Why are Jews expected to put up with rampant social media antisemitism? - The Jewish Chronicle

There’s a general feeling among Jews that all forms of political extremism are bad for us. Call it the horseshoe theory of antisemitism. The further right or left you go, the more likely you are to eventually come around to hating Jews. On the left, this is plain to see. From the Corbyn-era trend to attack Israel for all the world’s sins, to the self-hating asaJews that tweeted enthusiastically about October 7 being a ‘day of celebration’ to previously vanilla comedian Reginald Hunter retweeting posts about the evils of the Talmud. We know these people, we see them all the time. But there’s just as much if not more antisemitism coming out of the internet-addled red pill right-wing community.

Right-wing Influencers like Dan Bilzerian, Candace Owens, Andrew Tate and dozens more are indulging in the sort of mask-off antisemitism once reserved for grimy parts of the internet like 4chan. Once content with misogyny or self-improvement BS or anti-vax conspiracies, they’ve all found their way down the tunnel to blaming Jews, finding themselves alongside out and out antisemites.

Over the weekend for example, Dan Bilzerian posted to his 1.6m followers an incorrect and out-of-context graphic about the Talmud, using it to suggest Jews not only think of themselves as superior to the rest of humanity, but also that we’re pedophiles and hell-bent on genociding all gentiles. Pretty route one nut job antisemitism. Candace Owens, formerly happy to work with and support Ben Shapiro, now spends her time arguing that Leo Frank - a Jewish man lynched by the KKK for allegedly kidnapping a young girl, not only deserved it, but was part of a sadistic cult of Jews that perpetrate attacks on Christian children all over the world - again, absolutely classic nailed on antisemitism. Jake Shields, an MMA fighter who clearly is wearing repeated blows to the head like a badge of honour, dogwhistles antisemitism pretty much constantly, saying that among other things, Jews love poisoning the wells of Christians, each time acting like he’s the only one brave enough to speak out.

In some ways, this is nothing new. The sewer of the internet has always been just that. But once upon a time, the foul odour of these views was kept out of polite society, now they’re monetised and shown to millions on Twitter. Much has been written about Elon Musk’s purchase of the world’s political discourse machine, but by far the most malign effect has been allowing these online hate mongers to monetise their poisonous views. Twitter now pays users to post and the more views you get, the more money you receive. It’s providing a financial incentive to peddle hate and regurgitate conspiracy theories. I don’t know how sincere these people are or whether it’s just a shameless engagement baiting strategy to clout chase. But the fact that they feel comfortable sharing these views and whipping up hate is another depressing development in a year that’s seen far too many.

To be clear, this has nothing to do with disagreement over Israel’s policy or conduct in the war in Gaza. That may have been the jumping-off point, but when you’re talking about Talmudic level misinformation the end result is pretty f**king unattached from what’s happening in Gaza. I daresay if Israel stopped existing tomorrow, it wouldn’t stop people slurring us. In fact, it’s only because of Israel that these ramblings feel less of a threat. Knowing that there’s at least one country on earth where mainstream discourse won’t turn to blaming the Jews is something that allows many of us to sleep at night.

The most grating thing of all (except for the reminder that to some, Jews will never be accepted) is that all of these idiots pretend as if it’s a courageous act to pick on Jews, a tiny minority. That the all powerful Jews will kill them for “bravely speaking out”. They play the victim when they have more freedom than anyone. They share the Voltaire quote about finding out who rules over you by working out who you can’t criticise. But that quote isn’t Voltaire, it’s actually by a pedophile White Nationalist. And they can criticise us. They can make money criticising us. They can do podcasts and have horrible little YouTube shows and build loyal followings beating up on the world’s most maligned religious group. With no consequence.

Sometimes it can feel unbearable, being beaten over the head over and over again with reminders that you will always be hated by someone. Do Catholics, Sikhs, or Mormons have to put up with some of the loudest voices online making careers peddling lies about them? Do the world’s Buddhists have to put up with constant lies and assertions that they’re pedophiles running the banks? Why is it always the Jews?

I don’t know where all this ends, but it doesn’t feel good, does it? When they’re down in the sewers, how often do people crawl back out and admit that they were off their rocker? I’ve been on the internet for nearly 20 years, and this might be the worst I’ve seen it. The casual nature of the way Holocaust-era, biological, weapons-grade antisemitism is tossed around and mainstreamed is beyond depressing. The fact that the gatekeepers of the internet no longer give a shit that they’re emboldening Nazi-era thoughts is beyond disconcerting. Jewish inclusion in polite society is reliant on enough non-Jews thinking antisemitism is real – and I’m worried we’re running out of allies.

But we must take solace in the fact that Twitter is not real life. There are billions of people unaware of this hate, and this is often a desperate person’s desperate way of staying relevant. I’m glad too, that there are people willing to stand up for us - non-Jewish voices are always taken more seriously than ‘hysterical Jews’.

All we can hope is that this moment is a blip. That when the world is less chaotic and people aren’t uncertain and looking for someone to blame, they’ll stop trying to blame us. And in the meantime, we just thank our lucky stars that these people are still confined to the fringes.

Topics:

Antisemitism