A good hump day morning, Threaders, Threadheads, and all in between. Black coffee is good.
Back to my morning diagonal reading of SM, back to the feeling that something is wrong that isn’t being addressed. Same feeling I had before the last French elections. Same feeling I had when college students went on vacation. Same feeling I had when Rachel Goldberg and Jon Polin were at the DNC. It’s not going away.
Now it’s Germany. I said it before: the inaction of liberal governments faced with the rise of radical religious movements is fueling the popularity of fascist ideologies all over Europe. Most people falling for these “saviors” aren’t fascist, they’re just scared and disappointed. They watch the places they live in being swarmed by all these extremists calling for the end of their country and don’t understand how that is acceptable. They played a part in it, though.
It’s not just about demanding the government they elected better immigration policies and the clear definition of those policies balancing the rights of everyone involved. Most of them were not paying attention when it started and it was “just about the Jews”. They thought it wasn’t about them too. They were wrong. It’s spreading like a wildfire and not just in Europe. Canada, Australia… And here at home, in the US. On October 7 I saw this coming.
We went from “Free Palestine” to “Democracy is the enemy” real fast. It’s everywhere and we are still not paying attention. In big countries with large populations like the US the threats posed by these movements aren’t affecting most people YET. We are still on the “it’s just the Jews” phase. Elsewhere it’s affecting a lot more people now and the reactions were predictable: when the liberals fail to oppose these extremists the “man in the street” turns to other extremists.
In a nutshell, when democracy fails fascism rises. The reason I like Democrats are embracing true patriotism at last is it combines liberal values that are essential for progress with core secular ones that define our Western culture. It all comes down to denying extreme ideologies a foot hold in our society, whether it’s fascism or religious fundamentalism we’re talking about. The main concern in this year’s election is women’s rights.
We can all agree that transforming our secular based society into some sort of Gilead ruled by Christian nationalists is bad. Why can’t we all agree that rooting for a Sharia law based society is also bad? One word: Islamophobia. The poor Muslims who turn themselves into human bombs have the right to blow us up. Inch’Allah. And God forbid we dare to establish a difference between those fanatics and most of Islam. That’s a “big mistake”. Islam is the future, not democracy.
Wait a minute… What was that? Not democracy? So these people calling for “global intifada” are saying democracy is done for and our salvation is a Islamic theocracy and you still think they’re just big mad about “the Jews”? You better wake up. Look at what’s happening today, as Jewish students are harassed on their way to school, in kosher restaurants, at their support institutions. And suddenly you are stopped in your way to work or to drop your kids at school at a checkpoint.
You roll your window down and you may even think that because you’re not Jewish you’re fine, but you’re not. Today’s password is “Free Palestine”, without which you’re getting your car windows smashed. Tomorrow’s password will be “Allahu Akbar”. You think I am kidding? Where do you think the right wing majorities in German elections come from? You think they all turned out to be Nazis in a day? They come from people being sick of tolerating these freaks.
Because it’s just not “the Jews” anymore. It’s them. They don’t recognize their neighborhoods anymore. They don’t recognize their countries anymore. The law means nothing anymore. They wake up and their streets are covered in garbage. Their monuments are covered in red paint. Their children are no longer safe going to school alone. They don’t feel safe anymore. They are aliens in their own homeland. Their government keeps telling them to be tolerant and suck it up.
So one day they turn on the TV and there’s this blonde woman talking about securing their fatherland and offering them a way out. And they take it. No question. Of course that woman is also telling them Ukraine is a lost cause and they should stop sending weapons to Israel but they look out their windows and their streets are covered in trash so who gives a fuck about Ukraine and Israel. Fuck that. Let’s clean up the streets.
That’s how it starts. It’s like watching a fire catching and thinking it’s just a nice heat source to keep our liberal feet warm. Then it spreads to the curtains and the furniture. Eventually the roof catches on fire and you go: uhoh. Yeah. The house is on fire. Hope you’re warm enough now. And on the other side, on the side of those who are being immediately affected by this fire, those whose feet are burnt already, it doesn’t get any better. Yes, I am talking about the Jews.
Those among them who started sounding the alarm from the very beginning and were dismissed as overreacting are now turning to their worst angels as well. Their better angels have let them down and they want to survive so they look for the easy way out. They turn to those who promise them what they want, who tell them what they wish to hear. And when they turn on their TVs there’s only one station that seems to understand their pain and report the truth. You got it: Fox News.
While practically every MSM news station is ignoring the renewed antisemitic push in our campuses Fox News talks about it every single fucking day. And they like it. Yes, they also push for the election of a nazi scumbag but they look outside their windows and they see the police escorting a mob flying Hamas flags and shouting “intifada revolution” so who gives a fuck. Let’s clean the streets first. Yeah. It’s survival. Most people aren’t fascists, there are no “Nazi Jews”.
But they are scared and angry. And they are fucking right. Unless the Democrats grow a spine and put out the fire that seems to be warming their feet before it catches on and burns the house down we are in for a very nasty surprise come November. Not because most Americans are fascists but because most of them are being divided between two opposing factions with one thing in common: disappointment. We cannot please Greeks and Trojans. Alone, neither is a threat. Together…
What concerns me is the combined result of voter suppression, voter depression, third party votes and the votes lost to the fascists through the inability to stand up against intolerance. We may be on the rise, we may have momentum but if we keep trying to appease everyone and allow this madness to continue we will have to deal with the combination of all those factors in November. I hope we can put this fire out now. I really do. We must not allow it to spread.
Antisemitism must NOT be tolerated. Religious fundamentalism must NOT be dismissed for delusional claims of Islamophobia. We have to stand up for what is right without fear and without hesitation. Now is the time. Before the fire gets out of control and we end up outside a burnt house in a street covered with trash with nowhere to go but into darkness. It doesn’t matter which. What matters is the light will be gone. Do not allow it. Do something.
We’re not going back!
