We Are Jewish, And We Are All Connected.
September Mad Mensch: Dead Jewish Bodies Aren’t Social Justice.
From a Twitter thread, July 1, 2020 (Original tweet) (Unrolled, single page thread). First tweet here and in paragraph form below.
We need to address how the QAnon conspiracy theory is baseless, dumb, dangerous—and importantly: It’s specifically and virulently anti-Semitic.
Of course it comes under Trump, who embodies all these things. His election is the nadir of decades of misinformation, white victimhood, racist structures, and dismantling of education. While we can no longer agree as a people on science and facts, aggrieved whites can always agree on racism and anti-Semitism, and history shows they weaponize them during crises like this one.
These white men, even some Jewish ones, have ramped things up since Trump descended that elevator into the mire. Anti-Semitism IS racism, despite most American Jews being white. We aren’t considered white by these folks, and they believe in white and Christian supremacy. Evangelical Christianity has become a race and death cult and fully merged with the GOP.
The pandemic coming during an election year is a huge win in the eyes of many on the far-right, and they see it as a sign that they’re working for good by literally standing by as hundreds of thousands die. It’s every man for himself and yes, I’ll keep that gendered, because that’s what they say and it’s mostly white men ruining our systems and culture, all while claiming to be G-d’s representatives.
Without racial division and superiority, white evangelicals have no identity. They fused during the civil rights era; to them, a Christian is superior and whiteness is both American and Christian. They can’t fathom racial justice without conceding religious pluralism.
QAnon is the paranoid fabrication that a cabal of Jews secretly control the world. Sound familiar? It’s been used for every genocide of Jews from the Christian period on. Germany. Spain. During the black plague. In virtually every European country. And now, America.
In fact, the word “cabal” comes from Kabbalah, Jewish mysticism in the middle ages. The word used by conspiracy theorists is itself a reference to anti-Semitism and the idea that Jews are surreptitious overlords. (Aside: a certain transphobic kids author used Goblins as bankers, too)
Before you say there hasn’t been a Jewish genocide in America: they’re planning one, because they always are. The blueprint is there. Pittsburgh, Poway, Jersey City, and dozens of isolated incidents highlight it is building. Charlottesville had this insanity on open display.
These attacks on synagogues and markets seem random, but the white male killers always leave a manifesto or trail of racist, anti-Semitic drivel. Their scribblings invariably quote and idolize Trump. They quote him all the way back to his 2015 escalator ride. That Trump Tower lobby may as well say “Whites Only”; aptly, it now says “Black Lives Matter” out front!
How’s is Q explicitly anti-Semitic? It’s the conspiracy theory that there’s a “deep state”. Deep State means Jews. They claim it means Democrats and name Clinton and Obama, not jews—but “deep state” only means Jews, those who support Jews, or whom liberal Jews support. So “Deep State” looks like it just means Democrats, but it’s toothless without the supposed Jewish element. This is why they’re obsessed with George Soros.
Soros is a Jewish billionaire. The next time you hear his name casually mentioned about paying for protests or otherwise manipulating government, Hollywood, or politics, know what you’re hearing. They’re saying Jews control everything. It’s absurd, ancient, and it’s deadly, and it’s been used to kill Jews for centuries. Which is unreal, isn’t it? If Jews controlled all the money and world governments, then why are they always being slaughtered? And why does the holiest site in Israel and the world have a mosque on top of it still, despite the other many misdeeds of the state?
The other piece is that they accuse Hillary Clinton, Obama, and Soros of pedophilia. If this sounds silly or random, it’s not. It’s “pizzagate”, if you’re not familiar.
It’s already proven dangerous; pizzagate resulted in a lone wolf shooting of the supposed child sex ring. Famously it doesn’t have a basement, but the conspiracy that there’s a Jewish sex ring down in it stands. There’s a long history of this.
For millennia, Jews have been accused of preying on children.
Jews have been accused of kidnapping and ritually sacrificing children since Christianity gained prominence. It’s called the “blood libel” and its tragic irony is that it led to countless thousands of actual children being murdered. Jewish children, and their families.
Violently suppressing Judaism is Christianity’s original sin, and the fact we’re dealing with this still is testament to the power of lies in painting otherness. It happens to be the same slander against black men, that they prey on white women and children. All are lies.
So if you’re wondering why Jews should care about black lives and BLM, that’s one (of many) outstanding reasons. They lie about black people to justify oppression and murder. This and many other racial lies are why we have overpolicing and police violence, a sad continuation of slavery and its enforcement.
And our police seem especially susceptible to racism, violent fantasies, and conspiracy theories because of their history, formation, and militarization. Seeing the Vice President casually engage with a man wearing a Q patch is horrific and Trump increasingly retweets Q nonsense.
The “leader” of the free world. The current president.* Tweets. Q. Conspiracy. Theory.
Q talks of the coming storm; that means war. In particular it’s a race war, which really is a proxy for killing political opponents. It’s a second civil war they want, and they think the pandemic is helping them. It’s why the far-right don’t care to take any rational steps to address healthcare access, poverty, inequality, and these broken systems and cultures converging to create the worst outbreak center. BIPOC—Black, Indigenous, and People of Color folks—are dying from COVID at rates twice that of whites. It’s been weaponized; it’s chemical warfare.
So again if you’re wondering how this year’s swirling mess is connected; evangelicals, pandemic, election year, and now mass protests for protecting our vulnerable populations: Trump has fully embraced Q and its worldview and that is why he isn’t responding to mass death from COVID.
The coronavirus hit the metros first, and the big cities are largely Democrats and people of color. They could sit back and do nothing and let it do its work. This is in the international definition of genocide. He intentionally withheld PPE and aid from those states.
Now the pandemic has shifted to red states and yet the population and many leaders respond the same. Hence a death cult. They don’t care who dies; God will protect the flock. Evangelicalism, QAnonsense, racism, anti-Semitism, and anti-science collide.
Now, some of these dangerous idiots may go to Congress. They must be stopped. What can you do? First off, donate. Donate to their opponents, to the @ADL, @NAACP, and more.
We must also speak out. Misinformation is one thing, but unhinged conspiracy theories and violent fantasies are quite another. If someone you know talks about Deep State or Soros, you must call them out. We’ve been here before. It’s life or death.
Lastly, we must do everything in our power to protect our voting rights and the rights of others. They’re under constant attack, and November will be the worst it’s ever been. After all, these people are voting:
If you live in or know someone in a red state or Republican-controlled area, it’s vital to help get voters registered and to the polls. Volunteer or ask your loved ones in those areas to do so, help work the polls if you are able-bodied, and help get people to the polls who may need assistance. Does your neighbor or someone in your community or synagogue need a ride? You won’t know until you ask.