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Anti-semitism

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vampirequeen Thu 25-Jun-20 21:02:29

I fear I might be opening a can of worms but here goes.

This is a genuine question. Not a racist statement or a comment on the state of Israel. I am genuinely confused.

What constitutes anti-Semitism? I know that if someone says or acts detrimentally towards a Jewish person simply because they're Jewish then they're being anti-Semitic. In just the same way as if someone says or acts detrimentally to someone because of their race then they're being racist. But I can say that I don't like the way the American government treats South American refugees without being accused of being racist or anti-American. I can say that I think the Rohingya people have been treated abominably by the government of Mayanmar without being racist or anti-Mayanmar and I can say that apartheid in South Africa was a disgrace without being racist or anti-South African. But I can't say that I disagree with the way the Israeli government treats the Palestinians because that would be anti-Semitic. I can criticise any government in any country without being racist or anti-that country but I can't say the same thing about the Israeli government. I'm not saying all Jewish people agree with their government just as I'm not saying all Americans agree with what's happening to refugees or all people from Myanmar agree with what happened to the Rohingya or that all South Africans were racist supporters of apartheid just as I'm not saying all Jewish people agree with the treatment of the Palestinians. So why is it OK for me to say that I dislike government policies of any country except one?

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Galaxy Thu 25-Jun-20 21:03:52

You have just done it. No one stopped you.

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vampirequeen Thu 25-Jun-20 21:06:44

Yes I know I've done it on here but it seems to be classed as anti-Semitic to criticise the Israeli government and I don't understand why.

Btw I've sent GNHQ a message to check this thread is OK because I'm aware of it's sensitive nature.

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Whitewavemark2 Thu 25-Jun-20 21:08:31

This has been done ad nauseam and I’m surprised you missed it qq

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Galaxy Thu 25-Jun-20 21:08:47

If you

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Whitewavemark2 Thu 25-Jun-20 21:10:26

If you want a good explanation look at the RLB thread there is an excellent explanation on there.

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tickingbird Thu 25-Jun-20 21:11:13

I’m Jewish and I don’t agree with everything the Israeli government do. It doesn’t make you an anti semite if you criticise Israel’s policies.

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Galaxy Thu 25-Jun-20 21:12:44

If you are referring to RLB then she retweeted a conspiracy theory suggested by an actress from dinnerladies, when asked to apologise she refused, so giving Starmer a fantastic opportunity to draw his line in the sand and show he means business. That's not the same as not being able to criticise the Israeli government.

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vampirequeen Thu 25-Jun-20 21:15:40

It's not the first time I've heard of this although the RLB did remind me again. I'm sorry if it's been discussed thoroughly. It may have happened when I was taking a break.

Thanks tickingbird.

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suziewoozie Thu 25-Jun-20 23:43:49

Lots of things have been discussed before - you don’t have to apologise vampire it’s in the news again. I must say tgat as a critic of many Israeli Govt policies enacted over years, I try to be very careful to make it clear that it’s the actions of the Govt I am criticising. I’m nowhere near as careful with other countries however and will often just mention the country without qualifying it to mean the Govt. I’m horrified at what’s happening with the annexation of the West Bank at the beginning of July but no one seems to be talking about it

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