There are posts here about the recent shooting at the synagogue in pittsburgh. most people realize that this was a horrible event and that antisemitism itself is horrible, but i am alarmed to see that some people are responding with antisemitic remarks, and annoyed (to put it mildly) that the "justification" appears to be twofold: 1. israel is treating the palestinians badly so it's okay to hate jews, and 2. judaism is a religion, jews are people who follow judaism, therefore they, like other religionists, should be hated. (jews are not all people who follow judaism; jewishness is not the same as judaism, though certainly they can go hand in hand. i'm jewish. i'm an atheist. bite me.) wanting to kill (or disenfranchise, or otherwise discriminate against or even just hate) jews on the basis that israel shouldn't exist (they get history wrong too, and cannot be dissuaded from their misapprehensions) or because bibi is a bad person (he is; so i, in minnesota, should die?) is wrong, ridiculous and alarming. it's also a case of what-aboutism. try explaining that to someone who's doing it on purpose. they know they're doing it. they're not going to say "oh oops sorry!"

i do have a question for americans who think israel should not exist, that the jews can drop into the sea for all they care (yes, someone actually said this), because jews stole the land from the palestinians (again, bad grasp of history, but let's even assume for a moment that that's exactly true): are you finished packing? obviously you intend either to move out of the united states or jump into the sea, since this land we're on was stolen from the native americans, and that's actually unambiguously TRUE, unlike the narrative about the state of israel. when do you intend to be gone? you are leaving, right?

g