Don’t fall into the trap of ‘picking sides’ over Gaza: Hamas’s attacks were unconscionable, razing Gaza to the ground would be abhorrent. In both cases, basic humanity is at stake --- [Opinion] - Feddit
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  •  sqgl   ( @sqgl@beehaw.org ) 
    1•8 months ago

    This bit I disagree with though:

    “Antisemitism” is technically a BS word, just like the “Semitism” word it comes from. It was invented in the 1800s by some proto-Nazis, adopted in the 1900s by Nazis after the concept was already debunked, and continued in the 2000s by neo-Nazis.

    BS or not the racist extremists, from what you tell us, made up the word Semitism so surely that warrants legitimate pushback with the term Antisemitism?

    •  jarfil   ( @jarfil@beehaw.org ) 
      2•8 months ago

      Both words were made by the same people, claiming a racial difference between those descending from semitic cultures and those who were not (this was already debunked by the 1920s). “Semitism” was intended as a pejorative, with “Antisemitism” being the idea of “cleansing” the society from the negative influence of “semitism”.

      It’s a made up Boogeyman used as an excuse to have something to push back against… and of course you can unite people around those ideas.

      As a freakishly recent example, right now I’ve been watching the news on TV here in Spain. There is a problem around choosing a president, with the opposition using every strategy they can to discredit the incumbent.

      One of the arguments they just decided to get up in arms about, is the incumbent just revealed agreed to forgive 15B€ of fiscal debt from one of the regions, which the representative of another region was being shown Live heavily criticizing, going on about how it should be all regions negotiating together, yadda yadda… and just then a news ticker goes by, stating that the incumbent has also agreed to forgive another 12B€ to the region of the guy just speaking Live. So much for “negotiating all together”!

      Boogeyman created, and debunked Live. Wish I had recorded it. 😄

      But wait, there’s more!

      Just then, they switched to the speaker for the opposition party, also Live, who started criticizing the incumbent for trying to agree on which days are going to be holidays and which work days, to fit in the voting calendar… news ticker goes by: opposition party, with majority in the Senate, tries to urgently pass a law change to delay the votes so they fall on holidays and the incumbent runs out of time.

      Seriously!? Two in the span of less than 10 minutes! 🔔🔔

      •  sqgl   ( @sqgl@beehaw.org ) 
        1•8 months ago

        Speaking of dodgy politicians: this ex lawyer-soldier pointed out how Australian military commanders were behaving illegally in Afghanistan and only acting to please politicians who in turn were only concerned with their own popularity (measured by polling).

        Nothing he said was untrue, but instead of investigating the war crimes the government is trying to throw him into jail for the rest of his life because, according to them, his whistleblowing compromised national security.

        https://youtu.be/56cleIKdt0c

        You will recognize the power games from Spain and every other country. This guy is a hero for challenging the system.

      •  sqgl   ( @sqgl@beehaw.org ) 
        1•8 months ago

        Clearly I need to read up more on the Antisemitism. You have inspired me.

        Your TV sounds like comedy. Yes it is indeed a shame you didn’t record it. Two in a short period of special but in future even if you could capture don’t individual occurrences it would make for a wonderful compilation. Perhaps they people running the ticker are hoping someone like you will do just that?