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Comment by nerfyink | Hacker News Reader

Bro, blood libels always targeted only some Jews, but they targeted them because they were Jews.

This guy is responding to an innocent post about a product with accusations against it for being Israeli. Do you think it’s ok to make accusations against someone just because they are Israeli?

It might not technically be classical antisemitism, or implemented the same way, but is still bigotry of the same root.

Would you be ok with someone making accusations against anyone who is from an African country?

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> blood libels always targeted only some Jews, but they targeted them because they were Jews

Yes, just like conflating me and my judaism with israel's actions is targeting me for being jewish and attacking me.

> Would you be ok with someone making accusations against anyone who is from an African country?

Would you be ok with someone making accusations against anyone who is jewish? Because that is what is happening here, just like making accusations against someone for being black.

Maybe you're upset because someone else said something else, but that doesn't excuse the post I responded to, which attempted to conflate all jews with israel, and in so doing, ascribed horrific torture, killing, and crimes against humanity to all jews. That's literally a blood libel. "We" didn't do that. All jews/semites did not do that. israel did. Don't use us jews as human shields against criticism of israel, please.

Try playing out this thread with any other group:

OP: look at this cool product I made.

leopoldcongo: This is an African product, you can’t trust them.

Dan_Elkis: Racism is not cool anymore.

You: African != black. As a black person, I'll thank you for not conflating the two again, because claiming all blacks are African is tantamount to racism.

You see what’s happening here? You are ascribing horrific accusations against every Israeli for being Israeli.

Saying it’s ok to do this for only one group in the world, that happens to be Jewish is antisemitism. You don’t have to include every Jew in your accusations to be an antisemite. The Nazis had Kapos too.

Again, maybe you're upset because someone else said something else, but that doesn't excuse the post I responded to, which attempted to conflate all jews with israel, and in so doing, ascribed horrific torture, killing, and crimes against humanity to all jews. That's literally a blood libel. "We" didn't do that. All jews/semites did not do that. israel did. Don't use us jews as human shields against criticism of israel, please.

> African != black. As a black person, I'll thank you for not conflating the two again, because claiming all blacks are African is tantamount to racism.

Yes, precisely. You are getting it. African != black, just like israeli != jewish. Claiming all blacks are African is indeed bigoted, just like claiming all jews are israeli (as happens when someone claims a criticism strictly of israel is "anti-semetic). Don't make either conflation, it is ignorant and disrespectful.

> which attempted to conflate all jews with israel

That is not what it did.

If the Jews of Italy are accused of being baby-killers, and the Jews of France say we are not baby-killers, the accusation against the Italian Jews is still antisemitism, and it’s not antisemitic to call it antisemitism.

> > which attempted to conflate all jews with israel

> That is not what it did.

That is precisely what it did, and what all "antisemitism" dismissals of criticism towards israel do. Judaism literally did not enter the conversation until the criticism of israel (not judaism) was dismissed as "antisemitism". israel != semitism. israel != judaism (indeed, their actions violate the basic tenets of judaism).

If defenders of israel lump all jews in with israel's child-killing, just for being jewish, that is a blood libel. israel is doing that because it is led by monsters, not because it is led by jews. Sincerely, a jew.

> “criticism of israel”

This was not “criticism of israel”, it was attacking someone just because they are Israeli.

“Israelis” == Jews of the Levant. Saying “Israelis are baby killers” is antisemitic, and you, my friend, are being antisemitic.

And if you are actually Jewish, they will come for you too, eventually.

> This was not “criticism of israel”, it was attacking someone just because they are Israeli.

Perhaps, but attacking someone because they are israeli is not attacking someone because they are jewish, and is not anti-semetic. It may be xenophobic, but there is no need to bring jews into it and thus implicate all jews in israel's atrocities.

Even if you are upset because you think someone else was xenophobic. That does not excuse the blood libel of ascribing israel's actions to judaism.

> “Israelis” == Jews of the Levant.

Whoa, settle down there, you're making israel out to be some kind of ethnostate or caliphate-like entity, rather than a liberal democracy.

> Saying “Israelis are baby killers” is antisemitic

No it isn't, for the simple reason that israelis represent neither semitism nor judaism. There are countless more semites and jews who do not kill babies. Plus, I'm sure, as a liberal democracy, israel and its military-industrial complex is very diverse and non-discriminatory with regard to ethnicity and religion. And that's not even addressing the actual child-killing which israel is actively perpetrating on the reg.

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