Growing antisemitism: it takes a lot to get me worried and I am becoming very concerned
*More screenshots in comments due to limit*
This was posted in a forum primarily for active duty and retired military members. I’ve been seeing a noticeable uptick in these kinds of comments when any discussion touches on rising antisemitism, Israel, or the war in Gaza.
These comments include pretty much every facet of antisemitism, including Holocaust denial, relativism and distortion:
• Equating Israel’s actions in Gaza to “a new Holocaust” or “undeniable genocide” (often linking partisan UN Special Rapporteur reports as proof from the “UN Secretary General”).
• Classic whataboutism and conspiracy comments: “What the Jews did during the Bolshevik Revolution,” “Israel/AIPAC subvert the West,” “wars for Israel,” plus the usual JFK, 9/11, USS Liberty tropes.
• Dismissing concerns about antisemitic violence with sarcasm like “Glenn at the Burger King is gonna build camps?”
• Accusations that anyone pointing out patterns must be ignorant of the Holodomor, Armenian Genocide, etc.
I have no problem with people criticizing Israeli policy or questioning military decisions, that’s fair game, especially in military circles. But these comments go well beyond policy debate into collective blame of Jews, Holocaust inversion, and longstanding antisemitic conspiracy theories.
Side note: Like many military pages, this one has also seen an influx of non-military, strongly anti-Trump civilians joining after the election, seemingly to harass and provoke members. Some of these comments appear to come from that group as well.
Pattern recognition isn’t paranoia. Jews make up about 2% of the U.S. population but consistently face a massively disproportionate share of religious hate crimes. This kind of rhetoric contributes to why many Jews feel increasingly unsafe.
Curious how others here, especially fellow service members and vets, see this. Is this the level of discourse we want in military communities? Does antisemitism not fall under prejudice and harassment rules and guidance?