Hi, we’re @Anzo (/a), @federalreverse (/f), and @poVoq (/p)!
A belated clarification:
Under German law (ianal), comparing Israel’s actions to the Holocaust may be considered a criminal offence, i.e. Israel-related antisemitism (German explanation). We are trying to follow German law here - the servers are in Austria, the mods are not necessarily though.
It also makes sense to avoid these comparisons for basic common decency and piety reasons.
As such, I’d urge you to steer clear of these comparisons. Thank you. /f
In European democracies, variations of a modernized anti-Semitism remain predominant, using various ciphers and allusions, among other things. Two aspects stand out here: (i) On the one hand, new conspiracy myths stand out alongside forms of subtle Holocaust relativization and trivialization. Ultimately, these almost always identify Jews as the “string-pullers”. This is no coincidence: anti-Semitism is the historical conspiracy narrative of all. One prominent example is the claims that the Jewish patron George Soros is behind either a global “great population exchange” or the coronavirus crisis: Corona crisis is the Jewish patron George Soros - although his Jewish identity is often not explicitly mentioned. (ii) On the other hand, an aggressive hostility towards the Jewish state acts as an important medium for articulating and spreading contemporary anti-Semitism: Israel - the internationally “most important and succinct symbol of Jewish life and survival” (Schwarz-Friesel & Reinharz 2013, 172) - as well as against “the Zionists” (a now almost universally used cipher for “the Jews”). Link has preview pop-upInternal link: Anti-Semitic conspiracy myths and hostility towards Israel often end up appearing together.
(BPB, DeepL translation)
Then again, the fascists are only part of the government at this time. And while Netanyahu’s policy is expansionist, he is unlikely to be entirely on board with this idea. And outside the government, the idea also does not seem to enjoy wide support (cf. the months-long protests against the new government.) In short, I still think you should not write “Israel wants …”
Sooo, what your sources appear to prove is that at least part of the Israeli far-right appears to subscribe to the ideology.
However, I don’t see the accusation “Israels wants” proven, even as the far-right has gained a lot of power during the past elections – notably, they were even excluded from the war cabinet.
If a far-right German politician wants something, would you assume that “Germany, the country wants” that thing? /f
Quote from the feddit.org sidebar:
I don’t know what you regard as the elephant in the room.
You can apply the word “genocide” to the Gaza war here (although so far, legally, we are at “suspected genocide”). You can also call Netanyahu “corrupt” or a “war criminal”. You can call Smotrich a “fascist”.
But if to you, calling out the elephant in the room hinges on saying stuff like “x politician is literally Hitler”, “y city is literally Auschwitz” or “z war action is literally Holocaust”, then it may indeed be best to refrain from posting on this server. Besides legalities, I find all of these examples not helpful in understanding reality, because usually all the details are different. They’re also in bad taste, given the large number of Jewish victims of historical Nazi reign. And I’d question your motivation for saying these things.
Final thing: You may also not question the statehood of Israel. I.e., no discussing “one-state solutions”. But this is not a Mid-East community anyway.
/f