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EarlG

(23,559 posts)
30. Criticism of the political state of Israel and its leaders is not antisemitic
Sat Feb 28, 2026, 06:45 PM
9 hrs ago

But the manner in which that criticism is carried out often is antisemitic, most of the time because (IMO) people haven't done a great job educating themselves on what is antisemitic and what is not. I've seen plenty of antisemitic tropes posted on DU, but only rarely is it easy to tell that someone is made such a statement deliberately -- more often than not, it appears that cluelessness is the culprit.

That's why I think it's worth revisiting the "No bigotry" rule, because as well as banning outright antisemitism, it also talks about how to discuss sensitive subjects. People often forget the second part of the rule: "No insensitivity." Here are some relevant sections from the rule:

"Members are expected to respect diversity and demonstrate an appropriate level of sensitivity when discussing related topics."

"Democratic Underground is a diverse community ... we want to promote a welcoming atmosphere for all of our members."

Its common sense that DUers who forget that part of the rule while criticizing the political state of Israel and its leaders will find themselves more likely to have posts removed than people who do their best to avoid inflammatory language.

Recommendations

4 members have recommended this reply (displayed in chronological order):

Good luck with that leftstreet 12 hrs ago #1
Protip: sarisataka 12 hrs ago #2
If it were that simple I wouldn't have posted this. 3_Limes 12 hrs ago #3
I have repeatedly criticized sarisataka 12 hrs ago #5
OK then. 3_Limes 12 hrs ago #6
Consider it a tap rather than a slap. sarisataka 11 hrs ago #8
I lkve the sentiment, but- 3_Limes 10 hrs ago #21
I can tell you that your experience is not necessarily universal. flashman13 10 hrs ago #15
I've had the opposite experience. cab67 10 hrs ago #17
Doesn't make a difference. cab67 10 hrs ago #18
Noble suggestion... 2naSalit 12 hrs ago #4
We must be able DiverDave 12 hrs ago #7
Oh please. Somewhere, someone is editing a post to demand the opposite! QueerDuck 11 hrs ago #9
It's pretty simple really... PeaceWave 11 hrs ago #10
Well that's just brilliant! So simple! QueerDuck 11 hrs ago #11
Yeah. Guess you missed this up above - 3_Limes 11 hrs ago #12
Yeah, but... cab67 10 hrs ago #16
Exactly.. whathehell 10 hrs ago #24
I just avoid any post about Israel because this charge is so common, claiming antisemitism when it is anti-Israel gov. ShazamIam 10 hrs ago #13
I tried making this point a while ago. cab67 10 hrs ago #14
I've seen this. And it saddens me deeply. 3_Limes 10 hrs ago #19
Post removed Post removed 10 hrs ago #20
Sniff. -Sniff- 3_Limes 10 hrs ago #22
Not very tolerant are you? GP6971 10 hrs ago #23
As far as I am concerned, TNNurse 10 hrs ago #25
Israel enid602 10 hrs ago #26
I've said it before, BidenRocks 10 hrs ago #27
From your lips to the masses. I share your hope and point out that you've got 58 recs already, so that nice. FadedMullet 10 hrs ago #28
You can try to establish that... RockRaven 10 hrs ago #29
Criticism of the political state of Israel and its leaders is not antisemitic EarlG 9 hrs ago #30
This message was self-deleted by its author Skittles 9 hrs ago #31
it should be obvious to EVERYONE Skittles 9 hrs ago #32
It's a wonderful thought. Iggo 8 hrs ago #33
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