The Awsome Nerd

This is a spot from an italian estate agency (we are governed by the right-wing party)

The woman says "Ridiculous..."

The old lady is not in her home. She is at work. She's meant to be what in Italian is called "la portinaia", aka a cross between a doorwoman and cleaner of a residential building. She's in her small "office" space, at the entrance of the building, from where she can survey the coming and goings of the inhabitants. It's a job that has mostly disappeared, but is culturally very clear to us as having the connotation of "potentially gossipy, one-million-percent judgmental woman who sees everything that goes on in the apartment complex, knows everyone and their secrets, and has Strong Opinions™️".

“Antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.”

That’s the definition. That’s it.

That’s what’s supposedly such a threat to your free speech.

Oh? I don’t see that in the definition.

How about the guidance?

To guide IHRA in its work, the following examples may serve as illustrations:

Manifestations might include the targeting of the state of Israel, conceived as a Jewish collectivity. However, criticism of Israel similar to that leveled against any other country cannot be regarded as antisemitic. Antisemitism frequently charges Jews with conspiring to harm humanity, and it is often used to blame Jews for “why things go wrong.” It is expressed in speech, writing, visual forms and action, and employs sinister stereotypes and negative character traits.

Contemporary examples of antisemitism in public life, the media, schools, the workplace, and in the religious sphere could, taking into account the overall context, include, but are not limited to:

Calling for, aiding, or justifying the killing or harming of Jews in the name of a radical ideology or an extremist view of religion.

Making mendacious, dehumanizing, demonizing, or stereotypical allegations about Jews as such or the power of Jews as collective — such as, especially but not exclusively, the myth about a world Jewish conspiracy or of Jews controlling the media, economy, government or other societal institutions.

Accusing Jews as a people of being responsible for real or imagined wrongdoing committed by a single Jewish person or group, or even for acts committed by non-Jews.

Denying the fact, scope, mechanisms (e.g. gas chambers) or intentionality of the genocide of the Jewish people at the hands of National Socialist Germany and its supporters and accomplices during World War II (the Holocaust).

Accusing the Jews as a people, or Israel as a state, of inventing or exaggerating the Holocaust.

Accusing Jewish citizens of being more loyal to Israel, or to the alleged priorities of Jews worldwide, than to the interests of their own nations.

Denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, e.g., by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor.

Applying double standards by requiring of it a behavior not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation.

Using the symbols and images associated with classic antisemitism (e.g., claims of Jews killing Jesus or blood libel) to characterize Israel or Israelis.

Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis.

Holding Jews collectively responsible for actions of the state of Israel.

Antisemitic acts are criminal when they are so defined by law (for example, denial of the Holocaust or distribution of antisemitic materials in some countries).

Criminal acts are antisemitic when the targets of attacks, whether they are people or property – such as buildings, schools, places of worship and cemeteries – are selected because they are, or are perceived to be, Jewish or linked to Jews.

Antisemitic discrimination is the denial to Jews of opportunities or services available to others and is illegal in many countries.

So… which part of that is supposed to be chilling “ethical criticism of Israel”?

here are some entities that have endorsed or adopted the ihra definition:

the ahmadia muslim community argentina (note: from what I recall there is some dispute about the muslim-ness of ahmadiyya muslims. i am not an expert on this.

almost every major american jewish group: the american jewish joint distribution committee, the american sephardi federation (the board adopted it unanimously, do you know how rare that is among jews!), the american jewish committee, the american jewish congress, the adl, the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, the Jewish Federations of North America, the National Council of Jewish Women, ORT America, the Rabbinical Assembly (Masorti), Rabbinical Council of America (Orthodox), Union for Reform Judaism, Orthodox Union most as part of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations

the bavarian red cross (reminder that in germany the red cross functioned as an outgrowth of the nazi party -- i made a post about it somewhere)

the bloc quebecois

the church of england, church of scotland and church of wales

the Counter Extremism Project

the Council of the European Union, European Commission, and European Parliament

the French Senate

the Global Imams Council -- again, I am not well versed enough in Islam to know if it is a tokenizing group akin to JVP or not, however I do not believe so.

the Green Party of England and Wales, the UK Labour Party, the Liberal Democrat Party in the UK, the Scottish National Party, and the UK Conservative Party (not that I put much stock in their opinion, but...)

the Latin American Parliament

the Muslim American Leadership Alliance (I don't know if it's tokenizing)

the Organization of American States

Student governments, senates, etc at Boston University, California Polytechnic (unanimously), Duke University, Indiana University, Northeastern University (passed with no no votes, but 27 abstentions), Syracuse University, UCLA Undergraduate Student Assembly Council (adopted the State Department definition in 2015), University of California San Diego and Santa Barbara, University of Minnesota

Cambridge University, Imperial College London, King's College London, London School of Economics, Pennsylvania State University, University College London, University of Oxford, University of Pittsburgh, University of Tirana (the largest university in Albania, a majority-Muslim country)

Alberta, Alsace, the province of Amazonas, Bavaria, British Columbia, Catalonia, Buenos Aires, the Greater London Authority, London, Los Angeles, the City of London Corporation (what the fuck is up with London government???), Montreal, Florence, New Brunswick, New South Wales, New York for six months, Newfoundland and Labrador, Ontario, the Paraguayan Chamber of Deputies, Paris, Quebec, Rio de Janiero (both the city and the state), Sao Paulo (both the city and the state), Saskatchewan, Scotland, South Australia, Tuscany, Victoria (in Australia), Vienna, Wales, Warsaw, Washington DC (in 2022), and states such as Massachusetts, New Mexico, New York, Vermont

Several countries, such as majority-Muslim Albania, Argentina, Australia, Bahrain which I think follows Sharia law, Bosnia and Herzegovina (just barely majority Muslim these days), Canada, Colombia, France, Germany, Guatemala, Kosovo (majority Muslim), the Philippines, South Korea, Sweden, etc.

Many other scholars (and others) support it:

Irving Abella (I think he co-wrote none is too many)

Mehnaz Afridi

Majid Al Sarrah (CEO, Sharaka, UAE)

Sunni Ali

Najay AlSaie (UAE)

Jan Grabowski (prominent historian of antisemitism in Poland)

David Hirsh (antisemitism scholar)

Lesley Klaff (antisemitism scholar)

Sara Mahmoud

Salim Mansur

Said Musayev (Azerbaijan)

Cary Nelson (antisemitism scholar)

Olusegun Olanipekun (South Africa)

Haras Rafiq

There are few if any organizations more qualified to define antisemitism, and this definition is the result of extensive Holocaust research and input from experts in the field.

It’s incredibly reasonable.

many clip the wings of the queen, destroy new queen cells, cull queens they don't like and use bee pheromones to prevent a hive from naturally swarming or absconding. They also try and prevent mating with the African honey bee, which makes them less docile among other things. During artificial insemination of queens, drones are crushed and „spare“ queens are killed.

and commercial beekeepers even cull their hives during winter, or when they are not producing well.

Coupled with the fact that there is evidence that insects do feel pain, this is not great.