Notices by gavi (gavi@grimgreenfo.rest), page 2

As a disclaimer: I am not a rabbi and I am only one Jew, and when there is nuance of opinions amongst Jews I will try my best to highlight it. I also cannot fully condense the complexities of antisemitism into a single fedi thread so I will as well highlight some resources as well for those curious. I will likely continually add replies to this thread today too.

This is not a thread about Israel or Zionism. Zionism and Israel is a touchy topic even amongst the Jewish community. This threads highlighting of antisemitic tropes is something that you can look to if you desire but beyond that this is more a general antisemitism discussion. I may make a specific thread about talking about Israel and Zionism and when critique crosses the line into antisemitism, but that's such a clusterfuck even amongst Jews I really do not have the energy to really unpack that right now.

Antisemitism is an ancient form of hatred that is nearly as old as modern human civilization. It is like a play that nearly every generation learns how to perform, with occasional tweaks for the time frame it falls under.

Antisemitism is a unique form of bigotry in that exists typically outside the bounds of other forms of bigotry. It adapts to whatever purpose it serves. It is at its root a form of racism & xenophobia.

Hatred of Jews has existed since antiquity, but antisemitism in its specific usage towards Jews was coined by a German journalist and "racial scientist" in the late 1800s who wanted to give more legitimacy for hatred of Jews with a specific name. It's usage in the modern day is explicitly used to refer to Jews and only Jews. It was effectively reclaimed by Jews to refer to our own hatred by the people who hate us. As well, this is why in some settings (especially academic) you will see the lack of a dash. Instead of anti-semitism, it is antisemitism. The purpose for this is that it is a separate word entirely.

Antisemitism manifests based upon what is most convenient as a means to scapegoat the ills of society at that time. There is no sense to it, and it is not worth trying to find sense in it either.

Jews have been portrayed as evil communists at times, and others evil capitalist pigs. Rootless cosmopolitans, or chauvistic nationalists. Backwards religious zealots, or G-dless heathens.

Most, if not all, antisemitic tropes that often manifest are actually in direct contrast to how Judaism as a religion functions and the cultural dynamics within the community. It's absurd and is why at times Jews will laugh at some of the manifestations of it.

There is no logical sense in the allegation that Jews caused the California widlfires a few years ago using space lasers, and the common trope of blood libel exists in direct contrast to the fact that blood is not kosher. Cannibalism isn't kosher either!

It would be funny if it hadn't caused so many of us to die.

I’m making a new religion that turns libraries into religious institutions and our most holy practice is going to the library and reading books. On the weekend we all get together and read silently together at the library. Our holy leaders are our librarians as they are guides to knowledge.

This way it makes it significantly harder to defund libraries. 😈

(I am not a lawyer and this is not legal advice. Please do not take it as such!)

A big issue in the fediverse that I have witnessed a distressing amount is a seeming lack of understanding on fedi sysadmins legal obligation when dealing with illegal content when it is present on their servers, as well as active misinformation and fearmongering regarding it when the topic comes up as well.

Some people act like you’re responsible for knowing everything about your server at all times when you host services that is publicly accessible when in most jurisdictions it’s more complicated than that.

What I see often though is when people talk about illegal content being posted on their instances how they deleted it. And I look at their profile info and see they are American. And when I read them mention that content originated from their instance it immediately fills with me a deep sense of dread.

In the United States specifically if you are informed of illegal material of a specific variety that has originated on your server by one of your users, you CANNOT simply delete it. You have a legal obligation to preserve that content for at least 90 days and initiate a report with NCMEC with as much details as you can provide so that if need be authorities can seize it. By deleting that content if it originated in your server without filing a report, you have potentially engaged in a felony by deleting potential evidence of a crime. And by instructing others how to delete stuff in the way you did, you are sharing how to commit a potential felony as well.

I don’t fault admins for not knowing this on the fediverse by default especially on small instances but there seriously needs to be some sort of resource for fedi admins to learn this stuff otherwise it can become a nightmare really fast. Misinformation spreads like mad around this topic and it doesn’t help that it varies from country to country. The legal obligation a server hosted in the UK vs the US is very different for example. It doesn’t help that since these are hobby projects a lot of us can’t really afford lawyers to help advise on this either.

Having some sort of public info about this to reach for would be nice. It would also help tell admins what their duty is to report other content or interactions (like exploitation) as it arises as well and how to do so properly.

There is a post going around here: https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral/112517690824264163

This post is a form of holocaust inversion. You do not need to invoke the holocaust when calling out the crimes of the Israeli government. Jews and other Israelis do it all the time.

Why is this harmful? The holocaust is not something that occurred in antiquity, it was something that happened in contemporary Europe. There are still people alive today who have survived it, as well as those who are alive who participated in the cruelty of it that have never faced justice. You are weaponizing Jewish trauma that we are still trying to deal with. There are still people who deny the holocaust even in the first place. At baseline we have to deal with people who don't even think the holocaust happened in the first place, and people who believe that shit will jump onto this like flies to garbage.

The holocaust and nazis are not the sole metric of evil in this world. It is akin to rubbing salt in an already existing wound that Jews struggle with. This pushes Jews away from your cause as a whole and there are MANY jews on here who likely agree with you. Your weaponization of Jewish trauma whilst actively ignoring Jews or telling them to go away when they are trying to tell you how harmful it is..... its telling.

But the issue at the same time is that the Holocaust was not legal. Nazis explicitly destroyed any power the German legal system held. The lack of a functional legal system does not imply legality. There was no existing legal basis in Weimar Germany for the mass extrajudicial slaughter of Jews and other large groups of people and Nazi Germany never explicitly established a basis for that either. It still would have been seen as murder under German law in that time, and the fact that the government in charge participated in it and as such didn't prosecute itself still doesn't make it legal.

I love librarians

i wonder how g-d felt as she watched as one of deadliest apex predators in nature decided to domesticate itself to humans because it liked being pampered

ADHD is when your brain accepts too many side quests

So, I'm gonna be for real with you that if you are in a swing state and are deciding that you're just not gonna vote in this coming presidential election when you are fully capable of doing so for WHATEVER REASON, you are privileged. Your refusal to vote is a vote for fascism.

Democrats are nearly incapable of governing, that's a fact. Democrats do not give a shit about us. But this is not your time to protest as everything you are working towards and advocating for will be destroyed. You can at least pressure democrats, republicans are going to kill you. They will commit genocide and suppress what little rights you possess left until there is nothing anymore.

Think of voting for Biden as a form of chemotherapy in the face of the malignancy that is fascism. Chemo sucks but you can live through it, but fascism is gonna kill you.

Yes, Biden fucking sucks when it comes to Palestine.

But at least hes giving some sort of aid. He is doing something even if its pretty much nothing. The administration even went as far to condition aid.

If you truly think life is bad in the US, fascism will be incomprehensible to you. Trump is clear on what he wants, and what he will do. Palestine effectively will cease to exist with Trump in office. And you won't even be able to talk about it as it happens. You likely won't even be able to have the time to talk about it, as the misery he unleashes upon the US itself will be enough on its own for you to try and survive. And many people wont.

People in some countries literally cannot vote and die fighting for the right to. If you have that right do not give it up so easily, and if you do you are a fool.

the trolley problem but you have to decide between a cute cat and elon musk. the kitten is very grateful for your choice of saving it ❤️

throwback to when i told my brother my cousin became a cop and he said word for word "he always seemed like a snitch" LMAOOOOO

is it time i write my book critiquing the AI craze, silicon valleys self aggrandizing mindset and cozying up to fascism..........

no, mastodon.social is not mass banning pro-palestinian speech. they are banning people for being antisemites and engaging in holocaust inversion as well as breaking german law.

@dansup@mastodon.social that show scared the shit out of me I had to stop watching it LOL

its shabbat but i need to get this off my chest before i chill a bit.

it is a clear sign of a society in decline when blatant antisemitism is both normalized, ignored and at times casually excused across the world.

i dont know if people realize this but a pandora's box has been opened that is nearly impossible to close. you have given fascists power that they will take as far as they possibly can.

this is a direct warning to the antisemites of the fediverse and the world, especially those engaging in antisemitism whilst being in marginalized communities of their own.

you are not punching up. you are not standing against a powerful group of people. you are not standing against your oppressors. you are actually actively giving your oppressors power.

this does not end with jews. it never does. remember that, especially when you ignore or question jews who attempt to point out antisemitism when they see it.

we are not your enemies. fascists have continuously tried to break unity and allyship from jews in left wing movements for decades for a reason. their efforts are working, both on the fediverse and beyond.

people on the fediverse are extraordinary antisemitic in casual circles, even outside of the nazi circles. even some of the people who have built pieces of this network themselves have demonstrated themselves on numerous occasions that they have a direct bias against jews. even large instances that are explicitly not on the nazi side of the fediverse on here are ran by antisemites whether they are willing to admit it or not.

i see antisemitism on my feed constantly and just have to learn how to ignore it and stay aware of when to fight my battles. yes, even good meaning people here engage in antisemitism unknowingly. i live with it and only engage or educate when i feel it is worth my time.

but the fediverse isnt an isolated place with this either. its the entire internet. its everywhere. over the past few years i have seen antisemitic conspiracy theories and dogwhistles that were normally confined to the gutters of the internet spread out into the mainstream. even in mainstream politics you have nazi talking points becoming common.