Bernie Sanders being a Jew doesn’t impact his ability to call out cruelty and horror and saying otherwise plays into some really gross mentalities that have been lobbied against Jews for a long long time.
For what it’s worth, I really really doubt it’s your intent to suggest some kind of Jewish dual loyalty exists, you’re clearly celebrating someone speaking out against incredible injustice, but sometimes I think we repeat sentiments and ideas that we hear often without critically examining them for what they can imply. And this kind of sentiment is unfortunately common in media and discussions around Israel.
I think it’s more pointing out how many politicians (and people in general), especially Republicans, who won’t criticize them, and even say criticizing them is anti-semitic. Him being Jewish means he has more cultural connection to them than they do, yet he still points it out. He also can’t reliably be called anti-semitic because he is a semite (at least the modern meaning of the word. I’m not sure if he speaks Hebrew or other Semitic languages).
This “cultural connection” remark is literally what I’m talking about.
Bernie Sanders has zero impact on Israeli policymaking and being Jewish “connecting” him to Israel is nonsense. Would Ilhan Omar decrying Hamas hold more weight simply because she is Sunni? Of course not, it would be bigoted to think so. Why is this different for Bernie Sanders?
And while Sanders certainly isn’t exhibiting any antisemitism in his remarks, he’s not incapable of antisemitism simply because he is a Jew. I’m sure you can come up with your own analogies here that show the absurdity of that kind of thinking.
Moreover, the idea that Israel somehow represents Jewish people as a whole is simply Israeli propaganda that promotes Israel’s interests at the expense of non-Israeli Jews.
Bernie Sanders being a Jew doesn’t impact his ability to call out cruelty and horror and saying otherwise plays into some really gross mentalities that have been lobbied against Jews for a long long time.
For what it’s worth, I really really doubt it’s your intent to suggest some kind of Jewish dual loyalty exists, you’re clearly celebrating someone speaking out against incredible injustice, but sometimes I think we repeat sentiments and ideas that we hear often without critically examining them for what they can imply. And this kind of sentiment is unfortunately common in media and discussions around Israel.
I think it’s more pointing out how many politicians (and people in general), especially Republicans, who won’t criticize them, and even say criticizing them is anti-semitic. Him being Jewish means he has more cultural connection to them than they do, yet he still points it out. He also can’t reliably be called anti-semitic because he is a semite (at least the modern meaning of the word. I’m not sure if he speaks Hebrew or other Semitic languages).
This “cultural connection” remark is literally what I’m talking about.
Bernie Sanders has zero impact on Israeli policymaking and being Jewish “connecting” him to Israel is nonsense. Would Ilhan Omar decrying Hamas hold more weight simply because she is Sunni? Of course not, it would be bigoted to think so. Why is this different for Bernie Sanders?
And while Sanders certainly isn’t exhibiting any antisemitism in his remarks, he’s not incapable of antisemitism simply because he is a Jew. I’m sure you can come up with your own analogies here that show the absurdity of that kind of thinking.
It’s different because it’s Israel and Israel has a stranglehold over US politics.
Moreover, the idea that Israel somehow represents Jewish people as a whole is simply Israeli propaganda that promotes Israel’s interests at the expense of non-Israeli Jews.
One hundred percent, absolutely.