Poll of the Day > Is the act of opposing Israel inherently anti-semitic?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Or is it instead that those who oppose Israel all happen to be anti-semites?
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I guess it would depend on how you define 'oppose Israel'. There are certainly groups that disagree with some of the action Israel has taken, but aren't otherwise opposed to Israel/antisemitic.

You can be against Israel for other reasons, for example - being Palestinian, or being anti-American corporate industrial war complex, or not liking the weather.
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If you don't like China, you don't like Israel but that doesn't mean you are anti-semitic.
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who cares, there's plenty of reasons to oppose Israel anyway, it's incredibly stupid and dangerous to ignore blatant offences just to avoid being labeled something

It's only antisemitism if you hate Jews as a race or attack them because of their race. There are plenty of Jewish people who criticize Israel. However, you shouldn't support Palestine either as a terrorist government (Hamas) runs the country.
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"I disagree with Israel's actions in their conflict with Palestine" is not anti-Semitic.
"I hate Israel and want them to be crushed by Palestine" is anti-Semitic.

_AdjI_ posted...

"I disagree with Israel's actions in their conflict with Palestine" is not anti-Semitic.
"I hate Israel and want them to be crushed by Palestine" is anti-Semitic.

But aren't the Palenstine people also Semites?
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Not touching this thread with a ten foot pole.
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Not necessarily, depends on the reasoning
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IMO, no. Israel as a nation doesnt seem to be 100% innocent themselves but if I dislike israel its its govt not its people.

I dont have anything against jewish people, but the govt of israel? sure.

kinda like if I wasnt american and said I have nothing against americans but didnt like the american govt.

argonautweakend posted...

I dont have anything against jewish people, but the govt of israel? sure.

kinda like if I wasnt american and said I have nothing against americans but didnt like the american govt.

This seems to ignore that the American government is in fact made up of and decided by Americans as a whole. Likewise the Israeli government is made up of and decided by the Jewish people.

It's just a paper shield for Nazis. :)
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it is decided by the people, yes, but once these people are in power you cant stop them, really.

Judgmenl posted...

Not touching this thread with a ten foot pole.

This^
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Not really no one is innocent
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCTTq0q4h-A" data-time="&start=57

Depends if you believe that criticizing the policies of successive Israeli governments, condemning some of the actions of the Israeli military, and objecting to the expansion of Israeli settlements in disputed territory is the same thing as opposing the existence of a State of Israel in any shape or form.
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It doesn't have to be, but it often ends up being based on anti-Semitism.

The example of the UN passing tons of resolutions against Israel for their military activities compared to the few or none passed against other countries who've done worse being the most prominent one.

In general, if someone seems to be criticizing Israel excessively compared to other countries for similar actions, holding Israel to a higher standard than its neighbors, or so on, it's likely based on anti-Semitism by the person, whether consciously or unconsciously.

I mean, look how much we in the U.S. freak the fuck out about some Mexicans coming here for jobs. Don't kid yourself for a second, if Mexico started lobbing rockets at us because they're upset we are "occupying" the southwest US, there would be a military response, and it'd be brutal.

streamofthesky posted...

In general, if someone seems to be criticizing Israel excessively compared to other countries for similar actions, holding Israel to a higher standard than its neighbors, or so on, it's likely based on anti-Semitism by the person, whether consciously or unconsciously.

There's a certain amount of backlash though, because Israel has always liked to project an image of itself as adhering to higher moral standards than its neighbours. The higher the standards that you claim for yourself, the further and harder your tumble from grace when you fall short of them. If you tell the world that you're an oasis of liberal democracy whose actions are always measured by restraint and fairness, expect people to shine a searchlight on your hypocrisy and judge you harshly for it if you shamelessly betray those principles.
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That assumes there is objectively no reason for anyone to dislike Israel other than personal prejudice.
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