(Jewish Group) A Texas-Size Conspiracy Theory

[Behind the Aegis]

(THIS IS THE JEWISH GROUP! RESPECT!!)

As members of the Hillel Student Board, we keep an eye on campus relations and how they affect Jewish students at The University of Texas at Austin. In recent years, Student Government (SG) elections have become flashpoints for airing issues unrelated to student government, such as current national politics. In last year’s campaign, for example, Jewish students who were running for student body president and vice president were victims of anti-Semitic flyers and hate speech. Texas Hillel, the largest Jewish student organization on campus, often takes the brunt of conspiracy theories. The organization is sometimes accused of “running Student Government from the shadows,” or as happened in this year’s election, of “propping up” Zionist, non-Jewish candidates to run.

In this year’s election, which ran from February to March, the two front-running tickets had two weeks to campaign before an online election period of 48 hours. One ticket consisted of two women of color; the other consisted of a white male and a Muslim female. The all-female ticket aimed to help students who feel “ignored, tokenized, overlooked, exploited, or like this campus was not built for [them].” Employing inclusive rhetoric, these women made it clear that each student deserved to be represented, in theory.

As the election played out, a current SG representative and member of the women’s campaign team tweeted derogatory remarks. They included the phrases “F*** Israel and f*** the Zionists on this campus.” The campaign’s Twitter account favorited a tweet expressing being “tired of white Zionist men in power.” Additionally, one of the female candidates retweeted, in 2017, “imagine a world without Israel and the colonial ideology of Zionism.”

While many of the tweets surrounding this year’s election only mentioned Zionists, they contained anti-Semitic undertones of powerful Jews monopolizing power. When Jewish students voiced concerns over these campaign tactics, they were told by non-Jews that this was in no way anti-Semitism. Jewish organizations and students had our experiences as Jews invalidated; Judaism was equated to Zionism, and Zionism was equated to racism. Much of these mental gymnastics was done by members of the Palestine Solidarity Committee (PSC), which publicly campaigned for the all-woman ticket. During a protest, committee members who began handing out flyers that listed their definitions of anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism side by side and claimed their activity only fit the former. They verbally harassed Jewish students who tried to engage them in conversation. Protesters actually claimed that the “Zionist Establishment” was trying to silence this Student Government campaign.

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Even when we aren't involved, it is still our fault?! WTF?!

This, however, is one of the best lines in the piece, and should be thrown in the face of anyone touting the mantra of "intersectionality";

Anti-Semitism takes different forms than any other prejudice, and even for white-passing Jews, privilege in one context does not invalidate marginalization in another. People should not have their oppression explained to them.

[hedda_foil]

1. "white passing Jews"?????

Excuse me. I am aware that Jews were not classed as white many decades ago in this country. But I'm gobsmacked to see you using that trope.

[Behind the Aegis]

2. You realize that is a quote from the article, right?

Last edited Fri May 25, 2018, 09:41 PM - Edit history (1)

Also, I fail to see why you would be gob-smacked even if I had created that saying.

ETA: I don't know how much experience you actually have with anti-Semitism, as I recall, not any in regards to your own person. But, when it comes to anti-Semitism, Jews are often written about thusly..."The white people and the Jews are...". This comes from a variety of sides, it isn't limited to the right or the left. The point, which you seemed to have either missed or glossed over in your bewilderment, is that just because some Jews are white, it doesn't mean we deserve to be talked down to in regards to anti-Semitism or have anti-Semitism excused or sidelined because we also happen to be white (for those Jews who do happen to be white or pass as such). So, you may be thinking of the old classification and think it is defunct; it is not! Jews who are white are still a minority and should be recognized as such, just like women, those with disabilities, GLBT, and others who may also be white, but are still a minority in one area or another.

[hedda_foil]

3. Sorry. It appeared that the portion beneath your separator line was your comment.

I should have read more thoroughly. The phrase, however, is chilling.

[Behind the Aegis]

4. I fail to see why you think the phrase is "chilling".

Read the article again. There is an example of this in the very article; hell, it is in the third paragraph of the excerpted piece! While I don't know exactly why the author chose the term, it could be very similar to the concept of "straight passing" in the gay community; that is to say just because the person doesn't appear to be gay (or Jewish), it doesn't mean discrimination against him/her isn't real or that s/he deserves to be dismissed when discussing homophobia (or anti-Semitism) because s/he also happens to be white.

[hedda_foil]

5. I understand the term.

But, having lived most of my life in areas with a broad mix of religions, including a lot of other Jews, I can't think of one who didn't look as "white" as anyone else. Obviously you and I have had very different experiences.

[MosheFeingold]

6. I actually understand the confusion

White supremacists types say Jews (of any race) are not "white". A typical neo-Nazi phrase is something along the lines of "negroes with a high IQ" or something equally weird and disgusting.

Black Supremicists, in contrast, describe Jews as sort of a super-really-bad white person. Often mixed with "fake Jew" depending of said supremacists is related to one of the hate groups like the Black Hebrews.

Non-deep-thinking liberals often think all Jews are ethnically white, especially when arguing that Israel is some sort of European colony (false for many reasons, most notably most Jewish Israelis are Sephardic or Mizrahim from the Middle East and thus darker skinned than an average Arab, but also false because a typical Ashkenazi (European of late) Jewish person is genetically most similar to -- Arabs in Judea and Samaria), who I guess are "white" depending on how one is using the word.

Anyway, the point is people argue that Jewish people are whatever "other" they're mad at at the time, regardless of political stripe.

[hedda_foil]

7. Exactly! Thank you, Moshe.