(Jewish Group) The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has torn apart Chicago's biggest Facebook moms group

[Behind the Aegis]

The tens of thousands of Chicago mothers in a private Facebook group called MamaHive typically post about sleepless babies, strollers and playgroups.

But on Sunday night, with the latest conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza entering its second week, a post went up that broke the mold.

“We, the admins of MamaHive Chicago, take a strong stance against the terroristic acts being committed against the Palestinian people,” the post said. “Anyone appearing to justify the occupation, genocide and apartheid that is taking place will be immediately removed. If you feel in any way supportive to those committing these heinous acts, please feel free to remove yourself.”

...

“This group was about having a safe, supportive, resource-rich forum for parents to talk about their experience of parenting,” Alina Slotnik, one of the group’s founders, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. “It was meant to be inclusive and always welcoming, and it breaks my heart that somebody would create a politically or religiously based litmus test for this group.”

Slotnik, who is Jewish, found herself at the center of the conflict in the moms’ group late Sunday night, as tensions around the Middle East conflict ran high in Chicago. Earlier that day, a major pro-Palestinian march drew thousands of protesters downtown, and a smaller group gathered in Skokie, a heavily Jewish suburb. There, two people broke a synagogue window and affixed a Free Palestine sign to its door in an incident that police have labeled a hate crime.

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[Mosby]

1. Antisemitism is infectious in ways other bigotries aren't.

The three D* approach to Palestinian advocacy spreads antisemitism to unwittingly concerned people, facilitated by progressive sounding slogans and propaganda. It manipulates peoples emotions.

This type of social contagion isn't seen much with other bigotries, because a lot of antisemitic invective has been normalized and dressed up in the language of Progressives, eg "settler-colonialist", "apartheid state".

* demonization, dehumanization, double standards towards Israel and Zionists.

[Behind the Aegis]

2. You are exactly right.

I have seen it in GLBT groups. The discussion is about an issue affecting AMERICAN LGBT folks and someone will bring in I/P and things fall apart. When I was still active, I shut that shit down really quick, including asking people to leave. If they wanted to discuss those issues and what we as a GLBT group could do, that is one thing, but when the I/P situation became front and center over pressing issues facing us, that is where I drew the line. And, it was always, always started by someone who didn't know jack-shit and was "pro-Palestinian".

You are also correct about the veneer of acceptability as well as the level of whining that a certain segment present when it comes to this situation and their comatose reaction to anti-Semitism. There are certain dog-whistle words that as soon as they are heard, you can pretty much dismiss that person as a propagandist and incapable of rational discussion. The most anti-Semitic ones are the ones who immediately reach for the Nazi terminology and it is then you know you are not only dealing with a Israel-hating propagandist, but likely as anti-Semite as well.