• comradeRichardEnglish
    481·
    1 year ago

    So any resistance to fight on the side of apartheid is straight antisemitism? Not wanting to fight against a Semite people? Got it 🙄

    • comradeRichardEnglish
      29·
      1 year ago

      In all fairness I don’t doubt that we have total Nazis in the military. But I also believe there’s intentional disregard for any other reason to not want to go Bring Democracy™️

      • redtea
        31·
        1 year ago

        If they’re self-declared anti-Semites it’s a problem. There’s also a lot of problematic, latent anti-Semitism that we should and must stamp out, too.

        I think the bigger issue is saying that anyone who doesn’t want to fight Palestinians is automatically anti-Semitic. That’s even more of a stretch than saying that anyone who opposes Zionism is anti-Semitic.

        Both claims mask real anti-Semites and let them hide in plain sight with what they think they can project as a legitimate reason to be anti-Semitic. Those people are just as likely to be Islamophobic as they are anti-Semitic.

        While we might be happy that US soldiers have found a war they don’t want to fight in, I don’t think we should brush off the fact that it stems from anti-Semitism (to the extent that it does) just because there’s a positive outcome in this instance. Because ignoring that anti-Semitism will come back to bite us round the corner; it’s the same kind that sees people support Israel because it encourages Jews to emigrate, which makes life worse for Palestinians and Jews everywhere.

        It’s also worth noting that Zionism is anti-Semitic and does not protect Jews from anti-Semitism. It could even be anti-Semitic itself. Both types of anti-Semitism, Zionist and anti-Zionist, should be opposed.

        I think this is markedly different to ‘necessary alliances’, like between a national bourgeoisie and a national proletariat against an international bourgeoisie. I think we should be extremely careful about even appearing to be willing to ally with racists even if it seems that our goals align for a brief moment.

        • QueerCommie
          17·
          1 year ago

          I doubt most of them are anti-Semitic. I’m guessing it’s mostly “don’t want to die for “Israel?” You’re an anti-Semite.”

          • redtea
            10·
            1 year ago

            That’s my thinking, too. I’m curious to know whether the institutional racism built into the military makes it kind of ‘natural’ for superiors to interpret the common soldier’s motives as racist. Like an internal/introspective projection. That, in combination with the fact that military officers probably aren’t the brightest in terms of being critical of the world and mainstream narratives of Israel/Palestine. They’re not paid to think outside the box or question received wisdom (orders) unless it comes to military tactics, after all.

      • MarxMadness
        17·
        1 year ago

        I think it is very optimistic to think this (taking it as read, and assiming it’s an issue throughout the military) would seriously impact U.S. involvement, no matter the cause.

        The people in the military self-selected there, largely while the U.S. was fighting simmering wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. That means they do not have even a basic understanding of U.S. imperialism and don’t have the mental outs draftees have. Shovel them some propaganda about duty and commitment and the vast majority will fall in line. A few will quietly go AWOL before deployment, but that’ll be it.