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Conspiracies about Jewish people have been flooding the internet lately, so I compiled a thread of antisemitic stereotypes and misconceptions that are weaponized against Jews to justify our marginalization
This is by no means a comprehensive list of all the conspiracies or stereotypes about Jewish people, but it highlights more recently used tropes that are perpetuated by the alt-right, leftists, and your average person.
Let’s dive in.
Let’s dive in.
Looking back over the last 2000 years, people have time and again used the diaspora as a scapegoat for the world’s problems, calling Jews “the root of all evil” and saying we are responsible for undermining Christianity https://www.jpost.com/opinion/anti-semitism-2000-years-of-scapegoating-the-jews-403959
This brings us to the concept of blood libel in which Jews are accused of using Christian children for ritualistic purposes. This propaganda was consistently used by the Nazis to justify the Holocaust and is a driving force behind the idea that Jews are powerful and manipulative.
Next, we have propaganda about physical features that depict Jews as hairy, fat, having hooked noses, dark eyes, and even sometimes having red hair. Memes have recently been going around that depict Jews as “the happy merchant”. The right image is from a 2020 Belgium parade.
Stemming from the middle ages, Jews are also accused of being greedy materialistic “globalists”. This appears in conspiracies around the Rothschild family, the US Federal Reserve, & International Monetary Fund. Check out the stats from a survey looking at attitudes towards Jews
In addition to greedy, Jews are accused of controlling the world. This can be seen in claims, made by predominant figures like Donald Trump, that George Soros is the shadowy puppet-master behind progressive and left-wing causes. Also see: ANTIFA. https://www.jta.org/2020/09/08/united-states/what-you-need-to-know-about-george-soros-the-jewish-philanthropist-still-at-the-center-of-right-wing-conspiracy-theories
Don’t even get me started on QAnon. That antisemitic mess needs a whole different thread and frankly I’m tired.
Jews are also accused of having “dual-loyalty” between the US and Israel. This further echoes the idea that Jews are manipulative, selfish, and disloyal. It has been used to push for our exile and forced assimilation. Another canard used recently by Trump https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-jews-are-only-in-it-for-themselves-stick-together-2020-9
Circling back, we also see stereotypical caricatures like la belle juive or a nagging Jewish mother that mock women and the traditional focus on the home and family. Though this stereotype is less seen in pop culture today, it is still widely portrayed online by right-wing trolls
The Jewish American Princess archetype is a heavily debated stereotype. Some don’t feel it is offensive, but nevertheless it still negatively depicts Jewish women and girls as spoiled and it’s often used in sexist and antisemitic jokes. https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2018/12/5/18119890/jewish-american-princess-jap-stereotype
We also see stereotypes like the Jewish lawyer and Nice Jewish Boy parodied in pop culture. These archetypes attempt to reinforce stereotypes about wealth/power/control and they push conformity to other restrictive gender norms as opposed to hyper-masculinity.
Overall, many of these stereotypes and conspiracies have been appearing more frequently and they persist in echochambers and website like Twitter. It just shows how Jews have historically been demonized, and these are some of the stereotypes that assist in our rejection.
My request of you is that you read up on these stereotypes and antisemitic tropes so you can recognize when they appear. I need you to educate people, fight them on it, report it, whatever it takes to stand up for your Jewish friends in our combat against centuries old hate.
If you want to call yourself a decent human being, an ally, or an activist you will be inclusive of Jews and you will help us when we indicate a dog whistle and say something is antisemitic.
