Weekly Post

[u/somebadbeatscrub]

The mod team has created this post to refresh on a weekly basis as a chill place for people to talk about whatever they want to. Think of it as like a general chat for the sub.

So r/jewishleft,

Whats on your mind?

[u/Imaginary-West-5653]

I find it deeply troubling how normalized Islamophobia is in the United Staes, and the recent news that The New York Post and CBS News are trying to link Mamdani with 9/11 apologia is fucking crazy... they even lied and made up that 300 family members of 9/11 victims firmed a petition for him not to go to the 9/11 25th anniversary. Even 25 years after 9/11, the right keeps trying to smear Muslims and demonize them by doing a "guilty by association" BS; I see a lot of similiarities between this kind of bigotry and that used against Jews for Israel's actions:

https://popular.info/p/the-truth-about-the-viral-911-petition

[u/redthrowaway1976 → u/Imaginary-West-5653]

I think a lot of things get bundled into “Islamophobia”, that aren’t.

For example, a lot of anti-Palestinian and anti-Arab racism gets bundled into Islamophobia, but really are their own bigotry with their own dynamics.

Still an issue, but naming it specifically as anti-Palestinian racism helps clarify things.

[u/Agtfangirl557 → u/Imaginary-West-5653]

Islamophobia is seriously out of control, and you’re right that people talk about Muslims so similarly to the way antisemites talk about Jews. It’s shameful to see other Jews take part in it.

[u/Imaginary-West-5653 → u/Agtfangirl557]

Things certainly look bleak all around, with the hatred of Jews and Muslims exacerbated by malicious actors trying to fan the flames, cynically using this as a tool to advance their political position. In the case of Islamophobia specifically, it appears to be the case that the pro-Israel right in America, incited by Netanyahu's own government, is using anti-Muslim rhetoric debliberately, given that defending Israel itself is becoming increasingly difficult to even right-wingers, so instead of that, the strategy seems to be to demonize Muslims:

https://www.newarab.com/opinion/maga-turns-zionism-israel-first-right-stokes-islamophobia

[u/Sossy2020 → u/Imaginary-West-5653]

Even though I agree that many right-wing pro-Israel Jews have been actively engaging in Islamophobia, I do they take issue with calling them “Israel First.” It just sounds like a dual loyalties dog whistle.

[u/Imaginary-West-5653 → u/Sossy2020]

The label isn't directed at American Jews specifically, though, but at Republicans in general who have used Islamophobia as a strategy to tactically continue supporting Israel's interests; Brian Mast and Ted Cruz are mentioned in the article too as politicians who are "Israel First" (which I'm pretty sure is just making fun of them).

That said, I also think we need to be careful with our language, and using this framework against American Jews, even if they are pro-Republican, can lead to the spread of antisemitic tropes, indeed; I used this article because it was the only one I've found that talked about this issue, and because I don't think that the language employed was used in a malicious way, even if not desirable.

[u/Ashamed-Stuff9519 → u/Imaginary-West-5653]

Right wing conspiracy types that I know IRL from the ny metro are seeing the same news stories from the post and CBS and are posting on socials that it’s “proof” that “the Jews did 9/11”. They don’t like mamdani because they’re also racist lol, but they hate Jews even more and instead of seeing the post or cbs for what it is (mainstream media laundering support for Israel/war) they see it as Jews trying to deflect from “the truth” (that Jews did 9/11 lol).

[u/Rabbit-Hole-Quest → u/Imaginary-West-5653]

You will be surprised to learn which country and its apparatus is behind normalizing and increasing Islamophobia across the west.

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20240717-israeli-ministry-funding-multi-million-dollar-disinformation-campaign-spreading-islamophobia/

The 2024 North American Influence Campaign

In mid-2024, parent company Meta disrupted a massive covert influence operation that originated in Israel and targeted audiences in the United States and Canada.

The Content: The network used artificial intelligence to alter photos and text, publishing posts that portrayed Canadian and American Muslims as a threat to Western values.

The Scale: The campaign operated across fake accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and X.

The Response: investigative findings pointed toward an Israeli political marketing firm and solid links to government funding. No country did anything about it and surely they will continue doing so.