps re-erupting in various new forms. What we see today in the streets and campuses is just the latest incarnation of it. The shock of the Holocaust made Jew-hatred a pariah ideology for decades, but as that atrocity passes out of living memory, the evil is re-emerging. It exists in different forms on the right as well, of course.
How do we stop these fools? Keep speaking out for sanity. Keep pointing out that evil is evil, and denounce those who promote it (as I'm doing in this post). Recognize that it is a protracted fight. Trans ideology is now clearly losing ground both here and in Europe, but it's a slow process. Jew-hatred, too, must be relentlessly exposed and denounced. Remember that many people harbor doubts about this madness that they feel intimidated into not expressing. Every one who speaks out loud and clear against it will move others a little closer to affirming and expressing those doubts.
As to the risk of the Republicans winning, don't forget that they have more and worse craziness on their side, as I discussed here (scroll down a bit). I continue to believe that in this coming election, abortion rights will be the decisive factor, as in every election and referendum since Dobbs. I cited several ways in which the Democratic party, at least, is moving away from the toxic stuff. That's because of the basic sanity of most people, and those of us who have been outspoken in calling out evil and lunacy for what they are. We can continue to do so, win or lose in November.
PS: I'm glad if you've found this blog something of a refuge of sanity; I hope it will continue to be so. And I hope you can continue to keep your daughter away from trans ideology. It's still hellishly dangerous to young people who get caught up in it, ruining thousands of lives.
ReplyDeleteMy sentiments precisely
ReplyDeleteBoth the far-Left and far Right are guilty of this, both tips of the horseshoe — these kooks on the fringes think antisemitism is fashionable again
They know nothing of the realities of what the IDF has to deal with to defend that country, but they can make memes to impress their idiot friends 🙄
Among the extremes, frankly, it is fashionable again. That's why I consider it so important to make sure the rot doesn't spread. We need to make them pariahs again.
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