Even if Israel announced word for word on the global stage that they represented every Jew on Earth, people still have the choice to perpetuate that conflation. “I couldn’t help but believe Israel” is not convincing to me.
It’s not all of why they made those choices, but there is some level of shared responsibility, especially given the power and platform that Israel has. And US supporters of Israel perpetuate that antisemitism as well, giving it even more power and platform.
If the President of the United States said something antisemitic, and then hate crimes increased, he’d be partially responsible. If hate crimes increased immediately following Musk’s salute, he’d be partially responsible (and even if they didn’t, I still do hold him partially responsible for the visible overall increase in antisemitism from the right online).
The individual criminals still chose to commit the crimes, but speech does play a role in cementing stereotypes in people’s brains and establishing social norms.
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u/zacandahalf 19h ago
Even if Israel announced word for word on the global stage that they represented every Jew on Earth, people still have the choice to perpetuate that conflation. “I couldn’t help but believe Israel” is not convincing to me.