6mo ago

Fears for ‘security of Jews worldwide’ in wake of Elon Musk AfD speech

www.theguardian.com

Summary

Elon Musk’s address to Germany’s far-right AfD party, where he downplayed Germany's Nazi past and criticized multiculturalism, has sparked global alarm.

Halie Soifer, CEO of the Jewish Democratic Council of America, called the remarks “incredibly dangerous,” warning of their potential to embolden right-wing extremists and threaten Jewish security worldwide.

Critics highlighted Musk’s alignment with far-right ideologies, including his Nazi salutes at Trump’s inauguration.

53 comments

This is the part the American press can’t seem to learn. They’ve appeased and both-sided these dangerously bigoted fools for so long that they’re incapable of actually changing their coverage strategy.
“They don’t deserve the benefit of the doubt when it comes to this alignment. It has been a steady stream of signaling to rightwing extremists that they have an ally now in the White House.”
We all have eyes, it’s the job of the press to tell us what we’re seeing and why, not tell us we didn’t see what we all know we saw. Cover Nazis like they’re Nazis.
- Yeah but this is more profitable. Remember, the major news orgs like Fox News are controlled by people like Rupert Murdoch. They benefit from this.
  
  But I’m not sure why it has to stay that way. Reality doesn’t have to be less profitable than bigoted fantasies, and news was never really meant to turn a profit anyway. Regardless, Fox News and Murdoch properties are a lost cause in my opinion. I care more about the traditional press that calls themselves free and fair but hasn’t acted that way in years.
- it’s the job of the press to tell us what we’re seeing and why
  That's a pretty dangerous way to approach other people. Journalists are just as capable of error or corruption as everyone else.
  
  They aren’t bloggers. Journalism is (was) a profession with standards and ethics. Doing what’s feasible to avoid error and corruption is part of their job and training.
  They aren’t fulfilling a responsibility of the profession just like a doctor and their oaths.
  
  Of course they’re capable of error and corruption, every human being is. That’s why they ideally need institutions behind them to protect them and ensure they’re only reporting the truth. The point of a free press is to describe events as they happened and provide context, which serves as the first draft of history. They’ll certainly make errors here and there, but as long as they accurately describe reality, offer explanations based on history and uncompromising contemporary interviews, as well as promptly correct any mistakes with humility, then they’ve done their job. I don’t see how that’s the least bit dangerous.
  
  They don't even need error or corruption to be unknowingly biased, using hegemonic framing, working within capitalist/racist/patriarchical institutions, etc.
  That's the far worse and far realer danger than people just making individual mistakes.
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda_model#Filters
The Guardian using that image is gold. That flag is perfectly in place.
- Thanks for pointing that out. Once you see it, you can't unsee it.
  
  I immediately noticed it, but only saw today that it isn't photoshopped but just a coincidence.
- The flag is clearly autistic.
The only good Nazi is a dead Nazi. Moderating this comment is pro-Nazi.
It's okay though because Musk and his husband support the right of Israel to do their own holocaust, so they can't be antisemites. It's the anti-holocaust people who are antisemitic! /s
Halie Soifer, CEO of the Jewish Democratic Council of America, called the remarks “incredibly dangerous,”
I wonder when they're going to come out and call her and extreme-leftist when she's spouting such antisemitic rhetoric. After all the "leading anti-hate organization in the world," the Anti-Defemation League, was quick to point out that Musk is just "overly enthusiastic."
- When I was much younger, I thought the ADL had my back. Then I found out that since I don't support Israel, they don't give a shit about me.
  Now there is no one who has my back.
  
  The ADL is, and always has been, a metastasized cancer in the heart of Jewish culture. Find your local yiddishist group and tell the ADL to fucking take a nap on the beach at low tide.
  
  Now there is no one who has my back.
  Welcome to humanity.
- It seems that
  Based on what, ADL? What Musk claimed? He's literally the most biased source you can have.
- "Antisemitic rhetoric" should be in quotes too, if you were going for sarcasm. I hope you were going for sarcasm
  
  I was. The quoted part is an actual quote from a different article on the topic
Cool. I once again have to worry about being an "other" wherever I go.
- So do people in all their targeted groups, and in the targeted groups to come. However safe a person feels they are, Nazis' lists of enemies always grow and grow. One day any of us could be the target, so we had all better fight back now. We need a real popular resistance against these Nazis.
- Don't be daft lad, you're one of us now!
  Anyone putting up with this fucking weather is.
  2 rules:
  Don't be a cunt.
  See rule 1.
  Anyone othering you is in breach of rule 1 and will be tutted at furiously
  
  I will say that being in Blackburn, 30% Muslim, and looking very obviously Jewish- everyone has been very kind. (Not suggesting that being Muslim automatically makes you antisemitic, but there are, unfortunately- and thanks to Israel mainly- a fair number of Muslims that hate Jews.)
- Historically, Jews have almost always been 'others'.
  
  Oh I know. To a lot of white people I'm not white and to most other people I am white.
  I definitely have the white privilege advantage over people of color, but I'm also not white apparently.
- Didn't you just move out of the country?
  
  Yes. Your point?
  You do know this speech was in Germany, right? You do know Jews are hated all over the world, right?
  Edit: as the downvoters are proving.
AfD are openly very strong supporters of Israel and pushed for resolutions against BDS in 2019 and now supported an "anti antisemitism" resolution in the German parliament, which is designed in a way that shifts the blame for antisemitism away from German Nazis and onto Muslims and Leftists critical of Israel.
The BDS resolution was already used to silence critics of Israel, disproportionately affecting Jews critical of Israel. Now the new resolution suggests having the interior intelligence screen scientists and artists to make sure they are "without a doubt" not antisemitic, aka they most not have voiced any criticism of Israel. The most cynical aspect of it is that it does mention last years Berlinale as an example for antisemitisim because a Jewish documentary director called Israel an Apartheid state. Meanwhile the resolution does not refer to a terror attack by a Neonazi, who tried murdering Jews in a synagogue in Halle a few years back.
Unfortunately the Social Democrats, Greens, Liberals and Conservatives were all in on it.
The AfD is only displaying the most extreme form of a sentiment prevalent in German politics. Downplay German fascism and antisemitism by the right and center and blame it all on people crirical of Israel.
There is a great podcast about the insanity of Germanys way of dealing with it, interviewing Emily Dische-Becker, who is one of the writers of the Jerusalem definition of antisemitism. The Jerusalem definition is an alternative definition to the IHRA definition with the goal to properly seperate between antisemitism and criticism of Israel.
https://thedigradio.com/podcast/the-german-question-w-emily-dische-becker/
- That's a really good episode. Honestly, watching how fanatically pro Israel and anti Palestinians the Germans have been during this genocide you'd think deNazification never happened.
  
  Hello I'm German and I would like you to stop grouping all of us together. The debate about Israel and Palestine in combination with the AFD caused huge rift in our society and comments like this just stokes the flames for fascist like the AFD.
  Many Germans are aware about whats happening in Palestine and are in open protest.
  So please stop.
The photo has got to be a Pulitzer winner. Talk about being at the right place and the right time...or should I say rhight? You know, how do you spell the word associated with Nazis again?
If netanyahoo and the ADL are cool with nazism, then what could go wrong? \s
We (as in all the people, Jews obviously included) should be living in peace and happiness. The billionaire leeches should be the ones fearing consequences for their actions and greed. One day this dream might come true.

53 comments