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[Crash Station]

Thought this was topical after the recent anniversary.

Seventy years after the liberation of Auschwitz, violence and hatred against Jews is on the rise, especially in the Middle East and among Muslims in Europe

Last Tuesday, a group of Holocaust survivors, by now gaunt and frail, made their way back to Auschwitz, the West’s symbol of evil—back to the slave-labor side of the vast complex, with its mocking inscription Arbeit Macht Frei (“Work makes you free”), and back to the death camp, where a million and a quarter human beings, most of them Jews, were gassed, burned and turned to ash. They were there to commemorate the day, 70 years ago, when Soviet troops liberated Auschwitz and saw, for the first time, the true dimensions of the greatest crime since human beings first set foot on Earth.

The moment would have been emotional at the best of times, but this year brought an especially disturbing undercurrent. The Book of Genesis says that, when God told Abraham what would happen to his descendants, a “fear of great darkness” fell over him. Something of that fear haunted the survivors this week, who have witnessed the return of anti-Semitism to Europe after 70 years of political leaders constant avowals of “Never again.” As they finished saying Kaddish, the Jewish prayer for mourners, one man cried out, “I don’t want to come here again.” Everyone knew what he meant. For once, the fear was not only about the past but also about the future.

The murder of Jewish shoppers at a Parisian kosher supermarket three weeks ago, after the killing of 12 people at the offices of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, sent shivers down the spines of many Jews, not because it was the first such event but because it has become part of a pattern. In 2014, four were killed at the Jewish Museum in Brussels. In 2012, a rabbi and three young children were murdered at a Jewish school in Toulouse. In 2008 in Mumbai, four terrorists separated themselves from a larger group killing people in the city’s cafes and hotels and made their way to a small Orthodox Jewish center, where they murdered its young rabbi and his pregnant wife after torturing and mutilating them. As the Sunday Times of London reported about the attack, “the terrorists would be told by their handlers in Pakistan that the lives of Jews were worth 50 times those of non-Jews.”

More at the article. There's a lot of history in it as well and not enough current events like other riots and Anti-Semitic stuff in 2014 (some of which my friend was a victim of in Boston), but I found it interesting nonetheless.

What do you guys think? Do we have a new wave of anti-semitism on our hands with the potential for exponential growth, or are these just isolated incidents that don't represent much change from before?

 

[ponpo]

Thought this was topical after the recent anniversary.

More at the article. There's a lot of history in it as well and not enough current events like other riots and Anti-Semitic stuff in 2014 (some of which my friend was a victim of in Boston), but I found it interesting nonetheless.

What do you guys think? Do we have a new wave of anti-semitism on our hands with the potential for exponential growth, or are these just isolated incidents that don't represent much change from before?

The owner of that Jewish market in France moved to Israel right?

As much as people like to bash Israel (fairly, usually) it's sometimes clear a Jewish state should exist since anti-semitism seems to be a costant problem, at least to some extent, everywhere.

 

[Arizato]

What do you guys think? Do we have a new wave of anti-semitism on our hands with the potential for exponential growth, or are these just isolated incidents that don't represent much change from before?

We really do have alot of islamophobia here in Sweden and it has grown very much in the recent years (At least in my area). It really scares the crap out of me that people can be so blind and hateful towards one group of people.

Have not seen much hate against jewish people, though I am sure there is plenty out there sadly...

 

[theaface]

Speaking as Jewish person myself (albeit a barely practicing one), I can definitely say I feel a rise in anti-semitism of late.

For me, this is closely linked to Israel's actions in Gaza, either out of ignorance or as a convenient excuse. Muslim extremists choose to make no distinction between the actions of the Israeli government and the will of ordinary jewish people all over the world. This, in itself, wouldn't be so shocking. After all, one expects extremists to hold extreme views.

The troubling thing is, I see ordinary people in everyday life, who have no particularly strong religious affiliation themselves, make the same sweeping conclusions. They cannot/will not divorce the actions of Israel and the actions of Jews everywhere, even though their are many many Jews all over the world who are critical of Israel's conduct. It baffles me that I have to explain to some people that being Jewish does not automatically make me blindly pro-Israel.

So sometimes it's a matter of ignorance and education, and sometimes it's the far uglier truth - that prejudice exists simply because, and the conflict in Gaza will be used by some as a propaganda tool to spin an anti-semitic narrative.

 

[Madness]

Seventy years after the liberation of Auschwitz, violence and hatred against Jews is on the rise, especially in the Middle East and among Muslims in Europe

So most of the anti-semitism (funny because most people from the middle east are also Semites), comes from Muslims in the middle east and Europe? How is that a return of anti-semitism when it was always somewhat prevalent? Anti-jewish sentiment amongst Muslims has always been there for the past 70 years especially in the Middle East, especially due to how Israel was created.

Heck, right now Iran is having another Holocaust denial cartoon contest in response to the Charlie Hebdo cartoons.

Drawing comparisons to Nazi's makes no real sense here. If anything, I'd say there is a greater rise in anti-Islam sentiment at both the civilian and state level in Europe than there is a rise in Anti-jewish sentiment.

 

[Phoenician_Viking]

The owner of that Jewish market in France moved to Israel right?

As much as people like to bash Israel (fairly, usually) it's sometimes clear a Jewish state should exist since anti-semitism seems to be a costant problem, at least to some extent, everywhere.

Israel policies are the biggest reason for antisemitism around the Muslim world, you know.

 

[ponpo]

So most of the anti-semitism (funny because most people from the middle east are also Semites), comes from Muslims in the middle east and Europe? How is that a return of anti-semitism when it was always somewhat prevalent? Anti-jewish sentiment amongst Muslims has always been there for the past 70 years especially in the Middle East, especially due to how Israel was created.

Heck, right now Iran is having another Holocaust denial cartoon contest in response to the Charlie Hebdo cartoons.

Drawing comparisons to Nazi's makes no real sense here. If anything, I'd say there is a greater rise in anti-Islam sentiment at both the civilian and state level in Europe than there is a rise in Anti-jewish sentiment.

Maybe, but does the sentiment turn into violence against muslims often?

Israel policies are the biggest reason for antisemitism around the Muslim world, you know.

Probably, but anti-semitism wouldn't disappear if Israeli policies suddenly did a 180.

 

[ultratruman]

Didn't take long for this to become about 'Islamaphobia', sadly, which is a junk buzzword and has nothing to do with racism.

I think Israel's crimes make it too easy for the left in the western world to overlook the poison of antisemitism, which never really went away.

 

[Phoenician_Viking]

Probably, but anti-semitism wouldn't disappear if Israeli policies suddenly did a 180.

In the Middle East it will. There was not antisemitism in the ME prior to the existence of Israel. The hatred became much stronger because of Israeli policies. If a fair peace between Palestinians and Israelis happen tomorrow, then hatred towards the Jews, will be much, much less in the ME. In Europe that´s another story, because there was always discrimination against the Jews.

 

[Acorn]

I read something about the met experiencing a huge spike in anti semitic offenses last year which surprised me.
Edit this
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/terrorism-in-the-uk/11367966/The-rising-tide-of-anti-Semitism.html

 

[metalslimer]

In the Middle East it will. There was not antisemitism in the ME prior to the existence of Israel. The hatred became much stronger because of Israeli policies. If a fair peace between Palestinians and Israelis happen tomorrow, then hatred towards the Jews, will be much, much less in the ME. In Europe that´s another story, because there was always discrimination against the Jews.

I think this is a bit naive in that the deep seated resentment that has built up through the decades will not just vanish in a night. Of course Israel's crazy government isn't doing the Jewish population any favors in terms of image perception

 

[ultratruman]

In the Middle East it will. There was not antisemitism in the ME prior to the existence of Israel. The hatred became much stronger because of Israeli policies. If a fair peace between Palestinians and Israelis happen tomorrow, then hatred towards the Jews, will be much, much less in the ME. In Europe that´s another story, because there was always discrimination against the Jews.

Wow. You think there was no antisemitism in the middle east before Israel?

 

[ponpo]

In the Middle East it will. There was not antisemitism in the ME prior to the existence of Israel. The hatred became much stronger because of Israeli policies. If a fair peace between Palestinians and Israelis happen tomorrow, then hatred towards the Jews, will be much, much less in the ME. In Europe that´s another story, because there was always discrimination against the Jews.

I don't think this is necessarily true, but even if, the anti-semitism feels misguided. Anti-Israeli sentiment would explain attacks on Israel by Muslims but not explain attacks on Jewish businesses in France by Muslims.

 

[Crash Station]

We really do have alot of islamophobia here in Sweden and it has grown very much in the recent years (At least in my area). It really scares the crap out of me that people can be so blind and hateful towards one group of people.

Have not seen much hate against jewish people, though I am sure there is plenty out there sadly...

Yeah, I imagine both are on the rise

In the Middle East it will. There was not antisemitism in the ME prior to the existence of Israel. The hatred became much stronger because of Israeli policies. If a fair peace between Palestinians and Israelis happen tomorrow, then hatred towards the Jews, will be much, much less in the ME. In Europe that´s another story, because there was always discrimination against the Jews.

From the article:

According to the Middle East Media Research Institute, an Egyptian cleric, Muhammad Hussein Yaqub, speaking in January 2009 on Al Rahma, a popular religious TV station in Egypt, made the contours of the new hate impeccably clear: “If the Jews left Palestine to us, would we start loving them? Of course not. We will never love them…They are enemies not because they occupied Palestine. They would have been enemies even if they did not occupy a thing…You must believe that we will fight, defeat and annihilate them until not a single Jew remains on the face of the Earth…You will not survive as long as a single one of us remains.”

 

[Roi]

-

 

[Madness]

In the Middle East it will. There was not antisemitism in the ME prior to the existence of Israel. The hatred became much stronger because of Israeli policies. If a fair peace between Palestinians and Israelis happen tomorrow, then hatred towards the Jews, will be much, much less in the ME. In Europe that´s another story, because there was always discrimination against the Jews.

This is so wrong. Hatred of Jews long existed before there was a state of Israel. It only amplified after the Arab-Israeli wars.

 

[Phoenician_Viking]

I think this is a bit naive in that the deep seated resentment that has built up through the decades will not just vanish in a night. Of course Israel's crazy government isn't doing the Jewish population any favors in terms of image perception

I did not say it will go away, i said it will be much less, which is true. Ekstremists will always have something to hate.

Wow. You think there was no antisemitism in the middle east before Israel?

Historically It was not much. The Jews has been treated, largely, fairly in the ME. While Europe was always much more anti Jew than the ME, prior to Israel´s existence.

I don't think this is necessarily true, but even if, the anti-semitism feels misguided. Anti-Israeli sentiment would explain attacks on Israel by Muslims but not explain attacks on Jewish businesses in France by Muslims.

I did not say it will go away, but the resentment towards the Jews will be much less than today. Only the extremist will hate Israel, unlike today where most of the population ME hate Israel and by extension, the Jews.

This is so wrong. Hatred of Jews long existed before there was a state of Israel. It only amplified after the Arab-Israeli wars.

Proof? Saladin treated everyone equal during his rule. I know the Ottoman empire discriminated against Christians, but never read that they discriminated against the Jews.

 

[Succinct Verbosity]

Didn't take long for this to become about 'Islamaphobia', sadly, which is a junk buzzword and has nothing to do with racism.

I think Israel's crimes make it too easy for the left in the western world to overlook the poison of antisemitism, which never really went away.

I came here to post this. I'm no lover of Israel, but I can separate Judaism from Israel the same way I can separate Islam from Iran. The issue is that, as we have seen with Islam, the foreign policy of nations who enact supposedly religious policies are warped as a wider issue by hate-groups to further their agenda.

 

[ReplacementPelican]

Didn't take long for this to become about 'Islamaphobia', sadly, which is a junk buzzword and has nothing to do with racism.

I think Israel's crimes make it too easy for the left in the western world to overlook the poison of antisemitism, which never really went away.

Did you just shrug off that people can be 'racist' towards a religious group and then warn of the poison of being racist to a religious group?

 

[Dead Man]

Speaking as Jewish person myself (albeit a barely practicing one), I can definitely say I feel a rise in anti-semitism of late.

For me, this is closely linked to Israel's actions in Gaza, either out of ignorance or as a convenient excuse. Muslim extremists choose to make no distinction between the actions of the Israeli government and the will of ordinary jewish people all over the world. This, in itself, wouldn't be so shocking. After all, one expects extremists to hold extreme views.

The troubling thing is, I see ordinary people in everyday life, who have no particularly strong religious affiliation themselves, make the same sweeping conclusions. They cannot/will not divorce the actions of Israel and the actions of Jews everywhere, even though their are many many Jews all over the world who are critical of Israel's conduct. It baffles me that I have to explain to some people that being Jewish does not automatically make me blindly pro-Israel.

So sometimes it's a matter of ignorance and education, and sometimes it's the far uglier truth - that prejudice exists simply because, and the conflict in Gaza will be used by some as a propaganda tool to spin an anti-semitic narrative.

Yeah, it seems quite often dislike of Israel bleeds over into anti Semitism when they stop acknowledging the difference between Jewish and Israeli, unfortunately. Might be people just being mentally lazy, I don't know.

 

[neorej]

In the Middle East it will. There was not antisemitism in the ME prior to the existence of Israel. The hatred became much stronger because of Israeli policies. If a fair peace between Palestinians and Israelis happen tomorrow, then hatred towards the Jews, will be much, much less in the ME. In Europe that´s another story, because there was always discrimination against the Jews.

The sad part is... you actually believe this, don't you?

 

[Phoenician_Viking]

The sad part is... you actually believe this, don't you?

The sad part is your ignorance of history and historical context.

 

[FlyingSaucer]

In France we are at a point where the yearly numbers of French Jews doing their aliyah are rising. The anti-semitic sentiment, which is seen by some as 'legitimized' by the Palestinian conflict, has reached a truly frightening and toxic level among some populations.

 

[Earthpainting]

Speaking as Jewish person myself (albeit a barely practicing one), I can definitely say I feel a rise in anti-semitism of late.

For me, this is closely linked to Israel's actions in Gaza, either out of ignorance or as a convenient excuse. Muslim extremists choose to make no distinction between the actions of the Israeli government and the will of ordinary jewish people all over the world. This, in itself, wouldn't be so shocking. After all, one expects extremists to hold extreme views.

The troubling thing is, I see ordinary people in everyday life, who have no particularly strong religious affiliation themselves, make the same sweeping conclusions. They cannot/will not divorce the actions of Israel and the actions of Jews everywhere, even though their are many many Jews all over the world who are critical of Israel's conduct. It baffles me that I have to explain to some people that being Jewish does not automatically make me blindly pro-Israel.

So sometimes it's a matter of ignorance and education, and sometimes it's the far uglier truth - that prejudice exists simply because, and the conflict in Gaza will be used by some as a propaganda tool to spin an anti-semitic narrative.

I was going to post something similar. I don't know how deep the ties between Israel's geopolitical and this rise in toxic attitude against the Jewish faith actually are, but it appears to be the reason that bubbles towards the top at the very least. It could very well be an excuse to justify views they already had, but this would be an exercise in speculation.

Linking Israel to Judaism is unavoidable given its origin and how it profiles itself, but it's still unfortunate. The few Israelis I know are not down with their political climate either, and still get lumped in with it anyway. No matter how you twist it, it is unfair to hold individuals responsible and accountable for their demographic.

 

[ultratruman]

Did you just shrug off that people can be 'racist' towards a religious group and then warn of the poison of being racist to a religious group?

It's not called 'anti-judaism'. Jews are targets regardless if they're religiously practicing or not. Jews are an ethnic group, Islam is not.

 

[Madness]

Proof? Saladin treated everyone equal during his rule. I know the Ottoman empire discriminated against Christians, but never read that they discriminated against the Jews.

Proof becomes tougher unlike Europe because there are fewer historical texts and history passed down that can be analyzed like western history. But to say they were treated is false. Medieval and pre-modern Islam treated all non-Muslims bad. Whether it was forced conversions, dhimmi status and jizya tax, or even subjugation and death.

The big mistake, is like I said above, comparing it to European/Nazi anti-semitism. You said there was no antisemitism before Israel, which just isn't true. The rise of European anti-semitism may have influenced greater Anti-jewish sentiment in Muslim countries in the middle east but it was always there.

 

[squidyj]

Now clearly it is not justified to attack and kill people but it's also true that israel often denounces criticism of it's policy as criticism as being antisemitic and engages in hasbara campaigns to engage jewish communities and jewish people around the world to proselytize on it's behalf. In these ways Israel intentionally blurs the line between itself as a government and the jewish people worldwide. This of course isn't to say that it justifies actions taken by extremists or antisemitism but I wonder if these tactics have the effect of providing that thread of logic to some people.

 

[ReplacementPelican]

It's not called 'anti-judaism'. Jews are targets regardless if they're religiously practicing or not. Jews are an ethnic group, Islam is not.

Which would make sense if far right groups didn't decide who is or isn't Muslim based upon their race. I just think that you're being very dismissive when this thread didn't warrant it and I find you whinging about Islamaphobia to be quite outrageous in a thread about discrimination and, to be frank, quite ignorant as well.

 

[neorej]

The sad part is your ignorance of history and historical context.

Right, I'm sorry, of course, it's not like dhimmi status after paying jizya is a form of segregation.

 

[The Henery]

The troubling thing is, I see ordinary people in everyday life, who have no particularly strong religious affiliation themselves, make the same sweeping conclusions. They cannot/will not divorce the actions of Israel and the actions of Jews everywhere, even though their are many many Jews all over the world who are critical of Israel's conduct. It baffles me that I have to explain to some people that being Jewish does not automatically make me blindly pro-Israel.

I somewhat agree with you but it unfortunately works both ways. Some prominent Israeli Jewish have equated being anti Israel with being anti Semitic and that is very dangerous for non-Israeli Jews.

 

[Mr.Pig]

Yeah, it seems quite often dislike of Israel bleeds over into anti Semitism when they stop acknowledging the difference between Jewish and Israeli, unfortunately. Might be people just being mentally lazy, I don't know.

And it is tragicomic, that the Israeli government makes the same mistake, when they
cry "anti-semitism!" everytime someone criticize their policies.

 

[OccamsBlender]

It's sad all this hatred is on the rise, antisemitism and islamphobia.

 

[ultratruman]

Which would make sense if far right groups didn't decide who is or isn't Muslim based upon their race. I just think that you're being very dismissive when this thread didn't warrant it and I find you whinging about Islamaphobia to be quite outrageous in a thread about discrimination and, to be frank, quite ignorant as well.

What's ignorant is saying anti-semitism is discrimination of a religious group. Astonishing ignorant, actually.

I'm a jew who is ideologically opposed to Islam. This isn't a fascist or irrational stance, however the term 'Islamaphobia' was raised in this thread by people comparing views like mine to that of antisemitism. This is a dangerous dilution of the threat posed by racism and serves to verify the opinions in OP's article.

If 'islamaphobia' means fear of Arabs or whatever then call it as such. As it is, the label is at best a misnomer.

 

[Kuroyume]

Maybe people should ask themselves why anti-semitism is on the rise, if in fact it is.

 

[Necromanti]

In the Middle East it will. There was not antisemitism in the ME prior to the existence of Israel. The hatred became much stronger because of Israeli policies. If a fair peace between Palestinians and Israelis happen tomorrow, then hatred towards the Jews, will be much, much less in the ME.

Many people in the Middle East and in Arab nations are raised with an irrational hatred of Jews. I'm sure many don't know why exactly it is that they hate Jews except for the fact that they are Jews. (Plus, being a Muslim shouldn't mean that you have an automatic stake in the conflict.) It's not all overt indoctrination, either. It's not dissimilar to how certain minority groups are treated in other places with their identity being used as a derogatory slur; for some, one of the most insulting things one can be called is "a Jew". Kids engage in it, too, even if it's just in a joking matter. However, all of that is old hat.

 

[Dead Man]

And it is tragicomic, that the Israeli government makes the same mistake, when they
cry "anti-semitism!" everytime someone criticize their policies.

Indeed.

 

[GorillaJu]

Speaking as Jewish person myself (albeit a barely practicing one), I can definitely say I feel a rise in anti-semitism of late.

For me, this is closely linked to Israel's actions in Gaza, either out of ignorance or as a convenient excuse. Muslim extremists choose to make no distinction between the actions of the Israeli government and the will of ordinary jewish people all over the world. This, in itself, wouldn't be so shocking. After all, one expects extremists to hold extreme views.

The troubling thing is, I see ordinary people in everyday life, who have no particularly strong religious affiliation themselves, make the same sweeping conclusions. They cannot/will not divorce the actions of Israel and the actions of Jews everywhere, even though their are many many Jews all over the world who are critical of Israel's conduct. It baffles me that I have to explain to some people that being Jewish does not automatically make me blindly pro-Israel.

So sometimes it's a matter of ignorance and education, and sometimes it's the far uglier truth - that prejudice exists simply because, and the conflict in Gaza will be used by some as a propaganda tool to spin an anti-semitic narrative.

What you're dealing with is shitty as hell, but it's pretty common for people of any nationality to be held responsible for the mistakes of their country.

I am equally concerned about a rise in anti-Semitism as I am about anti-Islam sentiment. Both are extremely troubling.

 

[Chichikov]

I don't know if it's on the rise, it's a bit difficult to get good data on this, but I think it's still not a huge concern for the average Jewish person.
I mean racism as a whole is of course a big concern, but I don't think as a Jew I'm particularly in danger to be harmed by anti semitism. And if I would anecdotal on this bitch, I'm Jewish, I lived in the north america, Asia and Europe and never was threatened or even bothered by anti-semitism.

Also, I think most of the terror attacks the article talk about are spillovers/extensions of other conflicts, ones that are not founded on anti-semitism (even if some of the participants are in fact racists), I don't know, maybe I'm splitting hairs here, but to compare it the holocaust? forget magnitude, this is a different kind of beast.

Yeah, it seems quite often dislike of Israel bleeds over into anti Semitism when they stop acknowledging the difference between Jewish and Israeli, unfortunately. Might be people just being mentally lazy, I don't know.

To be fair, zionism really muddies these waters when it claims that "Jewish" is a nationality.
It's obviously doesn't justify violence or racism and it doesn't make that claim true, but equating Jews with Israel and vice versa is not only something mentally lazy people do, it's also something that Israel does a whole lot.

 

[kruis]

Many people in the Middle East and in Arab nations are raised with an irrational hatred of Jews. I'm sure many don't know why exactly it is that they hate Jews except for the fact that they are Jews. (Plus, being a Muslim shouldn't mean that you have an automatic stake in the conflict.) It's not all overt indoctrination, either. It's not dissimilar to how certain minority groups are treated in other places with their identity being used as a derogatory slur; for some, one of the most insulting things one can be called is "a Jew". Kids engage in it, too, even if it's just in a joking matter. However, all of that is old hat.

It's in the Hadith:

The Day of Judgement will not come about until Muslims fight the Jews, when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Muslims, O Abdullah, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him. Only the Gharkad tree, (the Boxthorn tree) would not do that because it is one of the trees of the Jews. (related by al-Bukhari and Muslim).Sahih Muslim, 41:6985, see also Sahih Muslim, 41:6981, Sahih Muslim, 41:6982, Sahih Muslim, 41:6983, Sahih Muslim, 41:6984, Sahih al-Bukhari, 4:56:791,(Sahih al-Bukhari, 4:52:177)

 

[ponpo]

It's in the Hadith:

Even the trees are anti-semites? Damn.

 

[squarerootofpie]

As they finished saying Kaddish, the Jewish prayer for mourners, one man cried out, “I don’t want to come here again.” Everyone knew what he meant. For once, the fear was not only about the past but also about the future.

I cannot even begin to describe how much I empathise with this. I am not a practising jew but that doesn't make the vast amount of stories my grandparents told me regarding what they went through as jews any less worried about some of the behaviour that I see happening around me.

The troubling thing is, I see ordinary people in everyday life, who have no particularly strong religious affiliation themselves, make the same sweeping conclusions. They cannot/will not divorce the actions of Israel and the actions of Jews everywhere, even though their are many many Jews all over the world who are critical of Israel's conduct. It baffles me that I have to explain to some people that being Jewish does not automatically make me blindly pro-Israel.

And again, this is something I see in even close friends that truly scares me. I've had someone close to me be completely and ruthlessly unforgiving because of what is happening in Gaza, down right refusing to believe that jews could in any possible way disagree with with whats happening, including myself. It's scary, and even more so when you see the reaction people had in france (i can't remember what exactly, but something along the lines of "jews die" "hitler was right") when more there was a spike in interest. It truly scares me somewhere deep down, because I think growing up hearing what your family has been through means you constantly carry around this fear of it happening again.

 

[ReplacementPelican]

What's ignorant is saying anti-semitism is discrimination of a religious group. Astonishing ignorant, actually.

I'm a jew who is ideologically opposed to Islam. This isn't a fascist or irrational stance, however the term 'Islamaphobia' was raised in this thread by people comparing views like mine to that of antisemitism. This is a dangerous dilution of the threat posed by racism and serves to verify the opinions in OP's article.

If 'islamaphobia' means fear of Arabs or whatever then call it as such. As it is, the label is at best a misnomer.

I did not say that it was exclusively linked to a religious group, did I? You should really be careful about taking posts out of context. If you were not talking about Islam and, for instance, talking about another race then my post would have been the same but reflecting that change. Also you say that you're 'ideologically opposed' to Islam? Is that basically just your way of fluffing up saying that you don't like Muslims because of what? What part of the ideology of 1.6 billion different people with different interpretations of the creed are you opposed to exactly? From the rest of your post though you seem to basically be saying that your bigotry isn't as bad as theirs which is nice, I guess.

 

[Neo C.]

It's a complicated matter because anti-semitism has many roots. I do think that the politics of Israel are the main cause though.

 

[MisterFalcon]

There is a word for people who consider the violence in Gaza so unique that it justifies their own violence.

 

[jelly]

Doesn't seem like it. A few attacks that maybe got a nutter or two to also lose it for the day doesn't equal a wide uprising of hatred. I don't think people hate Jews, there is disgust for Israel actions but not seeing anything beyond that. Anti Semitism talk seems to bring more focus to Anti Semitism and marginalises Jews who are perfectly well integrated into society. We should really be tackling this as one.

 

[verbatimo]

Uppdrag Granskning: document about anti-semitism in Malmö Sweden

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cFYmhQMks8 includes english subtitles

Just in Malmö area 137 cases and none have resulted in a conviction. Can you believe what kind of shit storm would rise, if victims were muslims. News agents like Aftonbladet, Expressen, Dagens Nyheter would write big head lines about islamophobia and rasism and every stone would be turned over to catch the perpetrators.

 

[squarerootofpie]

Doesn't seem like it. A few attacks that maybe got a nutter or two to also lose it for the day doesn't equal a wide uprising of hatred. I don't think people hate Jews, there is disgust for Israel actions but not seeing anything beyond that. Anti Semitism talk seems to bring more focus to Anti Semitism and marginalises Jews who are perfectly well integrated into society. We should really be tackling this as one.

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/07/22/france-jewish-shops-riot_n_5608612.html

“They were shouting: ‘Death to Jews,’ and ‘Slit Jews’ throats’,” David, a Jewish sound engineer told The Times. “It took us back to 1938.”

Whut. You're joking right.

 

[jelly]

Stand corrected. That's bad. Broader society though, it seems all good.

 

[freethought]

Maybe, but does the sentiment turn into violence against muslims often?

Yes. they've had their countries invaded, their homes destroyed, their children killed. They've been kidnapped, beaten and tortured and the illegal and brutal Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory has been going on for nearly fifty years.

 

[Zeus Molecules]

I think hate just been on the rise in general globally. Still the examples given are disturbing

I don't think its fair for people to use broad statements like "because of israel" in describing the cause either. Hate might beget hate but it doesn't justify it