Summary

Elon Musk’s address to Germany’s far-right AfD party, where he downplayed Germany’s Nazi past and criticized multiculturalism, has sparked global alarm.

Halie Soifer, CEO of the Jewish Democratic Council of America, called the remarks “incredibly dangerous,” warning of their potential to embolden right-wing extremists and threaten Jewish security worldwide.

Critics highlighted Musk’s alignment with far-right ideologies, including his Nazi salutes at Trump’s inauguration.

  • Flying Squid
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    42 days ago

    I will say that being in Blackburn, 30% Muslim, and looking very obviously Jewish- everyone has been very kind. (Not suggesting that being Muslim automatically makes you antisemitic, but there are, unfortunately- and thanks to Israel mainly- a fair number of Muslims that hate Jews.)

    • @[email protected]
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      2 days ago

      I’ve only ever found Muslims to be at worst civil and at best excellent friends. And I used to live in Luton (highest proportion of Muslim population in the UK). I’m not Jewish though.

      Weird question - I’ve never been able to say for sure if someone is Jewish by looking at them (unless they’re wearing a yarmulke or Hasidic getup). I remember someone at work telling me to go talk to Mark, he’s the ‘obviously Jewish guy’, and having zero idea who that was. Even when he was pointed out to me I couldn’t see what was different from him and any other dark-haired European. Is this a me problem or are people just projecting patterns?

      • @[email protected]
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        32 days ago

        Basically it means a certain of Mediterranean-adjacent appearance. There is definitely a phenotype, but, like most of these sorts of things, it’s a very broadly variable one. This is why I find it so frustrating when people racialize the the Israel-Palestine conflict. People with roots around the Mediterranean all look very similar.

      • Flying Squid
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        12 days ago

        Basically, look at any antisemitic caricature of a Jew, remove the forelocks and the yarmulke, and that’s me.

        • @[email protected]
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          42 days ago

          I’m autistic, so it’s hard for me to map those cartoons onto a real face. They all kind of look like captain Barnacle to me to be honest. It’s probably better if I don’t know, I suppose.
          Bottom line though is of course that nobody should be judged on their appearance because that’s blatantly stupid. Further, I think, when you break it down, judging someone because their appearance conforms loosely to your idea of the appearance of a population which is most concentrated in a country whose government’s military is committing atrocities against a country whose population’s appearance conforms to one to which you think you belong… is beyond stupidity and can be nothing short of outright malicious. Fuck that you have to deal with that. Especially since you’ve been outspoken in your opposition to the crimes of that government.