While I'm sure there are a few Jewish fascist sympathizers, I bet there aren't many.
I wouldn't take that bet anymore. Quite a lot of Jews will support any leader who aligns with the Israeli government. If that leader is fascist, they consider that acceptable collateral damage. You might be able to show a person a list of fascist values and they would say they disagree with this one and that one and the other one. They might, for instance, say misogyny is terrible, but it's more important to protect the state of Israel than to fight it. They may deny any emotional sympathy with fascism, but they support it in practice. I think we really do need to call them fascist sympathizers, if not simply fascists.
Also, American culture honors individual success. Many prosperous Americans think in terms of schools and careers that reward sucking up and kicking down. Jews are not immune to this. It leads to thinking of "never again" in the sense of "never again TO US, because we will stay on the side of the winners and those other people over there will get hurt." I have been directly aware of pockets of racial prejudice among Jews since I learned to read. Is it logical? Of course not. But I know way too many Jews who regard racism as actively appealing so long as it's not aimed at them.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2024-11-08 06:52 pm (UTC)I wouldn't take that bet anymore. Quite a lot of Jews will support any leader who aligns with the Israeli government. If that leader is fascist, they consider that acceptable collateral damage. You might be able to show a person a list of fascist values and they would say they disagree with this one and that one and the other one. They might, for instance, say misogyny is terrible, but it's more important to protect the state of Israel than to fight it. They may deny any emotional sympathy with fascism, but they support it in practice. I think we really do need to call them fascist sympathizers, if not simply fascists.
Also, American culture honors individual success. Many prosperous Americans think in terms of schools and careers that reward sucking up and kicking down. Jews are not immune to this. It leads to thinking of "never again" in the sense of "never again TO US, because we will stay on the side of the winners and those other people over there will get hurt." I have been directly aware of pockets of racial prejudice among Jews since I learned to read. Is it logical? Of course not. But I know way too many Jews who regard racism as actively appealing so long as it's not aimed at them.