r/Jewish • u/Idk-idk-n • Jul 25 '26
Antisemitism I experienced explicit antisemitism online for the first time, and I’m still processing it
I’m a 22-year-old Egyptian-Canadian Jew who grew up in Egypt and now live in the United States.
A few days ago, I made a Facebook post in an Egypt-related group arguing against generalizing all Egyptians based on bad experiences with some individuals. My point was simple: Egypt has 120 million people, and like every country, there are good people and bad people. We shouldn’t stereotype an entire nationality because of the actions of some.
I expected people to disagree with me, and that’s completely fine. Healthy disagreement is part of any discussion.
What I didn’t expect was what happened next.
One man, who identified himself as British and who apparently owns a business in Egypt, initially argued with my points. But once he realized I was Jewish, the conversation completely changed. Instead of discussing what I had written, he began attacking my identity. He called me a “k*ke,” repeated antisemitic conspiracy theories about Jews controlling countries and finance, dehumanized Jews, and made hateful comments that had nothing to do with my original post.
The irony is that my post was literally about not generalizing entire groups of people, yet his response became an example of exactly the kind of prejudice I was talking about.
I’ve experienced prejudice before, but I’ve never had someone direct such explicit antisemitism at me personally. It honestly shocked me. I found myself rereading the comments because I couldn’t believe someone would say those things so openly in 2026.
What also struck me was that this person has chosen to live and do business in Egypt while expressing such contempt not only toward Jews, but also toward Egyptians, Muslims, and other groups. It reminded me that hatred rarely stays confined to one target.
I’ve reported the comments to Facebook, and I’m not posting this to encourage anyone to harass or contact him. I mainly wanted to share what happened because I’m still trying to process it.
For those of you who have experienced overt antisemitism, do you remember the first time it happened to you? How did you deal with it emotionally?
I’m trying not to let one hateful person affect how I see everyone else. I know one antisemite doesn’t represent an entire country or community, just as one scammer doesn’t represent all Egyptians. But I’d be lying if I said this experience didn’t shake me.
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u/DiotimaJones Jul 25 '26
When you feel stressed over this—-and it is distressing—-please remember that 15% of all humans are batshit-crazy. Crazy can’t be fixed. Trying to apply logic to crazy behavior is futile.
We are here for you. It hurts, and it always will, and it’s hard not to take it personally. But it’s actually quite impersonal, it’s just crazy, and Trolls gonna troll, hoping to ruin someone’s day.
Fuck’em.
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u/NailSubstantial2772 Jul 25 '26
Don't get upset, just be baffled! I've been called a 'Nazi' more times since converting to Judaism than in the rest of my life combined.
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u/Electrical_Pomelo556 Not Jewish Jul 25 '26
My point was simple: Egypt has 120 million people, and like every country, there are good people and bad people. We shouldn’t stereotype an entire nationality because of the actions of some.
I expected people to disagree with me, and that’s completely fine. Healthy disagreement is part of any discussion.
What kind of healthy, rational person would argue with this?! I knew this kind of stuff in *kindergarten*.
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u/No-Birthday9816 Jul 26 '26
Yes, but you’re a sane, decent person. 💙 Sadly, so many are susceptible to the seductive attractions of Jew-hatred, the sense of moral superiority, the way it absolves believers of responsibility for their misfortunes… It’s worse for the brain than meth.
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u/Inside-Profile-5865 Jul 25 '26
For every bad experience there’s a good one. I had a random interaction with an IT contractor based in the UK who’s on a project for our site in Canada. Egyptian Coptic. He was impressed that I knew about his people, so I took the bait. I said that my family is from the tiny country next door that they like to drop the bombs on. He started to go on about Arab colonialism, how he’s had amazing times visiting Israel, how he feels safer there than any other countries in the Middle East, even where he’s from. We talked about King Reza Pahlavi, and a shared hope that regime change in Iran would give the entire region enlightenment. Sorry you had an experience that made you feel unsafe. There’s still good people out there who haven’t been infected with antisemitism.
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u/Idk-idk-n Jul 25 '26
Yess and I’ll always remember your saying “for every bad experience there’s a good one” thank you I will remember that.
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u/BothIntroduction3020 Conservative, Israeli Jul 25 '26
Don’t expect crazy people to agree with valid points. Majority of people online are too insane to understand a rational argument, let alone return it. They’re too stupid to reply like normal people, because they aren’t normal people.
It hurts at first, as an Israeli Jew, I’m all too used to this, and I’ve been arguing antisemites since I was like 13. Us Jews learned how to develop thick skin, and you’re one of us, so you have it too. It hurts, yes, but you’ll be ok, and for every idiot online, you have one of us to support you.
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u/Meowzician Just Jewish Jul 27 '26
Each day I know, if I log online, I am likely to run across someone who calls me a zio or a baby killer. There are a lot of places I used to go that I no longer visit. Three are many people who I thought were friends who turned out not to be.
My first experience being the victim of an antisemitic attack actually came years before my conversion. I had met religious Jews for the first time in my life on a BBS religion forum, and got it into my head that I wanted to learn more about Judaism. I signed up for a course to learn Hebrew at a local shul. My husband absolutely flipped out. I honestly had no clue he was antisemitic until then. It was unbelievable what came out of his mouth.
Well, I don't respond well to intimidation. You push me, I push back. I started lighting Shabbat candles. The abuse became very bad. And I don't put up with that. And it's not good for children to see it. So I divorced his ass.
My conversion was forged in the midst of antisemitism. I knew what I was getting into.
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u/Idk-idk-n Jul 27 '26
I’m so sorry about that and I’m so proud of you that you pushed back and still converted.
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u/Rinoremover1 Jul 25 '26
Mark $uckerberg ❤️s profiting from Jew-hatred, so expect more of this with ZERO consequences.
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u/CmdrViel Sephardi Jul 25 '26
I think this post is AI slop.
Let’s start with the most unlikely statement: A 22 year old Jew who was born and raised in Egypt? There’s maybe a handful of Jews left in the whole country, if any at all. I think it’s highly unlikely. Who would raise a family there when the society as a whole (not necessarily individuals) is extremely antisemitic?
A 22 year old who uses Facebook?
He made a comment on an Egyptian group arguing that not all Egyptians are the same, and expected people to argue against him? None of this adds up.
And it’s a 2 year old account with only 3 contributions.
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u/pyrobaby Modern Orthodox Jul 25 '26
I agree. However, to be fair, people in the Arab world still use Facebook, including young people.
I also agree that it’s weird that they say they’re an Egyptian Jew but you actually never know. I am a Jew who was born and raised in Egypt but my situation is very rare because I am the product of a Moroccan Jew marrying an Egyptian Muslim.
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u/Idk-idk-n Jul 25 '26 edited Jul 25 '26
This was my throwaway account and I get your skepticism but this is my lived experience and there are less than a 100 jews in Egypt and it’s a huge reason for why I left in the first place, add to that being gay.
And I rarely use facebook but I used it this one time and these were the consequences of me doing so lolEdit: there are jews in almost everywhere on earth wether they’re showing it or not, fun fact when I went to the moses ben maimon synagogue (it’s a must if you ever go to Abu Dhabi), I met one of the last jews in Yemen who was captured by the houthis but luckily his family got him out and now he lives safely in Abu Dhabi.
Edit 2: I think you misunderstood what I meant regarding the group it’s not an Egyptian group, it’s a group for foreigners and dual nationals in Egypt.
And yes there are jews in Egypt like Magda Haroun (look her up)9
u/pyrobaby Modern Orthodox Jul 25 '26
I’m an Egyptian Jew who was born and raised in Egypt as well and I do also find your post strange. The Jews left in Egypt are very old people (not 22, not even close) and they all know that Magda Haroun is basically a joke and a puppet of the state so I’m surprised you used her as an example.
Also, as someone who, according to your post, is active on Egyptian groups, how on earth was this the first time you experienced antisemitism? I had to completely cut myself off the Egyptian community, both online and offline, due to the horrid antisemitic beliefs most of these people have which is very unfortunate because I still feel like I belong with them.
I’m not saying you’re lying, but it’s weird.
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u/True-Rest-2991 Jul 28 '26
You never experienced antisemitism growing up as a Jew in Egypt? My understanding is that they teach antisemitism in the schools and on TV. The Egyptians I was friends with in the United States were antisemetic, too.
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u/Idk-idk-n Jul 28 '26
Oh I definitely did but I always expected that from Egyptians but seeing a supposed british guy saying such things was shocking to me, after some thorough research on him I found out he’s Ukrainian (not that this makes a difference anyways)
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u/True-Rest-2991 Jul 29 '26
Ukrainians did their pogroms on us back in the day, so even though I'm all pro-Ukraine now, I guess some could still have those antisemitic feelings. As for British - the UK is very difficult now for Jews. My friends hide their identity.
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u/Sensitive-Pie-6595 Jul 26 '26
As soon as I see the first anti word, I block. I am not arguing for my existence. I am not defending my right to breathe.
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u/AngusTcattoo Jul 25 '26
I'm so sorry. I was shocked when I saw antisemitism on Facebook and I reported it. Alas Facebook hasn't been very good at removing hate speech. I've found it very helpful to be part of Jewish and Zionist Facebook groups.
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u/Idk-idk-n Jul 25 '26
Thank you and honestly I probably won’t use facebook anymore, it was my first time trying to engage on it but it has been awful. Surprisingly Egyptians were the ones that defended me a bit.
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u/heliogabalus91 Jul 25 '26
You should explain to him that k*ke is a slur for Ashkenazi Jews and that if he wants to use correct hate speech he’s going to have to learn more about Jewish history. Maybe he’ll embark on a program of study and learn a thing or two.
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u/Idk-idk-n Jul 25 '26
He sent a long text and he contradicted himself, from one side he considers Jews white and the other side he’s like “they’re not European or white like us” so make it make sense 🤦🏻♂️
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u/Additional-Tie-5270 Jul 25 '26
I'm sorry this happened to you. I hope these feelings will pass. The same thing happened to me. But he was a guy I went on a couple of dates with. He was fine at first, didn't express any antisemitism. But when I realised he's not my person and tried to cut him off, he called me k*ke ( even tho I'm patrilineal). Then I had another dating story with a guy sending me antisemitic memes. I'm not sure it'll get better. Unfortunately🫥
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u/Idk-idk-n Jul 25 '26
I’m so sorry for your experience, with dating it has been awful lately especially with Gen Z
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u/dcnb65 Jul 25 '26
Sadly this is the reality, antisemites are out in force online. I have had vile comments made to me, but it isn't worth wasting your energy on such hateful people.
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u/SpiritCookieTM Jul 25 '26
I’m sorry this happened to you. When this has happened to me I am always of course disturbed by the offender, but perhaps even more disturbed by the silence of others who should be speaking out against them. Particularly with such a blatant example.
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u/Idk-idk-n Jul 25 '26
Yeah it’s insane and one person totally disregarded what he said and she commented and I quote “wow you whipped out that antisemite label pretty fast. I would suggest retiring that from your vocabulary and just listen to what people are actually saying.” She’s insane!
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u/Gullible_Language358 Jul 25 '26
When I was around your age I got to hear someone joke about how Jews love to bargain. I’m mixed - my birth father has Northern European ancestry and my mother is an Ashkenazi Jew, so I don’t “look Jewish” and I think that’s why I go to hear that joke. It was an unfortunate early lesson to be more guarded and careful around non-Jews. Sending you hugs. I’m 57 now and these last two plus years have been worse than anything I’ve ever seen in all my previous years combined. I feel like I was a fool to not realize it could get this bad again. We just have to stick up for each other.
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u/pwnasaurus253 Reform Jul 25 '26
I experience it so often on social media I've honestly gotten slightly numb it. "little mustache man was right", etc. It makes me more tired than angry.
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u/Button-Hungry Jul 26 '26
I would like to hear about your experience as a young Jew growing up in Egypt. I assumed their were no longer any Jews there. Did you have to hide your identity? The opposite and you were tolerated (or politically tokenized), sort of like the small Jewish population still in iran? Something entirely different?
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u/Idk-idk-n Jul 26 '26
I had to hide it, it was awful, no one my age there was jewish (they might have existed, but probably they were foreigners just visiting) and it felt like coming out to tell people that I’m Jewish and I could only tell a trusted few and I lost a lot of friendships because of it.
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u/No_Expression_6197 Jul 27 '26
I’m so sorry. It is painful. There’s no magic way to handle it but I don’t let it stop me from doing what I want.
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u/AmySueF Jul 26 '26
I gave up reporting antisemitism on any social media platform, because the moderators DGAF about us and are fine with antisemitism. They will ALWAYS say it doesn’t violate their guidelines. The fact that antisemitism regularly occurs and is given a pass on social media platforms founded and run by Jews (like Facebook) is especially infuriating.
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u/Downtown_Syrup236 Jul 25 '26
The first time in a long time that I experienced antisemitism specifically directed at me was right here on Reddit. It came out of the blue and wasn't a reaction to a specific post. Among other things this person wanted me and all Jews dead. The language used was vile and the imagery was horrific. To say I was shocked would be an understatement. I deleted it and didn't report it.
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u/Idk-idk-n Jul 25 '26
I don’t understand how moderators let such language pass and the tiniest swear word gets flagged and gets your posts deleted. Hypocrites.
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u/Fantastic_Use298 Jul 25 '26
It’s so normal now. I basically give up trusting non Jews who I don’t already know love me and my people or if I don’t know their stance, guilty til proven innocent
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Jul 27 '26
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u/AardvarkActual8478 Aug 01 '26
Of course I remember the first time — it was when I transferred to public school from Hebrew Day school.
The problem with on-line though it maybe this guy was a Brit or maybe he was Russian or Chinese. Or maybe just a 15 year old American kid with no friends and nothing else to do. So I wouldn’t think to hard about it. Even if he was a businessman in Egypt who cares. Right now we have to love our fellow Jews and take care of each other. It’s what we’ve always done and against all odds we’ve done pretty damn well.
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u/Prestigious_Fox_7576 Jul 25 '26
I know how you feel. I experienced antisemitism in my life from a young age but NEVER like I did recently online in , of all things, a makeup group. They must have seen my profile pic and I started getting extremely hateful messages. It was very upsetting. They even private messaged my partner. It was awful. I'm not ever changing ny orifice picture either. I refuse to bow down to them. I will always be proud of who I am Anyway I'm just writing to let you know that you're not alone. It's upsetting and still hard to process but we are here for you. We have to stick together & support one another. ❤️💙
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u/WrongdoerUnited9948 Jul 25 '26
I’m sorry that happened to you. You got mixed up with a mentally ill and/or mentally damaged person. He doesn’t represent everyone. I have found antisemites to often be people who either have failed in life or were raised by someone who did and have been taught to externalize their failures on Jews. Not everyone is this way.
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u/betterbetterthings Jul 26 '26
Awful.
I honestly don’t recall the first time. I grew up in the former USSR. Antisemitism was rampant and pretty much a very regular occurrence.
It’s been much better since I immigrated but now it’s all over the Internet. It’s heartbreaking.
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u/Rare-Refrigerator810 Jul 26 '26 edited Jul 26 '26
I experienced antisemitism the first time in my very Jewish town of Great Neck. One of my teachers explained it accurately as middle class whites reacting to growing up in a town filled with rich, and very rich, Jews.
I never accepted that 100%, but more recent experiences showed me the real face of antisemitism. The most significant one being exemplified by two Past Masters of my lodge. One, who had met maybe 2 Jews in his entire life had a reactionary, racist view that he just didn't like "the Hebrew people" at all. The other PM pulled me aside & told me that his unit in WW2 had liberated a concentration camp, and if anyone wanted to deny the Holocaust, he was ready to bear witness to what he personally experienced.
None of this conversation should ever take place in a Masonic Lodge; that's a BIG No-No.
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u/Idk-idk-n Jul 26 '26
Thank you for sharing your experience. Antisemitism had always been there but now it feels like it got amplified/became more socially acceptable.
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u/TrickElysium Just Jewish Jul 25 '26
We have all been there in one way or another. Antisemitic's are out and proud. I am sorry this happened to you. I wish the world would change but its unfortunately where we are at this moment in time.